Chao Phraya

Bangkok, a low-lying city of at least 12 million people that accounts for 41 percent of Thailand's economy, is in danger from run-off water from the north coinciding with the high tide on the Chao Phraya, which is already at a record high level.

Reuters: Press Release 2011

Bangkok, a low-lying city of at least 12 million people that accounts for 41 percent of Thailand's economy, is in danger from run-off water from the north coinciding with the high tide on the Chao Phraya, which is already at a record high level.

Reuters: Press Release 2011

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra shrugged off growing criticism here of her government's efforts to cope with the worst flood in a half-century, and told reporters Friday that officials are now stepping up efforts to divert more water away from the Chao Phraya and out to the sea through a network of canals in the east of the city.

Bangkok Heads Into Critical Days James Hookway 2011

In the oldest parts of town by the Chao Phraya, though, residents were going about their business over the weekend more or less as usual as floodwaters rose and fell.

Bangkok's Old-Timers Recall Even Worse Deluges Patrick Barta 2011

Bangkok's ritzy Shangri-La hotel, along the Chao Phraya riverfront, is about 30% full, a spokesman said, compared with its normal occupancy this time of year of 70% to 90%.

Bangkok Flood Adds to City's Woes Patrick Barta 2011

Dressed in a camouflage hat, swim trunks and flip-flops, with a plate of meatballs on sticks nearby, he said he remembered seeing far worse when he was a young man growing up along the Chao Phraya.

Bangkok's Old-Timers Recall Even Worse Deluges Patrick Barta 2011

Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images A man looked down at rising flood waters encroaching on a Chinese temple in China Town, near to the overflowing Chao Phraya river, in Bangkok, on Wednesday.

Asia in Pictures 2011

Local government officials have said they plan to assemble hundreds of boats on the Chao Phraya river north of Bangkok on Tuesday in a bid to force floodwaters out into the sea by churning the waters with their propeller blades.

Floodwaters Take Heavy Toll on Thailand James Hookway 2011

Barbara Walton/EPA A woman prayed on the bank of the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok during the Loi Krathong festival Thursday.

Thais Celebrate Loi Krathong Festival 2011

Tens of thousands more demonstrators are still on their way to Bangkok, including thousands of people riding boats down the country's storied Chao Phraya river, in a carefully orchestrated show of force against what the protesters say are the antidemocratic forces that control Thailand: the armed forces and the country's traditional bureaucratic elites.

Protesters Flood Bangkok James Hookway 2010