Getting ready
As part of efforts to protect against floods, workers prepare to elevate national heritage listed office buildings built during the reign of King Rama VI in Bang Yi Khan district of Bangkok.
Disaster area
Floods continue in Sakon Nakhon
Eleven out of 18 districts of Sakon Nakhon have been declared disaster zones after more than two weeks of flooding.
Provincial governor Boonsong Techamaneesathit said on August 18 the official disaster zone area covered 120,000 rai of land and hundreds of roads. The estimated cost of the damage was about 250 million baht, he said.
Boonsong added that continual heavy rain and rising water levels in the Mekong River have made it difficult to drain floodwater out of affected areas.
Broken bridge
Residents build river raft
Residents in Kanchanaburi’s Sangkhla Buri district have joined forces to make a bamboo raft to aid transport while a bridge linking two villages is being repaired.
On August 18, more than 50 Thais and Mon residents in Nong Lu sub-district began making the raft following the collapse of 850 metre-long Mon Bridge. Construction of the raft, which will serve a 450 metre stretch of the river, will take two to three weeks to complete, a local official said.
Mon Bridge, the country’s longest wooden bridge, collapsed during heavy rains on July 28.
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Transport terror
Teenage girl shot
A 15-year-old girl was shot by a bus driver. It happened in Samut Prakan on August 17. Passengers said the bus driver started arguing with another bus driver. A shot was fired and the girl was hit. The girl was not killed.
Vocabulary
- continual (adj): continuing without interruption
drain (v): to make something empty or dry by removing all the liquid from it
raft (n): a flat structure made of pieces of wood tied together and used as a boat or floating platform
