Nearly 4,900 people are in shelters and about 52,000 households have been hit by floods in Thailand's capital Bangkok, AFP reported via the Bangkok Post on September 27.

Flooding in Bangkok. Photo: AFP

The figures come from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), which declared all 50 of the city's districts a disaster zone on September 26. More than 330 mm of rain fell on parts of the capital between September 24 and September 27, the weather agency said.

The shelter count has risen almost fivefold in a day. On the afternoon of September 26 the city had 981 people in 233 shelters, Khaosod English reported. The flooding has also spread well beyond the capital, and residents are measuring it against 2011, the country's worst flood disaster in living memory.

The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said on September 27 that 174,803 families, or 545,022 people, had been affected in 25 provinces as well as Bangkok, and that eight people had died: five in Sa Kaeo, two in Chanthaburi and one in Saraburi, Khaosod English reported. Samut Prakan, the industrial province on Bangkok's southeastern edge, was worst hit with 124,678 families affected, followed by Bangkok and Ayutthaya.

"Our house was underwater for about 30 hours," said office worker Kosin Nilset, who lives beside the Premprachakorn canal on the outskirts of the city. "This time, the water level is higher than the 2011 flood."

His neighbour Thidarat Silsuwan, 56, stayed in her partly submerged house rather than go to a shelter. "I have been sleeping on the table for two days now," she said. "I tried to lift everything up, but I gave up on large electric appliances like the refrigerator and washing machine. I guess they are broken."

Canal levels stayed high on September 27 as the BMA worked to speed up drainage. Governor Chadchart Sittipunt told residents in a Facebook Live broadcast to avoid unnecessary travel, as several roads were still under water. He visited a school shelter in the Kheha Romklao area on the night of September 26, where about 1,000 people had been evacuated. Hundreds of city schools will close on September 28.

Floodwaters began to recede across the city on September 27, but water from surrounding areas was still draining into the capital, Reuters reported. "Everything in the house is ruined," said resident Arita Sanpoka, 33.

The Thai Meteorological Department said heavy rain would persist over the western Central Plains on September 27 while Greater Bangkok and the east would ease, with rain tapering off nationwide through October 2 as the low-pressure cell moves towards Myanmar, Thailand News reported. The Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency expects the heavy rain to start easing from September 28, The Nation reported.

Some convenience stores ran out of stock over the weekend as residents rushed to buy essentials, and the prime minister's office urged the public not to panic-buy, warning that price gouging is a criminal offence. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who was in London after official visits to Japan and the US, ordered ministries, city officials and neighbouring provinces to run a single coordinated response, Thai Examiner reported. The Thai Chamber of Commerce warned that disruption to transport and raw-material supplies could outlast the water.

Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports stayed open, though water reached part of a taxiway at Don Mueang and flooded roads made both hard to reach. Thai Airways is letting passengers holding tickets for September 26-29 change their travel date once free of charge, on the same route and cabin class, Aviation24.be reported. Thai AirAsia, Nok Air, Thai Lion Air and Thai Vietjet have offered similar waivers.

In Chonburi province, a man believed to be South Korean is missing after he fell into a flooded roadside drainage channel in Nong Prue, near Pattaya, at about 5am on September 24. Rescue divers found no sign of him, The Korea Herald reported on September 27.

It is Thailand's second major flood in less than a year, after rain swamped Hat Yai in November 2025 and hit southern tourism, and it adds to a disaster season that a super El Niño is expected to prolong into 2027.