The worst flooding Thailand has seen in 50 years appears to be coming down from its high-water mark, largely sparing central Bangkok while continuing to inundate surrounding suburbs and farms. Heavy monsoon rains have submerged nearly a third of the country's provinces since July, killing more than 370 people. Over the weekend, high tides and heavy flooding threatened central Bangkok, but defenses appear to have held. However, some residents in surrounding areas have expressed anger at being placed on the outside of these protective barriers and having floodwater diverted toward them. Areas west of Bangkok are still expected to be hard hit in the coming days as the last of the flooding makes its way to the sea. Gathered here are images from Thailand as the waters start to recede and the task of recovery begins.
Thailand Floods Pass Their Peak
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Thai soldiers hold onto each other, pulling against the stream of water flowing into a neighborhood after a wall was breached by the swollen Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, Thailand, on October 30, 2011. #
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The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA's Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite acquired this pair of before-and-after natural-color images of Ayutthaya, Thailand, on October 23, 2011, and July 11, 2011 (click to view). In both images, the Chao Phraya River curves through the outskirts of the city (north is to the left in this image). In October, however, the river has overflowed onto nearby floodplains. Fields, roads, and buildings have all been submerged by sediment-clogged flood water. [click image to view transition - javascript required] (NASA Earth Observatory/Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon/NASA EO-1, USGS) # #
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A man watches the news on TV in his flooded house, near the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok, on October 31, 2011. Tensions were rising between Thai residents and authorities in flooded parts of Bangkok, with hundreds protesting that their homes were being sacrificed in attempts to keep the city center dry. #
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Rescue boats and other small craft run along a swollen canal as sunset on the outskirts of Bangkok, on October 27, 2011. Residents poured out of the Thai capital by bus, plane and train Thursday, heeding government warnings to use a special five-day holiday to evacuate parts of the flood-threatened metropolis. #
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A 42-year-old motorcycle taxi driver Chatchawal Phuengwut poses with a python he caught in floodwaters just outside the Grand Palace in Bangkok, on October 28, 2011. #
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A man wades past sculptured hedges submerged by flood waters in a median in Bangkok's Bang Phlat district on October 30, 2011. Peak tides tested Bangkok's flood defenses on Sunday as hope rose that the center of the Thai capital might escape the worst floods in decades, but that was little comfort for swamped suburbs and provinces where worry about disease is growing. #
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A Thai couple push a cart passing by empty shelves inside a supermarket due to the food suppliers distributor center being affected by flooding in Bangkok, on October 29, 2011. #
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People visit a shopping mall in Bangkok, on Sunday, October 30, 2011. On one side of Bangkok, you'll find the victims of Thailand's worst flooding in half a century. But just a few miles away, you'll find something else entirely: well-heeled shoppers perusing bustling malls decorated with newly-hung Halloween decorations, couples sipping espresso in the air-conditioned comfort of ultra-chic cafes. #
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Flood victims walk on an empty highway as they evacuate Bangkok October 27, 2011. Thailand's worst flooding in half a century, caused by unusually heavy monsoon rain, has killed at least 373 people since mid-July and disrupted the lives of nearly 2.5 million, with more than 113,000 in shelters and 720,000 people seeking medical attention. #
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Water from the swollen Chao Phraya River flows through a house, located on the riverbank, as a policeman watches a Thai woman cooking in Bangkok, on October 29, 2011. #
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A Thai flood victim prays while a monk chants at a crowded evacuation center in Bangkok, on October 30, 2011. Thousands of flood victims have been forced to take shelter at crowded evacuation centers around the capitol city. Hundreds of factories have been closed in the central Thai province of Ayutthaya and Nonthaburi. #
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A woman needing medical attention is lifted by Thai rescuers as she is evacuated to a hospital, in the floodwaters near the Chao Praya River in Bangkok, on October 31, 2011. #
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