Flooding devastates Thailand

Floods in have killed more than 600 people and caused billions of dollars worth of damage in Thailand since July.

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Nov. 20, 2011

A shopkeeper looks on as volunteers, reflected in a mirror, sweep a road during a cleaning drive after floodwaters receded in Bangkok. The situation has improved dramatically in recent days, and cleanup has begun in many areas. Some, however, still face weeks more under water.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Nov. 20, 2011

Volunteers take part in a cleanup along a major road in Bangkok after Thailand's prime minister declared the central part of the capital safe from the kingdom's devastating floods. President Obama vowed that the United States would give whatever help it could.

PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL / AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Nov. 20, 2011

Workers remove a large pile of trash left after floodwaters receded from a district in Bangkok during a "big cleaning day" Sunday.

DAMIR SAGOLJ / REUTERS

Nov. 20, 2011

A man walks in a flooded shopping mall in Bangkok. Thailand's worst floods in 50 years devastated industry in the center of the country. The situation is starting to improve, with water receding in many affected areas and some businesses getting back to work.

SUKREE SUKPLANG / REUTERS

Nov. 19, 2011

A damaged poster of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra stands in the water in a flooded area in Bangkok.

SUKREE SUKPLANG / REUTERS

Nov. 19, 2011

A girl joins in as volunteers sweep an intersection during a cleanup drive after floodwaters receded in Bangkok. Hundreds of city workers, police, army personnel and civilian volunteers worked at various sites.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Rice is left to dry as girls play outside their home in Ayutthaya province. Their home has been flooded for two months. The deluge has affected about 2 million people since late July, and tens of thousands have relocated or taken shelter in evacuation centers.

DAMIR SAGOLJ / REUTERS

Flooded houses in a suburb of Bangkok.

PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL / AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Nov. 18, 2011

Residents walk on makeshift steps to a tollway in a flooded area in Bangkok.

SUKREE SUKPLANG / REUTERS

Aapico Hitech workers recover containers and raw steel rolls at the company's flooded factory in Bang Pa-In, near Ayutthaya.

Dario Pignatelli / BLOOMBERG

Nov. 18, 2011

A Muslim girl is silhouetted against floodwaters as she rides a boat on the outskirts of Bangkok. Nearly a third of Thailand's 77 provinces were hit by the flooding that began in late July. More than one-fifth of the country's 64 million people have been affected.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Nov. 17, 2011

Residents try to remove sandbags that were placed to prevent floodwater from entering central Bangkok. Protesters are demanding the sandbags be removed so that floodwater can be drained from their area that has been flooded for weeks.

/ Reuters

Nov. 17, 2011

Flood victims sleep in a sports hall turned into collective center for people evacuated from flooded areas in Bangkok.

Kerek Wongsa / Reuters

Nov. 17, 2011

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton does a traditional Thai greeting as she visits the collective center for people evacuated from flooded areas in Bangkok. Clinton is on a two-day visit to Thailand.

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

Nov. 17, 2011

Water pumps drain out floodwaters from the industrial zone in Thailand's ancient capital of Ayutthaya. Authorities have launched a massive operation to pump out floodwaters from the industrial zones in an effort to restart production as quick as possible.

Saeed Khan / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 17, 2011

A woman with a fishing net wades through a flooded street in Bangkok.

Sukree Sukplang / Reuters

Nov. 16, 2011

Boys play in the water in Bangkok's flooded district of Rangsi. At least 562 people have been killed across the country in Thailand's worst floods in a half-century, which have inundated parts of the capital, although authorities' efforts to divert the waters have helped keep the downtown area dry.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

Nov. 16, 2011

Residents walk through a flooded street in Bangkok below an archway adorned with portraits of the Thai king and queen.

Saeed Khan / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 16, 2011

A Thai resident sleeps on a plank at a flooded public park in Bangkok.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Nov. 16, 2011

A pedestrian wades through the floodwaters in the Rangsit district of Bangkok.

Saeed Khan / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 16, 2011

Workers collect garbage from a flooded area in Bangkok.

Sukree Sukplang / Reuters

Nov. 15, 2011

Local residents watch floodwaters rush through a partially destroyed sandbag wall near the Don Muang airport in Bangkok.

