Inner Bangkok now safe from flood

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on Saturday that the government has confirmed that inner Bangkok will not be flooded, Bangkok Post online reported. The floodwater inundating the districts in the north Bangkok has been receding. The Royal Irrigation Department reported that about 63 million cubic meters of water has been drained out from the areas every day, she said. The prime minister said that after the water recedes, the government will rapidly start reconstruction and rehabilitation process in flood affected areas. Meanwhile, Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra promised on Saturday that all flood-hit areas in the capital will be cleaned up by Dec. 31. The governor said it is the "New Year present" for Bangkokians. The country's worst floods, caused by heavy monsoon and overflow from several dams in upper part of the country, in nearly 60 years, have claimed more than 500 lives and affected about 10 million people since mid July. The flood water has been drained from the upper part of the country through Bangkok to the Gulf of Thailand.