Thai PM hopes floods will spare most of Bangkok

Waters were receding from many inundated areas of Thailand after killing 381 people, but the misery remained for several communities still under water and feverish efforts to protect downtown Bangkok continued as runoff from the north pushed through on its way to the Gulf of Thailand.Rescuers evacuated a heavily pregnant woman stranded in the swamped neighborhood of Thonburi in the northern outskirts of the city.We had to get her to hospital, said marine rescue team member Nitipat Mongolpradit.The network of dikes defending against the citys main Chao Phraya river broke down in at least two neighborhoods as a record high tide pushed up from the gulf, with water spilling into streets as city workers and troops rushed to shore up concrete walls with sandbags.Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra told residents of Bangkok to be confident as she headed into a government crisis meeting, saying there may be overflow into some areas but that it would not cause any great damage.We will recover soon, she said.Bangkoks governor, Sukhumbhand Paribatra, said the Chao Phraya reached a record level early Sunday of 2.53 meters (8.3 feet), just above what he previously said were dike heights of 2.5 meters. However, the tides were expected to ease below critical levels after Monday, and officials have suggested that the flooding situation will improve after that.Floodwaters have submerged entire towns across the countrys heartland and shuttered hundreds of factories over the last two months. In the past week, the waters have reached into outer neighborhoods of the capital, while its central districts of skyscrapers, apartment towers and glitzy malls have remained dry.This weekends high tides were described as the greatest test of the capitals flood defenses, and many wary business owners hastily built temporary cement-and-brick walls around their entrances.While downtown Bangkok was bone-dry, areas along the citys outskirts saw flooding spread. Seven of Bangkoks 50 districts all in the northern and western outskirts are heavily inundated. Eight other districts have seen less serious flooding.Thousands of Bangkok residents used a special five-day holiday to leave town, with some wary of confusing warnings regarding the flood threat and others concerned about sparse supplies in stores due to weeks of panic buying and flood-related distribution problems.