- Title: THAILAND: Bangkok businesses stay open despite floods
- Date: 16th October 2011
- Summary: BANGKOK, THAILAND (OCTOBER 15, 2011) (REUTERS) CHAO PRAYA RIVER MAN SITTING IN BOAT WATER DRAINING INTO RIVER TEMPLE BY THE RIVER PEOPLE COOKING BY RIVER WOMEN TALKING IN FLOODED AMULET MARKET WOMEN STANDING IN FLOOD WATERS PEOPLE STANDING IN FLOOD WATERS BUDDHIST ORNAMENTS FLOODED STALL (SOUNDBITE) (Thai) 58-YEAR-OLD SHOP OWNER, DUANGKAMPA TANCHAREON, SAYING: "It is necessary to keep doing (my business). I don't know what else to do. But inside it is all flooded, there is a lot of damage." WATER DRAINING OUT FROM SHOP PEOPLE WALKING IN FLOODED AMULET MARKET WOMAN WORKING IN FLOODED STALL PEOPLE BUYING AMULETS IN FLOODED STORE PEOPLE STANDING IN FLOOD WATERS WOMAN SELLING AMULETS BUDDHA STATUE WOMAN SQUATTING ON STOOL WOMAN'S FEET/STOOL FLOODED STREET SANDBAGS/RUNNING WATER (SOUNDBITE) (Thai) 19-YEAR-OLD AMULET SELLER, NATTAWAN NAMUANGRAK, SAYING: "The economy is bad, I couldn't sell much. Usually I earn at least 3,000 Baht ($97.44 USD), but nowadays I earn less than a thousand. I'm already in much trouble." FLOODED AMULET MARKET PEOPLE WALKING IN FLOOD WATER
- Embargoed: 31st October 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Thailand, Thailand
- Country: Thailand
- Topics: Business,Disasters
- Reuters ID: LVAETQEYUZC6PFB9DBYM7ZOH2UEL
- Story Text: Rescue workers scrambled to reinforce makeshift walls and sand-bags around Bangkok on Saturday (October 15) as the worst floods in half-a-century threatened Thailand's low-lying capital after swamping entire villages in the north.
Bangkok residents are struggling to keep the normalcy in their daily lives, as floods flowed into the city on Saturday.
A market selling amulets remained open despite the floods, but shop owners say they are counting their losses.
The market, about 20 minutes away from Bangkok's commercial district, has been flooded for nearly a week.
Duangkampa Tanchareon, a 58-year-old shop owner, said business must continue despite several warnings from officials that water level of Chao Phraya river - situated right next to the market - will peak from 13 to 18 October.
"It is necessary to keep doing (my business). I don't know what else to do. But inside it is all flooded, there is a lot of damage," Tanchareon said.
Business has slowed down, as city residents were more focused on hunkering down for a possible emergency.
"The economy is bad, I couldn't sell much. Usually I earn at least 3,000 Baht ($97.44 USD), but nowadays I earn less than a thousand. I'm already in much trouble," said amulet seller Nattawan Namuangrak.
Water levels in the Chao Phraya river were rapidly rising, as high estuary tides were coinciding with run-off water from the north on Saturday morning.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has sought to reassure Bangkok's 12 million people they should largely escape floods that have covered a third of the country since July, killing at least 289 people and causing about $3 billion in damage.
Yingluck said the government was focused on releasing floodwater to the sea.
Bangkok is the country's commercial heart, accounting for 41 percent of the economy. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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