SAEED KHAN / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 14, 2011

An aerial view of a flooded field showing a monastery school in Bangkok. More than seven major industrial parks in Bangkok and thousands of factories have been closed in the central Thai provinces of Ayutthaya and Nonthaburi, with millions of tons of rice damaged.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

Nov. 14, 2011

Men ride a boat next to a house damaged by floods on the outskirts of Bangkok. Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra urged people to be patient, because the government is working as hard as it can to drain the water.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Nov. 14, 2011

Aid workers stand around floating refrigerators outside a flooded appliance store in Bangkok.

Kerek Wongsa / Reuters

Nov. 14, 2011

Factories are seen partially submerged in an aerial view of the Rojana Industrial Park in Ayutthaya, Thailand.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

Nov. 14, 2011

Thai residents climb on a makeshift ladder hung from a pedestrian overhang over a flooded road in the Rangsit district on the outskirts of Bangkok.

Apichart Weerawong / AP

Nov. 14, 2011

Flood victims express their gratitude after a police medical team gave them medicine in a flood-hit neighborhood on the outskirts of Bangkok.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Nov. 14, 2011

An aerial view of flooded streets in Bangkok.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

Nov. 14, 2011

A Honda factory is seen in an aerial view of the Rojana Industrial Park in Ayutthaya.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

Nov. 14, 2011

An aerial view of Honda vehicles at the flooded Honda factory in the Rojana Industrial Park in Ayutthaya, Thailand.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

Nov. 14, 2011

A man drives his vehicle through a gap in the flood barriers in the Don Muang district of Bangkok.

Apichart Weerawong / AP

Nov. 13, 2011

People carry an unconscious Thai soldier after he fainted during an evacuation operation at a flooded neighborhood in Bangkok.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Nov. 14, 2011

An aerial view of cars and trucks in a flooded market area in Bangkok.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

Nov. 14, 2011

An aerial view of a flooded field and a monastery school in Bangkok.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

Nov. 14, 2011

A resident walks on a barricade along a flooded highway in Nonthaburi province on the outskirts of Bangkok.

Chaiwat Subprasom / Reuters

Nov. 13, 2011

A Thai commando watches as villagers of the Don Muang district in Bangkok remove sandbags from barriers to ease flooding in their residential areas. The barriers were built to hold the floodwater back from surging to inner-city areas. Bangkok authorities have told more residents to leave as floodwaters threaten southwestern neighborhoods in the Thai capital.

/ AP

Nov. 13, 2011

Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra distributes food to flood-affected people in a Bangkok neighborhood.

Thai Government House / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 13, 2011

A man rides a jet ski on a flooded street in Bangkok.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Nov. 12, 2011

A worker keeps watch over a pump draining a flooded area in Bangkok.

Chaiwat Subprasom / Reuters

Nov. 12, 2011

A monk clears garbage from a monastery in the Bang Kae district of Bangkok. Flooding, now in its third month, has affected 25 of Thailand's 64 provinces.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

Nov. 12, 2011

Residents pick up food from soldiers.

Athit Perawongmetha / Reuters

Nov. 12, 2011

A Buddhist temple-turned-shelter in Bangkok feeds hundreds of flood victims.

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

Nov. 11, 2011

A woman throws out garbage after flood waters receded in Ayutthaya province.

Sukree Sukplang / Reuters

Nov. 11, 2011

A foreign tourist walks past a shopping mall fortified with sandbags in Bangkok.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Nov. 11, 2011

A woman waits inside a broken-down city bus for alternative transport in the heavily flooded streets of downtown Bangkok.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

Nov. 11, 2011

A passing vehicle creates waves as a woman waits for transportation at a road divider in Bangkok.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Nov. 11, 2011

A novice monk walks through a flooded vegetable market while looking for alms in Bangkok.

Kerek Wongsa / Reuters

Nov. 11, 2011

A worker collects gas cylinders washed away in the flooded area for safety at Bangkok Yai district.

Sakchai Lalit / AP

Nov. 11, 2011

A man and his dogs sit on a concrete block, where they stay, part of a construction project for an elevated train system, in a flooded area on the outskirts of Bangkok.

