Heavy rain has prompted faster dam discharges into the Chao Phraya River and may cause flooding in six downstream provinces but the rate has been controlled to protect Bangkok.
Chayapol Thitisak, director-general of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, said on Tuesday that rain blanketing the North and the Central Plains added water to the Chao Phraya River and its tributaries.
Water from the North was flowing into the dam at the rate of 3,044 cubic metres per second. The situation prompted authorities to increase the discharge rate at the Chao Phraya dam in Chai Nat province on Monday.
The rate was increased to 2,700 cu m per second and the high seas from Monday to Friday would raise the Chao Phraya's water levels by 20-25 centimetres in Chai Nat, Sing Buri, Ang Thong, Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani and Nonthaburi provinces. The river would overflow into low-lying areas without floodwalls, Mr Chayapol said.
Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda said on Tuesday that the Royal Irrigation Department raised the discharge rate at the Chao Phraya dam from 2,600 cu/m to 2,700 cu/m per second and as the rate was limited at 2,700 cu/m per second, there would not be an impact on Bangkok during the royal cremation of the late King Rama IX this week.