Chim Plee community residents of Bangkok’s Taling Chan district have endured one-metre-high

Bangkok has been warned it must defend itself against rising Chao Phya River floodwaters from now until the end of November.

The river was expected to be at two-metres above sea level or higher for the next five to six weeks.

The highest levels were expected tomorrow and would top out at 2.2 metres. That should ease off near the end of the week but would not fall below two metres.

Another high water was tipped for November 6 until November 9 as a result of new high tides in the Gulf of Thailand, Royal Irrigation Department director-general Samart Chokanapitak said.

"His Majesty the King is most worried about flooding and its consequences. He is monitoring the situation through several channels and demands daily departmental reports," Samart explained.

"His Majesty is deeply concerned about flooding in the east of Bangkok and remains worried at its duration. In the west of the city his main concern is damage to flood-prevention walls which has allowed water to inundate some communities," he said.

Samart reported river levels peaked at 2.02 metres at around 6pm yesterday. This was below initial estimates.

"By draining some water into Klong Lad Pho following advice from His Majesty we have reduced water levels by between five centimetres to 10 centimetres over the past week," he said.

Meanwhile, the department was most concerned about stretches of Klong Mahasawadi in Bangkok and Nonthaburi during tomorrow's peaks.

Nationally, the department forecast Chao Phya levels in Nakhon Sawan to return to normal after November 10.

"The discharge of water from the Chao Phya Dam in Chai Nat should cease by mid-November and the drain rate has been gradually reduced over past weeks. Discharge at the Pasak Dam in Nakhon Nayok will be back to normal within two days," he said. Many lower North and Central areas remained hard-hit by flooding. These included districts in Phitsanulok, Ayutthaya and Suphan Buri.

The department was talking with farmers in Pathum Thani and Nakhon Pathom as it planned to divert water away from Ayutthaya.

Diverted volumes would be kept below levels that endangered rice crops.

"These measures have been effective over the past week and we have drained 513 million cubic metres of Chao-Phya water on to 1.2 million rai of farm. That's 93 per cent of what we estimated," he said.

In Angthong's Pa Moke district, a temple-run orphanage was short of food as a result of flooding, according to Phrakhru Wudhidhar-

mathorn, an abbot at Wat Boet Worradit. Local markets were donating necessities.

South in Surat Thani, heavy rainfall had stranded some 200 households at Phrasaeng district. Disaster workers were alert for serious floods and landslides, deputy governor Thawatchai Therdphaothai said.