Sukree Sukplang / Reuters

Nov. 11, 2011

A boy rows his boat at flooded Bangkok Yai district.

Sakchai Lalit / AP

Nov. 10, 2011

A woman climbs into the back of an army truck transporting residents through the flooded streets of Bangkok. Thailand's worst floods in half a century have killed more than 500 people, damaged tons of rice, forced a series of industrial estates to close and threaten to inundate the capital.

Athit Perawongmetha / Reuters

Nov. 10, 2011

A Buddhist monk uses the walls of a temple as support while wading through floodwaters in Bangkok.

Kerek Wongsa / Reuters

Nov. 10, 2011

Residents line up to receive relief bags distributed by the Red Cross to flood victims in the Bangkhen district of Bangkok.

Sakchai Lalit / AP

Nov. 10, 2011

Aircraft sit on a flooded tarmac at Don Muang airport in Bangkok.

Saeed Khan / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 9, 2011

Debris floats in the water near submerged Buddhist statues on a flooded road north of Bangkok.

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

Nov. 9, 2011

A car plows through floodwaters in Bangkok.

Joan Manuel Baliellas / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 9, 2011

A man and his dog make their way through a flooded area in Ayutthaya,Thailand.

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

Nov. 9, 2011

A gravestone is submerged at a flooded Buddhist temple in Ayutthaya, Thailand.

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

Nov. 9, 2011

Employees, using an improvised float, transport a car to safety as part of their shop's service in the Yai district of Bangkok. The flooding in Thailand began in late July and the water has reached parts of Bangkok, where residents are frustrated by government confusion over how much worse the flooding will get.

Sakchai Lalit / AP

Nov. 9, 2011

Residents prepare their morning activities at their shelter of concrete blocks, to be used as construction for elevated trains, along a flooded road on the outskirts of Bangkok.

Apichart Weerawong / AP

Nov. 9, 2011

A man uses stilts to walk through floodwaters in Bangkok.

Nicolas Asfouri / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 9, 2011

Commuters walk through floodwaters to board a bus in Bangkok.

Joan Manuel Baliellas / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 9, 2011

A Buddhist monk carries wood to build a bridge above floodwaters in Bangkok.

Pornchai Kittiwongsakul / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 9, 2011

A man holds up a catfish he caught with a net under a flooded freeway in Bangkok.

Sukree Sukplang / Reuters

Nov. 9, 2011

A woman uses a plastic tub to transport her children through floodwaters in Bangkok.

Sukree Sukplang / Reuters

Nov. 9, 2011

Thai soldiers throw food packets on floodwaters to residents in Bangkok.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Nov. 9, 2011

A motorcycle taxi wades through floodwaters as water is drained from a compound in Bangkok Yai district.

Sakchai Lalit / AP

Nov. 8, 2011

Workers guide a large sandbag to create a wall to protect the Bangchan Industrial Estate on the outskirts of Bangkok.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

Nov. 8, 2011

Residents walk on planks above floodwaters as they alight from a train station in the Mon Chit area of Bangkok.

Aaron Favila / AP

Nov. 8, 2011

A worker stands on a sandbag barrier in front of the Saha Union factory in the Bang Chan industrial estate in Bangkok. Bangkok authorities widened an evacuation order in the city's northern districts and moved to protect two industrial parks near the main international airport as floodwaters encircled the Thai capital.

Dario Pignatelli / Bloomberg

Nov. 8, 2011

Workers move sandbags onto a wall next to the Nestle SA factory in the Bang Chan industrial estate in Bangkok.

Dario Pignatelli / Bloomberg

Nov. 8, 2011

A mural of Spider-Man is seen on a house as a Thai woman stands at the door at a flooded neighborhood in Bangkok.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Nov. 8, 2011

Children play in floodwaters northwest of Bangkok.

Joan Manuel Baliellas / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 8, 2011

People use a boat through floodwaters in the Lat Phrao shopping and business district in Bangkok.

Nicolas Asfouri / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 7, 2011

A crowded bus goes through floodwaters at Bangkok Yai district. Advancing pools of filthy water threatened the Thai capital's subway system and surrounded the emergency headquarters set up to deal with flooding.

