The
Thai premier on Monday said reconstruction from massive floods swamping vast
swathes of the country is expected to cost the government over $3.3 billion --
a fifth more than previously estimated.
Fears for the capital Bangkok appeared to have
eased as authorities battled to contain Thailand's worst flooding in decades,
which has claimed over 300 lives, swallowed homes and shut down industry.
But Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra warned:
"The original budget to support the recovery of both the industrial and
agricultural sectors is not likely to be enough."
Speaking at the disaster response headquarters
at Don Muang Airport in northern Bangkok, she said the budget, which does not
include water management costs, was now expected to exceed 100 billion baht
($3.3 billion).
The previous budget was $2.6 billion.
Three months of heavy rains have deluged about
one third of Thailand's provinces, with floods -- several metres deep in places
-- forcing tens of thousands of people to seek refuge in shelters.
The flooding has waterlogged major roads and
hundreds of factories, disrupting production of cars, electronics and other
goods in the kingdom, with another major industrial estate succumbing to the
floods on Monday.
Finance Minister Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala
said the floods across the country were likely to cut economic growth this year
by up to 1.7 percent, according to estimates from the Bank of Thailand and the
National Economic and Social Development Board.
The previous estimate was 0.9 percent.
Forecasters at the University of the Thai
Chamber of Commerce have estimated the cost of the floods to the Thai economy
at about 150 billion baht ($4.9 billion) -- roughly 1.3-1.5 percent of annual
gross domestic product.
Thailand on Monday gave the go ahead to a
hefty minimum wage hike, Labour Minister Phadermchai Sasomsab told AFP,
although it postponed the measure until April 2012 in response to pleas from
the flood-hit industrial sector.
Yingluck apologised for authorities' inability
to protect Navanakorn industrial estate after water overwhelmed defences at the
site, which houses over 200 factories for local and foreign firms and employs
nearly 200,000.
Hundreds of locals helped soldiers trying to
protect the estate -- Thailand's oldest -- with sandbags but were told to
evacuate as water began pouring into the area in Pathum Thani province, located
near Bangkok.
One factory worker told AFP that the area was
flooded "in just a few minutes".
"I thought this estate could hold out
against the water so I helped in another place... then I heard about evacuation
here so I ran back to pick my motorcycle," another worker, Sopha Srisan,
said.
Flood Relief Operation Command (FROC) said
there was up to 2 metres of water in some areas of Navanakorn but expressed
continued confidence that the capital would be spared.
A spokesman said the Thai premier had ordered
a third protection dyke, to be built Monday night, in the northern outskirts of
the capital "to assure Bangkokians".
Authorities have so far prevented major
flooding inside the capital by diverting water through a complex system of
rivers and canals around the city.
Conditions in Bangkok remained mostly normal
and Suvarnabhumi Airport -- the capital's main air hub, which has flood walls
several metres high -- was operating as usual.
The Thai Air Force said it was moving 20 of its
30 planes out of Don Muang Airport as a precaution.
Yingluck has asked the military to take charge
of the emergency response in five provinces, including the low-lying historic
city of Ayutthaya, which has been under water for over a week.
Thai authorities said water levels were
receding in Ayutthaya, which lies about 80 kilometres (50 miles) upriver from
Bangkok and has seen its ancient World Heritage temples and all five of its
industrial estates swamped.
Some automakers, including Toyota, have halted
production in the kingdom due to water damage to facilities or a shortage of
components.
Thanaporn Promyamyai | AFP News
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