Thailand's flood defences under strain again

Reuters: Up to a quarter of Thailand's provinces, including the tourist resort of Ayutthaya, have been inundated by floodwaters amid concerns the government failed to act fast enough to strengthen flood defences after last year's devastating floods.

Thousands have fled their homes in Northern Thailand after heavy rain caused a major river to overflow at the start of the month, sending up to a meter of water into some towns. So far, four people have died.

Scenes of residents wading through waist-high water and stacking large sandbags around shops and homes in Sukhothai, about 430 km (265 miles) north of the capital Bangkok, are a stark reminder of last year's floods that killed more than 800 people.

Thailand registered just 0.1 percent annual growth in 2011, largely as a result of the floods which swept down into Bangkok.

Although the latest flooding is not as bad as a year ago, another disaster could deal a blow to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's Puea Thai government which came under fire for mismanaging the 2011 crisis....

An image from the 2011 floods in Thailand, shot by ลิดกับเป้, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license