© Sunti Tehpia/APA man fishes near a sleeping Buddha statue submerged in the floods at Lokayasutharam temple in Ayutthaya province, central Thailand Saturday.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the flooding - which has severed rail links with the north, shut dozens of highways and swamped ancient Buddhist temples in the city of Ayutthaya - has reached a crisis level.
Bangkok has so far been spared serious damage, but many fear it could be inundated as large amounts of water flows from submerged northern rice fields toward the Gulf of Thailand. That critical runoff is expected to be impeded by high ocean tides in mid-October, and Tropical Storm Nalgae is also forecast to bring new rain in the days ahead.
In a radio message Saturday, Yingluck said authorities are hoping to ease the crisis by installing up to 400 water pumps along the Chao Phraya River, which snakes through Bangkok, to help push water to the sea. Seven canals will also be dug on the outskirts of the city, she said.
