Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra says flood barriers on the Chao Phraya river are holding and are likely to protect Bangkok and its 12 million residents from the country’s worst and deadliest flooding in decades.

Ms. Yingluck spoke Sunday, as flood experts said the crest of floodwaters flowing southward from rain-saturated northern Thailand had cleared the capital without major damage and entered the Gulf of Thailand. Authorities also said floodwaters that devastated provinces north of Bangkok have begun to recede and said the city will not encounter high sea tides until later this month.