Sinthana Kosolpradit in Reuters: Flooding forced the evacuation of hundreds of inmates from a prison in central Thailand on Thursday and a prominent think tank slashed its forecast for economic growth this year as farmland was inundated and a big industrial estate had to close.
At least 244 people have been killed in floods in Thailand since mid-July, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said. Another 167 have died in neighboring Cambodia and 15 in Vietnam in what a United Nations agency said was the worst flooding to hit parts of Southeast Asia in 50 years.
"The full extent of damage has yet to occur, in particular the full impact of water flow from the upstream Mekong River," the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement
...The Center for Economic and Business Forecasting, part of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said on Thursday it had cut its forecast for gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year to 3.6 percent from 4.4 percent because of the floods.
...Dams are struggling to cope with the flow of water caused by unusually heavy monsoon rain, which normally falls from August to October...
Image from a 2006 flood in Thailand, by Love Krittaya
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