Flood Waters Converge on Downtown Bangkok

Bangkok residents are growing increasingly restless as floodwaters continue to rise through city streets. Officials are trying to drain the waters through waterways in the city’s eastern and western areas, but that’s prompted protests from residents who say their homes are being sacrificed to protect ritzier downtown properties like luxury hotels and shopping malls, the AFP reports. So far, the center of the city is still dry.

About 20% of the capital is underwater, and 12 of its 50 districts have received whole or partial evacuation orders—though many are ignoring those warnings. The beleaguered government, meanwhile, says it’s preparing a “master” plan to prevent another such disaster, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. “The plan would mobilize all real experts to work in the same direction,” the prime minister promised. Critics have lambasted the government for its handling of the floods, which have killed at least 437 throughout Thailand. (More Thailand stories.)