A resident living in a community underneath Bangkok’s Rama VI Bridge cleans floating garbage from his flooded home. Many areas alongside the Chao Phya River were flooded following heavy rains.

The Royal Irrigation Department chief has ordered officials to keep draining water from submerged parts of eastern Bangkok into the Bang Pakong River and the Gulf of Thailand.

The capital will also have to brace itself for Typhoon Xangsane - now battering the Philippines and moving towards the South China Sea - which will affect Thailand's weather on Sunday.

While some areas would suffer from flooding due to heavy rains, the newly opened Suvarnabhumi Airport would not be affected, department chief Samart Chokkanapitak said.

Following the airport's opening yesterday, the department plans to revamp 17 existing canals in eastern Bangkok and construct a new one from Samrong to Chai Talae, located on the coast, to increase water drainage.

Samart insisted the high sea tides and floodwaters from the North - which are passing through the Chao Phya River at a rate of 2,423 cubic metres per second - would not submerge Bangkok.

"The only factor that can cause flooding is heavy rainfall," he said.

Eastern Bangkok's Srinakarin, Pattanakarn and Ramkhamhaeng roads were knee-deep in water after Wednesday night's heavy downpours in Suan Luang, Prawet and Saphan Sung districts. Many residents in small sois were unable to leave home for work, prompting authorities to send trucks to give them a lift.

Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin, who yesterday morning inspected the routes, said officials worked hard to drain floodwaters out of the areas and the situation should be back to normal by this afternoon.

Yesterday morning the Chao Phya River stood at 1.77 metres and was expected to rise to 1.8 metres by the evening, a level the flood barriers could handle, said Apirak.

Apirak called a meeting of 50 district heads to tackle the floods. He said the accumulated rainfall this year was 1,128 millilitres and that Typhoon Xangsane would bring heavy rainfall to Bangkok and the Kingdom's Central, eastern and southern regions.

The Bhumibol, Sirikit and Pasak Jorasit dams were now 90 per cent full and if there was more rain in the North, these dams would have to release water - which would affect Bangkok.

In the meantime, communities located outside the city's flood barriers - such as Bang Phlat district's Soi Charansanitwong 86 and 92 and Bang Sue district's 50 homes under Rama VI bridge - suffered saltwater flooding triggered by the massive seasonal inflows from the Gulf of Thailand. Officials installed pumps to drain the water and were assigned to be on watch for flood conditions 24 hours a day.

Meanwhile, public boat services on San Saeb Canal will be suspended for five days due to the high water level caused by heavy downpours, while Chao Phya River express boats are being told to slow down to reduce the impact on riverside residents.

Pairat Boondam, manager of the Family Transport Ltd - whose 70 craft provide 400 trips per day for 40,000 people - said boats could no longer pass under some bridges and those travelling at speed would cause a tidal surge to wash over riverside properties.

As a result, the company will cease operations for five days, after which time they would assess the flood situation and determine when to resume the service, he said.

Parinya Rakwathin of Chao Phraya Express Boat Co Ltd, which handles 38,000 passengers on weekdays and 30,000 on the weekend, said the company would be running as usual but advised its boat drivers to lower their speed from 15km per hour to 8kph.