THAILAND: Factory workers in industrial province of Ayutthaya start cleaning up after the country's worst floods in five decades start to subside

Record ID: 735349

  • Title: THAILAND: Factory workers in industrial province of Ayutthaya start cleaning up after the country's worst floods in five decades start to subside
  • Date: 24th November 2011
  • Summary: AYUTTHAYA PROVINCE, THAILAND (NOVEMBER 21, 2011) (REUTERS) WORKERS SWEEPING DEBRIS FROM STEPS IN FRONT OF FACTORY PILE OF DEAD LEAVES AND RUBBISH PILE OF SANDBAGS/WORKERS THROWING SANDBAGS WORKERS PICKING UP SANDBAG FROM IN FRONT OF GLASS DOOR WORKERS THROWING SANDBAGS OFF WALKWAY ONTO FLOODED AREA SNAKE MOVING, RAKE MOVING SNAKE AWAY INTERIOR OF FACTORY THAT HAD BEEN FLOODED WATER STAIN METAL PLATES USED FOR MAKING ELECTRONIC CHIPS ON TABLE SENIOR QUALITY ASSURANCE MANAGER OF HANA MICROELECTRONICS WORAWIT SRIBURANASORN, WALKING PAST WORAWIT OPENING CUPBOARD RUST ON BASE OF UNIT (SOUNDBITE) (Thai) SENIOR QUALITY ASSURANCE MANAGER OF HANA MICROELECTRONICS WORAWIT SRIBURANASORN, SAYING "Around 80 percent of the machines are totally ruined, we will have to buy new ones, and we are trying to fix the other 20 percent. At the moment, there's nothing we can do until we have the new machines." ROWS OF MACHINES ON FIRST FLOOR WRAPPED IN PLASTIC MICROSCOPE WRAPPED IN PLASTIC WORKERS CLEANING PREVIOUSLY-FLOODED FACTORY ROOM FLOOR WORKER'S HANDS SCRAPING FLOOR WITH CHISEL WORKERS SCRAPING FLOOR WORKER'S FACE WORKER USING MACHINE TO CLEAN FLOOR MACHINE CLEANING FLOOR WORKER MOVING MACHINE BACK AND FORTH GROUP OF WORKERS SWEEPING WATER FORWARD BROOMS SWEEPING WATER (SOUNDBITE) (Thai) SENIOR QUALITY ASSURANCE MANAGER OF HANA MICROELECTRONICS WORAWIT SRIBURANASORN, SAYING: "What we want from the government is to reassure our clients that if they come back it won't flood again. It is the question that all of our clients are asking." FLOODWATERS SURROUNDING FACTORY BUILDINGS SIGN READING: "HANA" DEBRIS IN FLOODWATER AND BROWN STAIN ON WALL VARIOUS OF FLOODED FACTORY BUILDINGS BANGKOK, THAILAND (NOVEMBER 22, 2011) (REUTERS) CHAIRMAN OF THE FEDERATION OF THAI INDUSTRIES PAYUNGSAK CHARTSUTIPOL TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Thai) CHAIRMAN OF THE FEDERATION OF THAI INDUSTRIES, PAYUNGSAK CHARTSUTIPOL, SAYING "We are one of the exporters that export electronic equipment to the world. There has been a great impact but foreign companies still have confidence in Thailand because their companies have grown together with the Thai economy." AYUTTHAYA PROVINCE, THAILAND (NOVEMBER 21, 2011) (REUTERS) PUMPS PUMPING WATER OUT OF FACTORY SITE WATER GUSHING OUT OF PIPE
  • Embargoed: 9th December 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Thailand, Thailand
  • Country: Thailand
  • Topics: Disasters
  • Reuters ID: LVAAUF9FLLKKD7956WXKRGJ6R6HK
  • Story Text: Workers at a factory run by Thailand's biggest producer of semiconductors started cleaning up on Monday (November 21) after waters that flooded industrial estates across the region subsided.
    They swept OUT debris, moved sandbags blocking the front entrance, and dodged the occasional snake.
    Water levels had reached almost two metres (6.6 feet) at the Hi-Tech Industrial Estate in Ayutthaya province, 105 kilometres north of Bangkok.
    Worawit Sriburanasorn, a senior assurance manager at the Hana factory, said the floods destroyed a large part of their machinery.
    "Around 80 percent of the machines are totally ruined, we will have to buy new ones, and we are trying to fix the other 20 percent. At the moment, there's nothing we can do until we have the new machines," he said.
    Worawit said the plant expected to resume its operations within six months but urged the government to build confidence among foreign investors.
    "What we want from the government is to reassure our clients that if they come back it won't flood again. It is the question that all of our clients are asking" he said.
    Thailand's worst flooding in half a century swamped more than a thousand factories both inside and outside industrial estates, shaking the confidence of foreign investors.
    However, Payungsak Chartsutipol, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, said that foreign investors had not lost all confidence in Thailand.
    "We are one of the exporters that export electronic equipment to the world. There has been a great impact but foreign companies still have confidence in Thailand because their companies have grown together with the Thai economy," said Payungsak.
    The central bank slashed its 2011 economic growth forecast to 2.6 percent from 4.1 percent on October 28 and said the economy was likely to shrink 1.9 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous three months.
    It may review its forecasts in November.
    The government has promised 130 billion baht ($4.2 billion U.S. dollars) to help the recovery effort, but rebuilding and improvement of defences will require huge sums.
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