Bangkok flood defences put to test, but hold so far

The complex network of flood defences erected to shield Thailand’s capital from the country’s worst floods in nearly 60 years was put to the test today as coastal high tides hit their peak but no major breaches were reported.

Fear gripped Bangkok early in the day as tides along the Gulf of Thailand crested at about 9am and pushed the city’s main waterway, the Chao Phraya river, to its brink. Overflows so far have slightly inundated riverside streets from Chinatown to the famed Temple of the Emerald Buddha.