Flooding forces PM to cancel APEC trip

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra canceled plans to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, citing Thailand's flooding disaster. The flooding, Thailand's worst in 50 years, has left at least 527 people dead, hit nearly half of country and was threatening the heart of Bangkok Wednesday. The APEC meeting would have been the Prime Minister's first major international meeting since taking office in August. She had hoped to brief the summit leaders about the crisis and build investor confidence in her country, the Bangkok Post reported. But with the huge runoff from the north threatening the heart of the capital, Shinawatra said Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong would take her place at the summit. Capital residents, besides dealing with flood-related problems, were also confronted with mountainous accumulations of garbage around the city, raising concerns about water contamination, disease and sanitation, CNN reported. Bangkok and surrounding areas have a population of about 12 million. "There might be over 3 million tons of garbage left over in Bangkok after the floods," a pollution control department official told CNN. "Five hundred thousand cars might need to be junked, as they would produce toxic wastes from their batteries and engine oil." Health officials also have been distributing kits to test for severe bacterial infections in areas where water has stagnated for more than three weeks. Many in the capital were not able to leave without a boat as water levels remained high. Several others have simply decided to stay put. The immediate concern among city officials was to drain water through the Khlong Bang Sue canal to protect the heart of the capital from the surging waters coming from the north, the Post reported. The capital flooding has already affected more than 6,400 businesses, causing about 110,000 employees to lose their jobs, the Post said. A volunteer coordinator in Ratchaburi province, which supplies much of food to Bangkok, urged capital residents to leave before it the city is completely cut off, the Post said. He said currently, the Rama II Road is the only dry route left, but that could also be inundated in the coming days. Across the country, the flooding, which began in July, has affected about 3 million people in 64 provinces, but 39 of the provinces are now reporting recovery progress.