Sakchai Lalit / AP

Nov. 7, 2011

Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra distributes food to residents in Bangkok.

Sukree Sukplang / Reuters

Nov. 7, 2011

Buddhist monks wash a funeral pavilion as floodwater start receding close to the Chao Praya river in Bangkok.

Saeed Khan / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 7, 2011

A woman is hit by a wave of floodwaters caused by a passing vehicle in Bangkok's Yai district.

Sakchai Lalit / AP

Nov. 7, 2011

Residents wade through floodwaters near a closed shop selling Buddha statues at Bangkok Yai district.

Sakchai Lalit / AP

Nov. 7, 2011

A girl steps out a telephone booth along a flooded area at Min Buri district in Bangkok.

Aaron Favila / AP

Nov. 6, 2011

A man pushes a floating device featuring a drawing of a pink colored Volkswagen van through floodwaters near the Chao Prayariver in Bangkok.

Nicolas Asfouri / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 6, 2011

A man watches pumps push water out from his flooded home in Bangkok.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

Nov. 6, 2011

Thais wade through flooded streets as the sun sets in Bangkok.

Aaron Favila / AP

Nov. 5, 2011

Commuters pass a supermarket fortified with sandbags in Bangkok.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Nov. 5, 2011

Residents walk through a flooded street in Bangkok.

Sukree Sukplang / Reuters

Nov. 5, 2011

Traffic policemen help residents push a truck through a flooded street in Bangkok. As waterlogged Thailand struggles to contain the worst floods in decades, it faces a simple truth: Not a whole lot can be done to avoid a repeat disaster in the short term even with a new multibillion-dollar water-management policy.

/ Reuters

Nov. 5, 2011

A family rows through floodwaters on a makeshift raft near the overflowing Chao Praya river in Bangkok. Hundreds of thousands of people have been told to evacuate a number of Bangkok districts, but many have chosen to stay despite risks including electrocution, disease and lack of food and drinking water.

Saeed Khan / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 4, 2011

A forklift moves a vehicle from floodwaters in Bangkok. Thailand's worst floods in half a century reached the edge of downtown Bangkok, threatening some underground rail stations and forcing the closure of a major shopping center.

Pornchai Kittiwongsakul / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 4, 2011

Vehicles drive through floodwaters at Lod Praow district in Bangkok.

Sakchai Lalit / AP

Nov. 4, 2011

Deer and antelope move toward a dry area at Safari world, an open zoo and theme park in Bangkok.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Nov. 4, 2011

A vendor sells rubber boots at Lat Phrao district in Bangkok.

Chaiwat Subprasom / Reuters

Nov. 4, 2011

Buddhist nuns travel in a boat through floodwaters at the Sathira-Dhammasathan Buddhist meditation center in Bangkok.

Sukree Sukplang / Reuters

Nov. 3, 2011

Thai residents are transported in a truck through a flooded street in Bangkok.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Nov. 3, 2011

People help a man push his stalled motorcycle along flooded streets in Bangkok.

Aaron Favila / AP

Nov. 3, 2011

A boat paddles near the flooded tarmac of the closed Don Muang airport in Bangkok.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

Nov. 3, 2011

A man has a drink as he sits outside his house in fetid floodwaters in a neighborhood in Bangkok.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Nov. 3, 2011

People evacuated from flooded areas pass the time under the bridge where they found shelter in Bangkok.

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

Nov. 3, 2011

Statues of Buddha are wrapped in plastic covers as a man rides a motorcycle through floodwaters in Bangkok.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Nov. 3, 2011

A Thai girl sits inside a plastic container floating at a flooded public market in Bangkok.

Aaron Favila / AP

Nov. 2, 2011

Thai soldiers help people evacuate from a flooded area at Phisi Charoen district in Bangkok.

Sakchai Lalit / AP

Nov. 2, 2011

Elderly Thais gesture as they wait to be evacuated from the Bang Khae Home Foundation in Bangkok.

Aaron Favila / AP

Nov. 2, 2011

An elderly Thai is assisted boarding a bus during an evacuation from the Bang Khae Home Foundation in Bangkok.

Aaron Favila / AP

Nov. 2, 2011

A soldier helps a woman wade through floodwaters at Phisi Charoen district in Bangkok.

