Bangkok braced for floods

Over 100 people have been killed by floods this year

Residents of the Thai capital, Bangkok, are bracing themselves for severe flooding following forecasts that floodwaters coming from the north of the country could submerge the city.

Officials have said that high tides in the Gulf of Thailand would push floodwaters back into the swollen Chao Praya river, which runs through Bangkok.

There is no sign of the water levels going down - when the tide is high, the water is almost at my waist

Bangkok resident

The province just north of the capital and some suburbs are already submerged.

The deputy governor of Bangkok, Sahad Bandidkul, said the authorities were using sandbags to build dykes around the city centre, to protect businesses there.

Widespread flooding has killed 107 people in Thailand since August and affected almost three million.

Disease fears

This year's highest sea tides are set to take place in the next few days.

The authorities have been using about 2.3 million sandbags to erect temporary barriers around the city.

Bangkok resident have been told to move their goods to high ground

Residents in outlying areas have been told to move their household goods to higher ground as the water continues to rise.

"There is no sign of the water levels going down. When the tide is high, the water is almost at my waist," one Bangkok resident said.

Officials from the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) said they were confident that areas protected by 57km (36 miles) of permanent dykes would be safe, although some water has already started leaking through.

In the former Thai capital of Ayutthaya, 77 km (48 miles) north of Bangkok, police have been forced to step up night patrols to prevent residents tearing down the sandbag barriers.

People living outside the barriers have been complaining that the barriers are slowing the drainage of water from their villages and that their homes are being sacrificed to save the city centre.

The BMA has also issued warnings about the possible risk of flood-borne diseases such as conjunctivitis, diarrhoea and leptospirosis.