Thailand braces itself for disease threat

Monsoon floods across Thailand have killed more than 400 people since mid-July and are estimated to have disrupted the lives of nearly 2.2 million people.

But fears that high tides would overwhelm parts of the capital in recent days have now turned into concern about water- and insect-borne diseases.

Inner Bangkok, which accounts for some 41 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product, has avoided major flooding so far, but outlying areas are still chest- or waist-deep in water.

The city centre has been protected by a network of dykes and sandbag walls but neighbourhoods outside of the protective ring – especially to the north and west, and provinces to the north – remain swamped by deep, and potentially deadly, fetid water.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said authorities would speed up the process of draining water into Bangkok’s canals and into the sea, raising hopes that water levels in the city could start to sink.

But she added it may take more than a month for the floods to recede.

It is estimated that the flooding has caused $6bn in damages and that the cost of the clean-up could be as high as $30bn.

Read more: Asia Correspondent John Sparks on the fight to save Bangkok

Disease threat

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned of diseases such as diarrhoea, dengue fever and malaria in the coming days and weeks.

“There are places on the outskirts of Bangkok and in other parts of the country which have been flooded for nearly two weeks,” said Matthew Cochrane of the ICRC.

“The country’s prime minister has said that the city has ‘dodged a bullet’ – the economic impact of central Bangkok being flooded would have been huge, and thankfully that did not happen. But a huge part of the country is still under water,” Cochrane said.

The Red Cross said it had provided more than 130,000 relief kits and 120,000 packs of bottled water after concerns at the lack of food and drinking water in communities isolated by the floodwaters.

The Metropolitan Waterworks Authority said it had reduced the amount of tap water processed for residents from 900,000 to 400,000 cubic meters per day, because of high algae counts at one of its plants.

UNICEF said it was providing 20,000 mosquito nets and handing out 20,000 pamphlets explaining how to stay safe and healthy in flood-stricken regions.

Over 1,700 shelters have been set up across the country, where more than 113,000 people have taken refuge.

Read more: John Sparks on 'a crisis unprecedented in Thai history'