Sakchai Lalit / AP

Nov. 2, 2011

Flood victims who took shelter at Don Muang airport swim in the floodwater next to a parking ramp in Bangkok.

Apichart Weerawong / AP

Nov. 1, 2011

People wade through water at a Buddhist temple where hundreds of floods victims found shelter in Bangkok. Authorities tried to stem growing anger among flood victims Tuesday as water surged through new neighborhoods and the government plotted a recovery aimed at securing the long-term confidence of investors.

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

Nov. 1, 2011

An evacuee from flooded area plays with her dog at a Buddhist temple where hundreds of victims found shelter in Bangkok.

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

Nov. 1, 2011

An evacuee from flooded area plays with a child at a Buddhist temple where hundreds of victims found shelter in Bangkok.

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

Nov. 1, 2011

Flood victims rest in a school after evacuating from their flooded houses in Bangkok.

Bazuki Muhammad / Reuters

Nov. 1, 2011

People wade through floodwaters at Bang Phlat district in Bangkok.

Sakchai Lalit / AP

Oct. 31, 2011

A stranded elephant drinks water with its trunk while swimming with its mahout in the floods in Ayutthaya province, central Thailand. Seventeen elephants were stranded at the elephant camps in Ayutthaya province following floods that submerged north and central part of the country for more than two months.

Apichart Weerawong / AP

Oct. 31, 2011

A man takes a nap at a flooded bus stop in Bangkok. Higher-than-normal tides pushing up the Chao Phraya River from the Gulf of Thailand in recent days have complicated efforts to drain the floodwater that has been surging through the city as it makes its way from provinces that have been submerged and suffering for up to two months.

Sakchai Lalit / AP

Oct. 31, 2011

Thai flood victims gather near a floodgate as water gushes through during a confrontation between residents and authorities on the outskirts of Bangkok.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Oct. 31, 2011

A woman wades through floodwaters in Bangkok.

Sakchai Lalit / AP

Oct. 31, 2011

People on the back of a Thai army truck are evacuated from Bangkok.

Sakchai Lalit / AP

Oct. 31, 2011

People stand on a sandbag barrier in front of Wat Trimit temple in Bangkok.

Sakchai Lalit / AP

Oct. 30, 2011

Soldiers hold onto each other against the stream of water flowing into a neighborhood after a wall was breached by the swollen Chao Phraya River in Bangkok.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Oct. 30, 2011

A woman in need of medical attention is evacuated by boat from the floodwaters in Bangkok's Bang Phlat district. Peak tides tested Bangkok's flood defenses Sunday as hope rose that the center of the Thai capital might escape the worst floods in decades, but that was little comfort for swamped suburbs and provinces where worry about disease was growing.

Adrees Latif / Reuters

Oct. 30, 2011

Thai residents push a car through a flooded street close to the rising waters of the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. About 370 people have died in flood-related incidents since late July, according to Thailand's Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. The flooding is the worst in Thailand in 50 years.

Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

Oct. 30, 2011

Volunteers lower bottles of drinking water with a rope to rescue workers in a flooded area near the Chao Praya River in Bangkok.

Nicolas Asfouri / AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 30, 2011

People evacuate a man from the area as floods advance into Bangkok. The floods have wiped out a quarter of the main rice crop in the world's biggest rice exporter, forced up global prices of computer hard drives and caused delays in global auto production after destroying industrial estates.

Sukree Sukplang / Reuters

Oct. 30, 2011

Buddhist statues stand partially submerged as floodwaters inundate a covered market along the Chao Phraya River in central Bangkok. Floods engulfing parts of the Thai capital should start to recede soon, the prime minister said after barriers along Bangkok's swollen main river appeared to prevent an even more disastrous overflow.

Christophe Archambault / AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 28, 2011

Residents are transported by Thai Navy personnel across a flooded street near the rising waters of the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. An estimated 370 people have died in flood-related incidents since late July, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. Thailand is experiencing the worst flooding in 50 years with damages running as high as $6 billion, which could increase as the floods swamp Bangkok.

Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

Oct. 28, 2011

A flood victim uses a boat to inspect his partially submerged house in Thon Buri, outside Bangkok. Thailand's worst flooding in half a century, caused in part by unusually heavy monsoon rain, has killed an estimated 370 people since mid-July and disrupted the lives of nearly 2.2 million, until now mostly in the north and central provinces.

Bazuki Muhammad / Reuters

Oct. 28, 2011

Anusorn Adirekkittikun's 8-year-old son, Korn, climbs on the tricycle his father designed and built to move through water in a flooded neighborhood near the Chao Phraya River in central Bangkok. Traffic clogged roads out of the Thai capital Friday as tens of thousands of people fled ahead of a high tide expected to worsen floods that have inundated factories and prompted foreign governments to warn their citizens to stay away.

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

Oct. 28, 2011

Airplanes are parked on the flooded tarmac at Don Muang airport in Bangkok. Traffic clogged roads out of the Thai capital Friday as tens of thousands of people fled ahead of a high tide expected to worsen floods that have inundated factories and prompted foreign governments to warn citizens to stay away.

Chaiwat Subprasom / Reuters

Oct. 28, 2011

People are transported on a truck through a flooded street in Bangkok.

Chaiwat Subprasom / Reuters

Oct. 28, 2011

A woman evacuated from an area affected by floods sleeps among tents at Don Muang airport in Bangkok.

Chaiwat Subprasom / Reuters

Oct. 28, 2011

People sit with their belongings at a bus station as they wait to move out of Bangkok.

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

Oct. 27, 2011

A Thai boy carries a dog as he wades through floodwaters in Bangkok. Residents poured out of the Thai capital by bus, plane and train Thursday, heeding government warnings to use a special five-day holiday to evacuate parts of the flood-threatened metropolis before a weekend deluge rushes through the city.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Oct. 27, 2011

A man holds a bag of grain as he feeds fish and pigeons, standing on a flood wall made of sandbags, as waters rise on the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. Around 350 people have died in flood-related incidents since late July according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. Thailand is experiencing the worst flooding in 50 years with damages running as high as $6 billion, which could increase if floods swamp Bangkok.

Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

Oct. 27, 2011

People wade through floodwaters for evacuation from Bangkok. Residents poured out of the Thai capital by bus, plane and train, heeding government warnings to use a special five-day holiday to evacuate parts of the flood-threatened metropolis before a weekend deluge rushes through the city.

Altaf Qadri / AP

Oct. 27, 2011

A man carries his goose as he sits in a flooded street at Bang Phlat district in Bangkok.

Chaiwat Subprasom / Reuters

Oct. 27, 2011

People wade through floodwaters near a parrot sculpture in Bangkok.

Sakchai Lalit / AP

Oct. 27, 2011

A young monk wheels sandbags to help fortify a temple from rising flood waters from the overflowing Chao Phraya river in Bangkok. Around 350 people have died in flood-related incidents since late July, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. Thailand is experiencing the worst flooding in 50 years with damages running as high as $6 billion.

Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

Oct. 27, 2011

A woman crosses a barrier made of sandbags as she leaves a shop in the financial district of Bangkok.

Joan Manuel Baliellas / AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 27, 2011

A dog looks from a fence at a flooded area in Bangkok.

Aaron Favila / AP

Oct. 27, 2011

Pedestrians walk on steps leading to the overflowing Chao Phraya river in Bangkok.

Bazuki Muhammad / Reuters

Oct. 26, 2011

Soldiers and volunteers pile sandbags to fortify flood barriers at Puranavad temple on the outskirts of Bangkok.

Apichart Weerawong / AP

Oct. 26, 2011

Flood victims take shelter in tents at the closed Don Muang Airport in Bangkok. The country is experiencing the worst flooding in 50 years with floodwaters threatening to disrupt Thailand's tourism industry.

Athit Perawongmetha / Getty Images

Oct. 26, 2011

Thai Airways Airbus A300 airplanes are parked on the flooded tarmac at Don Muang airport in Bangkok. Thailand announced a five-day holiday on Tuesday to give people a chance to escape floods closing in on the capital as authorities ordered the immediate evacuation of a housing estate on the outskirts of the city after a protection wall gave way

Bazuki Muhammad / Reuters

Oct. 26, 2011

A tuk tuk taxi driver pushes his car in front of the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Floodwaters inched closer to the Thai capital's second largest airport Wednesday, leading many who had sought refuge at a shelter there to flee amid warnings that parts of Bangkok could be inundated by up to 5 feet of water.

