Bangkok authorities insisted on Tuesday they could not ease the flooding crisis for everyone in the city, as anger and misery grew in inundated areas over the lack of assistance from officials.
Although inner areas of the capital have remained dry, the situation is critical in several outlying districts, where residents have protested that their homes are being sacrificed to save central parts of the city.
Central and local authorities are at odds over how high certain sluice gates to the north of the city centre should be raised to allow water through, according to Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra.
He said several more areas in the city, including industrial estates, would be at risk if too much water passed through.
“I love the people, as do other elected politicians, but sometimes I have to be tough with the demands of the minority for the sake of the majority,” he said in a televised press briefing. “I cannot yield to every demand.”
