Mass evacuation as authorities fear crocodiles from outlying areas may have arrived in the city's swollen watercourses.Residents of Bangkok are bracing themselves for peak tides that threaten to overwhelm Thailand's capital with flood water. Many have fled to beach resorts unaffected by the country's worst flooding in half a century but those who remain face a shortage of bottled water and unconfirmed reports that crocodiles from outlying areas may have arrived in the city's swollen watercourses."We are hearing disturbing reports of dangerous animals such as snakes and crocodiles appearing in the floodwaters and every day we see children playing in the water, bathing or wading through it trying to make their way to dry ground," said Annie Bodmer-Roy, spokeswoman for Save the Children.Supermarkets are racing to import crates of bottled water because most plants supplying the city of 12 million people are located in central provinces, some of which are under two metres of water. In the absence of water, crates of beer have filled swaths of empty shelf space in shops.
Flood walls protecting much of Bangkok's inner-city areas are 2.5 metres (8ft) high and Saturday's high tide is expected to reach 2.6 metres.
Friday's morning high tide passed without a major breach, but the waters briefly touched riverside areas closer to the city's central business districts of Silom and Sathorn.
"It is clear that although the high tides haven't reached 2.5 metres, it was high enough to prolong the suffering of those living outside the flood walls and to threaten those living behind deteriorating walls," said the Bangkok governor, Sukhumbhand Paribatra.
Seven of Bangkok's 50 districts in the northern outskirts are heavily flooded, and residents have fled aboard bamboo rafts and army trucks and by wading in waist-deep water. Eight other districts have seen less serious flooding.
Hotels are packed in beach resorts such as Pattaya, where there is an uneasy balance between recreation and concern for the capital's fate with holidaymakers gathering around TV news bulletins, Bodmer-Roy said.
Almost 400 people have been killed in the nationwide floods, which began in July. The government has warned that Thailand may lose a quarter of its main rice crop, which could increase prices from the world's top exporter of the grain.
"The 6m tonnes damage [to the rice paddy] is just an initial estimate.
"It is clear that although the high tides haven't reached 2.5 metres, it was high enough to prolong the suffering of those living outside the flood walls and to threaten those living behind deteriorating walls," said the Bangkok governor, Sukhumbhand Paribatra.
Seven of Bangkok's 50 districts in the northern outskirts are heavily flooded, and residents have fled aboard bamboo rafts and army trucks and by wading in waist-deep water. Eight other districts have seen less serious flooding.
Hotels are packed in beach resorts such as Pattaya, where there is an uneasy balance between recreation and concern for the capital's fate with holidaymakers gathering around TV news bulletins, Bodmer-Roy said.
Almost 400 people have been killed in the nationwide floods, which began in July. The government has warned that Thailand may lose a quarter of its main rice crop, which could increase prices from the world's top exporter of the grain.
"The 6m tonnes damage [to the rice paddy] is just an initial estimate.
We need to conduct a survey again after flood water recedes," Apichart Jongsakul, head of the Office of Agriculture Economy, told Reuters.
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