/ AP

Oct. 26, 2011

People walk through floodwater in Bangkok. Thailand's premier warned a confused and on-edge Bangkok that incoming floods could last for four weeks, as panic buying peaked and rising waters shut the city's second airport.

Pornchai Kittiwongsakul / AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 25, 2011

Residents evacuate their flooded town, north of Bangkok. Thailand announced a five-day holiday on Tuesday to give people to the chance to escape floods closing in on the capital as authorities ordered the immediate evacuation of a housing estate on the outskirts of the city after a protection wall gave way.

Bazuki Muhammad / Reuters

Oct. 25, 2011

Men move their television and belongings at a flooded gas station at Bang Phlat district in Bangkok.

Chaiwat Subprasom / Reuters

Oct. 24, 2011

A Ronald McDonald statue sits outside a flooded fast food restaurant in Bangkok.

Pornchai Kittiwongsakul / AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 24, 2011

A couple wade through their flooded Bangkok neighborhood.

Bazuki Muhammad / Reuters

Oct. 23, 2011

A man carries a crocodile on his shoulder after it was caught and killed in a flooded residential area in Bangbuatong district of Nonthaburi province, north of Bangkok. The crocodile was thought to have escaped from a farm in a nearby province because of the flooding. The threat that floodwaters pose to Thailand's capital could ease by the beginning of next month as the record levels of water flowing downstream from the country's north begin to decline, authorities said.

Apichart Weerawong / AP

Oct. 23, 2011

Thai Dhammakaya monks and volunteers work to fortify a floodgate and barrage, made of sandbags and pipes, at Klong Rapi Pat in Klong Luang on the outskirts of Bangkok. The floodgate, about five miles long at Klong Rapi Pat, is one of the final fortifications standing between the water and inner Bangkok. Thailand is experiencing its worst flooding in 50 years, with damages running as high as $6 billion.

Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

Oct. 23, 2011

Stranded flood victims eat dinner while waiting for transportation along the flooded streets of Bangbuathong, Thailand. Hundreds of factories have closed in the central Thai provinces of Ayutthaya and Nonthaburi as the waters threaten Bangkok.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

Oct. 23, 2011

Thai monks work to save robes and Buddhist texts of the Dhammakaya temple from the floods in Klong Luang on the outskirts of Bangkok.

Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

Oct. 23, 2011

Flood victims are transported in Bangbuathong, Thailand.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

Oct. 23, 2011

Members of a family float on a handmade raft back to their house as Thai monks and volunteers work to fortify a floodgate and barrage, made of sandbags and pipes, at Klong Rapi Pat on the outskirts of Bangkok.

Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

Residents make their way through flooded streets in Pathum Thani on the outskirts of Bangkok. Hundreds of factories closed in the central Thai provinces of Ayutthaya and Nonthaburi as the waters came closer to threaten Bangkok as well. About 320 people have died in flood-related incidents since late July, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. Thailand is experiencing the worst flooding in 50 years, with damages running as high as $6 billion.

Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

Children play in water as floods advance in their neighborhood in the Sai Mai district of Bangkok.

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

Residents float a car down a flooded street in Pathum Thani on the outskirts of Bangkok.

Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

Boats fill the flooded streets in Bangbuathong on the outskirts of Bangkok.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

Thai Buddhist monks carry sandbags to fortify their barriers from rising floodwaters at the Weeru Wanaram temple in the Don Muang District of Bangkok.

Aaron Favila / AP

Buddhist monks walk on a barrier against advancing floods, which is fortified by sandbags, in the Sai Mai district in Bangkok.

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

Oct. 21, 2011

People evacuated from areas affected by floods find shelter at the check-in hall that is not in use at Don Muang airport in Bangkok.

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

Oct. 21, 2011

A Thai woman wades in the deep waters outside her flooded home in Pathum Thani, Thailand.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

Oct. 20, 2011

Soldiers try to stop the flow of water as it breaks through a barrier in Pathum Thani in Bangkok's suburbs. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said Thursday that Thailand was in crisis and the government was struggling to cope as the worst floods in half a century threatened to engulf the capital, Bangkok.

