Cost of the Thai Floods to Business

Under waters still almost two meters deep lies a disaster for multinationals and Thailand

At 10 am on Nov. 11, Sukejawa Seiya, the vice president of the Japan External Trade Organization in Bangkok, made his daily measurement of the floodwaters covering hundreds of factories on the Ayutthaya plain north of Bangkok. The water was still 1.89 meters deep. The average Thai male is 1.67 meters tall. It will be awhile before anybody goes back to work.

“We are still unable to assess the damage,” Seiya said in an interview. “We will have to wait until the water drains off before we can do an assessment.” It is certain to run into the tens, perhaps hundreds of billions of US dollars.

Read more: Asia Sentinel