Floods reach edge of Bangkok

A Thai resident uses a makeshift float to keep his dog dry as he pulls a woman along flooded streets in Rangsit district at the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand on Friday Oct. 21, 2011. Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra urged Bangkok's residents to get ready to move their belongings to higher ground Friday as the country's worst floods in half a century began seeping into the capital's outer districts. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
A Thai resident uses a makeshift float to keep his dog dry as he pulls a woman along flooded streets in Rangsit district at the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand on Friday Oct. 21, 2011. Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra urged Bangkok's residents to get ready to move their belongings to higher ground Friday as the country's worst floods in half a century began seeping into the capital's outer districts. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Residents were urged to prepare to move their belongings to higher ground.

By Todd Pitman and Thanyarat Doksone, Associated Press
Posted: October 22, 2011

BANGKOK, Thailand - Floodwaters that have devastated Thailand's industry and agriculture seeped into outer Bangkok on Friday as the crowded capital's residents braced for the impact, uncertain if they will soon be hopping over puddles or fording waist-high streams just outside their windows.

Thailand's prime minister urged residents of the city of nine million people to get ready to move their belongings to higher ground. Key gates on flood-control canals in the capital have been opened in a risky move to drain the high waters into the sea, but it's not known how much will overflow onto streets.

An Associated Press team saw water entering homes and rising to knee level Friday in a northern district along the capital's main Prapa canal. Damage so far was minor and not affecting Bangkok's main business district.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the Prapa canal was a big concern and urged people "not to panic."

Newly released data showed the devastation the flooding has caused in both agriculture and industry.

The U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization said flooded areas of the country cover 12.5 percent of the total land under cropping.

"Although no precise crop damage estimates are yet available, the main rice season at the critical growth stage is likely to be affected the most," said an FAO statement.

Thailand is a major agricultural exporter and has been the world's top rice exporter for decades. The FAO said it expected its estimate to rise as dams allow runoff of water.

Thailand's Labor Ministry said the flooding has affected 14,818 workplaces and 678,227 workers.

The total includes the damage from five major industrial estates north of Bangkok forced to shut operations in the last few weeks after being inundated. Among those affected are Japanese carmakers Toyota and Honda, forced to suspend major assembly operations, and a slew of automotive-parts makers.

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