Floods kill 15 in Thailand

BANGKOK - Floods in Thailand’s central and northeastern provinces have claimed at least 15 lives this week and caused more than 7.7 billion baht ($257 million) in damages, government and media sources said Thursday.

The floods were caused by heavy monsoon rains that have been lashing central Thailand since the weekend, officials from the National Disaster Relief Centre said.

Rail service between Bangkok and Chiang Mai in the north of the country was suspended late Thursday due to flooding on the tracks, railway officials said.

The government allocated 100 million baht to provide tents, flat-bottomed boats, emergency food supplies and other relief items to hundreds of thousands of people affected by the floods in 22 of Thailand’s 75 provinces.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej granted another 10 million baht to flood victims.

Bangkok has been spared the worst of the rain, but was expecting a swelling of the Chao Phraya River, which flows through the capital.

Dams in the central plains have been forced to release water into the river upstream of Bangkok.

City officials said they were worried about the water levels over the weekend, when the floodwaters were predicted to reach the capital, and high spring tides were forecast to push water up the river from the Gulf of Thailand.

Heavy rains over the weekend on top of the tides would spell disaster for Bangkokians, experts warned.