Sukree Sukplang / Reuters

Oct. 20, 2011

Residents use nets to catch fish at an overflowing canal on the outskirts of Bangkok. Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra acknowledged that efforts to block floodwaters from entering the capital are failing and authorities will instead risk potential overflow with a controlled release of water through the city's canals.

Kantachat Raungratanaampon / AP

Oct. 20, 2011

This aerial image shows houses partially submerged and stranded in floodwaters in Nonthaburi, on the outskirts of Bangkok. Thailand's premier said that it was impossible to protect all of Bangkok from the country's worst floods in decades, describing the situation as a "national crisis.”

Nicolas Asfouri / AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 20, 2011

People walk in a flooded street near Bangkok. Hundreds of factories closed in the central Thai province of Ayutthaya and Nonthaburi, with floodwaters coming closer to threatening Bangkok. About 320 people have died in flood-related incidents since late July, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

Oct. 20, 2011

A soldier relaxes while fortifying protection in the form of sandbags in flooded Pathum Thani province in Bangkok's suburbs.

Sukree Sukplang / Reuters

Oct. 19, 2011

A Thai man walks through a flooded area at a temple in Nonthaburi province, north of Bangkok. Thai authorities were still fighting floodwaters that threaten Bangkok on Wednesday, after the country's oldest industrial park was completely inundated.

Sakchai Lalit / AP

Oct. 19, 2011

Thai residents escape from an apartment as floodwaters rise in Pathum Thani province, a suburb of Bangkok. Flooding in the north, northeast and center of the country has killed at least 317 people since July and damaged large areas of farmland.

Kerek Wongsa / Reuters

Oct. 18, 2011

Thai workers and volunteers make sandbags in Bangkok. Soldiers, civil servants and families worked frantically Tuesday to shore up vulnerable flood defenses along Bangkok's northernmost outskirts, after the city's governor said more than 1 million additional sandbags would be needed to stop floodwaters from swamping the capital.

Sakchai Lalit / AP

Oct. 17, 2011

Residents walk through a flooded street in Pathum Thani province.

Sukree Sukplang / Reuters

Oct. 16, 2011

This aerial photo shows a temple surrounded by floodwaters in the ancient capital city of Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok. Flood defenses protecting the Thai capital held up on Oct.16, but the advancing waters that have swamped the inland still threaten to engulf Bangkok in a disaster that has claimed more than 300 lives. Thailand's worst floods in decades have inundated huge swaths of the kingdom, swallowing homes and businesses, shutting down industry and forcing tens of thousands of people to seek refuge in shelters.

Christophe Archambault / AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 16, 2011

A man makes his way through water on a flooded pier at the Chao Phraya River in central Bangkok. Relief workers reinforced barriers on Sunday to help defend Thailand's capita from the country's worst floods in decades.

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

Oct. 16, 2011

Factory workers join hands to stack sandbags to create flood barriers at the Nawa Nakhon industrial district on the outskirts of Bangkok.

/ AP

Oct. 15, 2011

An aerial view of a flooded temple in Ayutthaya province, Thailand. Rescue workers reinforced makeshift walls of sandbags around Bangkok on Saturday, as the worst floods in half-a-century threatened Thailand's low-lying capital after swamping entire provinces in the north.

/ Reuters

Oct. 15, 2011

People react as an army truck passes by on a flooded highway in Ayutthaya province.

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

Oct. 11, 2011

Cars are submerged in floodwaters at a Honda car factory outside Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok.

Christophe Archambault / AFP/Getty Images

Aapico Hitech Pcl workers recover containers and raw steel rolls at the company's flooded factory in the Hi Tech Industrial estate, in Bang Pa-In, near Ayutthaya, Thailand, on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011. Growth in Southeast Asian economies including Malaysia and Thailand may have peaked last quarter as the European debt crisis and Thai floods hurt the outlook for exports, adding pressure on policy makers to cut interest rates. Photographer: Dario Pignatelli/Bloomberg

Dario Pignatelli / BLOOMBERG

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