BANGKOK, September 29 — Torrential rains across central Thailand have killed at least 23 people since September 16 and plunged the capital into its worst flooding in years, with Bangkok’s main international airport operating in disarray and the government approving a multi-billion-baht relief package.
Bangkok was swamped by roughly 320 millimeters of rain in just three days last week — nearly its entire usual September total — submerging major roads and affecting about 700,000 people across all 50 city districts, according to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. Waters were beginning to recede from main arteries, Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said, though full clearance of inundated neighborhoods could take up to a week.
The disaster stretched far beyond the capital. Nationwide, 42 provinces were hit and an estimated 2.5 million people affected, Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation reported. The floods caused roughly $367 million in damage across two dozen provinces, threatening an economy heavily reliant on tourism.
At Suvarnabhumi Airport, the country’s largest, the fallout was acute. Thai Airways said about half its ground staff could not reach work, forcing it to cancel roughly 30 percent of its Bangkok departures on Tuesday and leaving some 5,600 bags stranded. “Almost 100 percent of flights over the past two days were delayed, with fewer than 3 percent on schedule,” chief executive Chai Eamsiri said. Tourism Minister Surasak Phancharoenworakul publicly rebuked the carrier, warning the disruption “damages the country’s image.”
On Tuesday the cabinet approved more than 4 billion baht ($119 million) in immediate flood relief, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said, alongside a longer-term 160 billion baht ($4.8 billion) drainage program slated to take eight years and aimed at protecting Bangkok and surrounding central provinces.
The upheaval arrives as foreign arrivals have already slipped 3.12 percent year-on-year in the first nine months to 21.28 million visitors, underscoring the fragility of the post-pandemic recovery. Meteorologists warned further thunderstorms could still hit parts of the country.