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Thailand

Central Bangkok ’safe’ from floods: Thai PM

Thailand’s premier declared central Bangkok safe from the kingdom’s devastating floods Saturday, as the death toll passed 600 and President Barack Obama vowed the US will give whatever help it can.
Thailand is suffering its worst flooding in half a century, and 5.4 million people are still affected around the kingdom, but Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra [...]

Read More » No commentNovember 20, 2011

Thai princess: King temporarily lost consciousness

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s ailing king — the world’s longest-reigning monarch — recently suffered a health problem that caused him to temporarily lose consciousness, his daughter revealed, linking the incident to stress over the country’s flood crisis.
News that the health of 83-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej took what Princess Chulabhorn described as [...]

Read More » No commentNovember 13, 2011

Explosions, shootings rock troubled Thai south

A dozen small explosions shook Thailand’s Muslim-majority deep south on Sunday, hours after gunmen shot dead three Buddhists at a petrol station in the restive region, police said.
There were no immediate reports of serious injuries or deaths from the blasts, which struck five districts of Narathiwat Province bordering Malaysia, officials said.
“Most of the explosions were [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 31, 2011

Flood-wary Bangkok is contrast of misery, normalcy

BANGKOK (AP) — On one side of Bangkok, you’ll find the victims of Thailand’s worst flooding in half a century. They float down trash-strewn waterways, paddling washtubs with wicker brooms over submerged neighborhoods.
Just a few miles (kilometers) away, you’ll find something else entirely: well-heeled shoppers perusing bustling malls decorated [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 31, 2011

Residents in flood-prone Bangkok urged to leave

Thai authorities urged residents in flood-prone areas of Bangkok to evacuate Wednesday, warning them that the arrival of a massive deluge of water was imminent.
A huge runoff from the north equivalent to 480,000 Olympic swimming pools is expected to reach the capital at the same time as seasonal high tides, the UN’s Office [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 27, 2011

Bangkok in ‘crisis mode’ as floods advance

Bangkok’s second airport shut down Tuesday as floodwaters advanced into the Thai capital, forcing authorities in “crisis mode” to declare a five-day public holiday in preparation for the deluge.
The cabinet ordered an October 27-31 holiday for Bangkok and 20 other provinces affected by the kingdom’s worst flooding in decades, amid warnings a high [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 27, 2011

Killer Asia floods swallow children who can’t swim

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — It took only a second for the murky floodwaters swamping parts of Asia to swallow Nguyen Phuoc Hien’s baby. His 3-year-old daughter had been playing happily while her aunt studied, but somehow, the girl slipped quietly outside the family home deep in Vietnam’s southern Mekong Delta.
When Hien’s [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 27, 2011

Bangkok governor to city: Prepare for floods

BANGKOK (AP) — The governor of Bangkok issued a dramatic warning to residents of the Thai capital to prepare for floodwaters to roll deeper into the city from suburban areas already choking under the deluge.
In live televised remarks late Sunday, Gov. Sukhumbhand Paribatra said a massive amount of water has moved [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 25, 2011

Thailand counting cost as flood seeps into Bangkok

BANGKOK (AP) — Floodwaters that have devastated Thailand’s industry and agriculture seeped into outer Bangkok on Friday as the crowded capital’s residents braced for the impact, uncertain if they will soon be hopping over puddles or fording waist-high streams just outside their windows.
Thailand’s prime minister urged residents of the city of [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 22, 2011

Floodwaters spill into northern Bangkok

Millions of nervous Bangkok residents were warned Friday to move their belongings to safety as the kingdom’s worst floods in decades poured into the outskirts of the sprawling city.
In a desperate attempt to drain the mass of muddy water, the authorities have opened all of Bangkok’s sluice gates to allow the [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 22, 2011