Teenagers and children are enjoying splashing and shooting water to each other around the moat, which is a major venue of the Songkran Festival.

Street vendors and merchants set up stalls in the area to sell food and drinks as well as all the gear for the water festival. The province prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages during the festivities. Roads around the moat as well as other connected streets are closed for the people to enjoy the water splashing.

The Songkran Festival this year will be officially held across the nation from April 13-15.

“Earthquakes of this size have the potential to generate a widespread destructive tsunami that can affect coastlines across the entire Indian Ocean basin,” the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

The US Geological Survey said an 8.7-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra at 2:38 pm (0838 GMT, 4.38pm Singapore time) at a depth of 33 kilometers (20.5 miles). USGS had initially reported it as an 8.9-magnitude quake.

The tsunami warning center said it had not yet ascertained whether a tidal wave had been generated but that one was likely given the strength of the temblor, and advised local authorities to take “appropriate action.”

Meanwhile India has also issued a tsunami warning for the Andaman and Nicobars islands located in the Indian Ocean.

The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Service issued a red high-level warning for the islands, and also put out lower alerts for the coasts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states in the southeast of the country.

On December 26, 2004 a 9.2-magnitude earthquake off Sumatra generated a catastrophic tsunami that wrought devastation across southern Asia, killing an estimated 220,000 people.

Last year, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake caused a tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, killing some 19,000 people.

PHNOM PENH, 2 April 2012 (NNT) – During the 20th ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is intent on proposing the inclusion of drug eradication efforts into the ASEAN agenda. The 20th ASEAN Summit in Cambodia, scheduled for April 3-4, is aimed at examining progress and challenges in the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015 as well as exchanging views to formulate a collective regional response to disaster mitigation, haze pollution and drug prevention and control. Ms Yingluck plans to request mutual cooperation and initiatives to combat transnational trafficking of drugs and narcotics, which may include the establishment of a joint drug eradication committee. The regional summit will also highlight ASEAN’s cooperation and Thailand’s role in fostering the growth and the eventual integration of the region. Thailand’s past initiatives included the promotion of ASEAN connectivity, multilateral trade and interregional cooperation of institutions and peoples. During the summit, the ASEAN leaders are expected to pass such documents as the Phnom Penh Declaration on ASEAN: One Community, One Destiny; the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Drug Free ASEAN 2015; and the Concept Paper on Global Movement of the Moderates.

According to a Ministry release, the meeting will be held at the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel, Bangkok, where Mr. Bundit Sottiplarit, head of the Thai team, and his Cambodian counterpart, Mr. Var Kim Hong, Senior Minister in charge of State Border Affairs, will discuss the progress of bilateral efforts on border demarcation.

The official opening ceremony will be held next Monday, and a press conference will be held on the following day at 14.30 hrs, after the JBC meeting is conclude

Wuttichart Kalayanamitr, Transport Company president, said he expected the number of passengers would peak Thursday and be crowded through Friday.

He said normal routes can operate as usual except that some parts of roads in the central provinces of Ayutthaya and Saraburi where damages from the recent flood have not yet been repaired.

However, the number of passengers using bus services since Dec 25 has dropped compared to the same period last year.

Mr Wuttichart said only some 2 million passengers are expected to return home during the New Year festival, down from about 3 million last year. This is due to some of them still staying in their hometowns repairing flood-damaged homes.

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Mr Phadermchai said that the factories are located in various industrial estates and parks and are mainly automobile spare part plants, resulting in unemployment for 10,957 workers.

However, the minister said, there is nothing to worry about as the workers are protected under their employment contracts, and they will be compensated and received added benefits.

Moreover, the ministry is currently listing over 100,000 job vacancies, he said.

The ministry and the industrial entrepreneurs also have agreements that if any factories request assistance from the government, they cannot lay off their staff, said the minister.

Mr Phadermchai said the problems the ministry has foreseen was the shortage of labour because some workers are reluctant to return to work being worried that flooding may occur again, and they don’t have confidence that the entrepreneurs would continue their businesses.

Four of seven flooded industrial estates and parks in the central provinces of Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani are already drained, while the three others are pumping floodwater from their areas.

All seven estates and parks were expected to resume full operations soon.

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Almost four thousand workers lost their jobs at flood-wrecked plants in this historic former capital, according to the Ayutthaya provincial labour chief.

Wannarat Srisuksa, chief of the Ayutthaya labour protection and welfare office, on Thursday said so far 14 companies have laid off 3,787 workers after experiencing the most severe flooding in decades.

But the companies are paying overall compensation of Bt91 million (slightly over US$3 million) to the unemployed.

In addition, he said, the unemployed are entitled to receive payments from Social Security Fund at 50 per cent of their salaries for six months.

The unemployment is considered statistically low in comparison with a total of 5,000 businesses in Ayutthaya which hires some 300,000 workers altogether, the senior government official said.

The Labour Ministry has notified those who have been made redundant that there are 50,000 job offers available at other businesses which survived the flooding.

Workers at flood-ravaged businesses yet to resume production can register with the provincial labour protection and welfare office to seek a government subsidy to pay a portion of their monthly salary on the condition that the employers pay at least 75 per cent of their employees’ salary.

Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) Vice President Tanit Sorat told a seminar on the post-flood Thai economic outlook Wednesday that 9,895 plants in eight provinces have been flooded, affecting 660,000 workers

On the south side of the airport. To accelerate the drainage of the north of the airport. Into the canal to the beach faster

Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra on Monday declared more evacuation zones in Lat Phrao district as floodwaters keep rising, while more areas were put under close monitoring for possible evacuation.

The governor said the additional evacuation zones in Lat Phrao district comprised all of Chorakhe Bua sub-district, and Lat Phrao sub-district along Lat Phrao canal only until four roads — Lat Pla, Lat Phrao-Wang Hin, the northern part of Prasert Manukij, and Sena Nikom roads.

Residents of those areas should move to the shelters provided by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), he advised.

Mr Sukhumbhand also announced special monitoring areas in Huai Khwang district and the community along Lat Phrao canal.

Those living in the monitoring areas should move their valuables to higher ground and be ready to move out to safer areas, he said.

The Bangkok governor earlier Monday issued an evacuation advisory notice for Bangchan subdistrict of Khlong Sam Wa, bringing the total number of 12 districts under evacuation recommendations.

Mr Tongthong Chandransu, FROC Spokesperson, said that after high tide period, officials will quickly start fixing leaks along the embanlments on 2 November and finish it by15 November.

By setting up additional water pumps, overflow in Rangsit field will be released more speedily through the slucie gate at Klong Sam Wa, San Saep Canal and into Bang Pakong River respectively. The release of water in this zone might cause controlable flooding in Bangkok’s inner city covering Bueng Kum, Khan Na Yao and Suan Luang districts.

He also thanked residents living along Khlong Prapa, Lak Hok sub-district, Pathum Thani province for their cooperation with officials to fix the enbankments in order to block water from flowing into Khlong Prapa which might affect tap-water production in the end.

In the relief shelter in Don Mueang Airport, there are about 250 flood evacuees waiting to be taken to other centers while some of them are willing to stay on.