Floods in Thailand

Thailand and Cambodia continue to cope with widespread flooding in November 2011. Many communities in Thailand had spent weeks under a meter (3 feet) or more of water, and floods had affected two-thirds of the country’s provinces.

Photo from November 12, 2008

Photo from November 01, 2011

Due to the floods thousands of people have died and hundreds of thousands more have been made homeless. It is estimated that over 2.4 million people have been directly affected by the floods. There is also greater risk of disease due to pollution in the water and waterborne diseases.

Economically the floods have been devastating. The floods have affected rice crops, a main food source of the local people, but also a large export crop. Rice exports in Thailand account for one-third of the total global market. This could lead to a shortage in rice and a price increase worldwide.

The floods in Thailand have also affected the production of cars and electronic equipment, resulting in price increases for these items around the world. Over 50% of the world’s hard drive production is based in Thailand. Hard drives are a vital component of computers and due to the floods there has been a worldwide shortage, increasing prices. Both Toyota and Honda have car production plants in Thailand which have been flooded, resulting in loss of production and millions of dollars of damage.

Flooded Western Digital factory, one of the largest hard drive manufactures.