(14 Oct 2011)
1. Wide of woman on wall of sandbags; pan to flood water
2. Mid of pipelines
3. Close of barrier
4. Barrier with water against it
5. Troops laying sandbags
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Troy Apannaraj, volunteer:
"Okay, first of all we have to protect the city - Rangsit city. We have a lot of people who live in this area. And also, if you cannot protect this dam, all the water will go through Bangkok and I don't know what's going to happen after that."
7. Close of pipes
8. Various of pipes
9. Various of volunteers filling sandbags
10. Pan from barrier to house of woman, right up against barrier
11. Woman and husband watching
12. Close of woman looking at water
13. SOUNDBITE (Thai) Somjai Tapientong, resident:
"If the water comes I'll have to let it happen. There's no way I can block it. For me, I'll move to an upper floor. I feel sorrier for the people in lower-lying areas."
14. Wide of people at barrier.
STORYLINE:
Volunteers and troops are racing against time to reinforce sandbag walls on the outskirts of Bangkok and stop flood waters surging into the Thai capital.
The city is virtually surrounded by rising water that has already devastated the nearby, ancient city of Ayutthaya and affected 61 out of the 77 provinces.
Since July, at least 283 people have been killed by the floods.
If the capital city is to be saved from the rising waters, barriers such as this one in Rangsit to the north, must hold out.
The Rangsit wall is one of three key bulwarks.
On Friday dozens of volunteers and Thai army troops worked to bolster it with sandbags.
A surge is expected later in the day from run-off waters from the flooded north of the country; the first major test of whether the authorities have got it right, or have been beaten by time and nature.
Local people and volunteers are confident it'll hold.
At this spot the wall is blocking a canal, and pipes are taking the water out and into another canal to prepare for the run-off. If they fail here, says one volunteer, Bangkok will pay the price.
Many surrounding areas are already inundated and authorities fear that flood waters rushing from the north will combine with rains and high tides in the next few days to flood the city.
For one resident, Somjai Tapientong, these are precarious times as she lives right beside the barrier.
On Friday she watched anxiously, half in hope, half-resigned to what might befall her.
"If the water comes I'll have to let it happen," she said.
On Thursday night a panicky government official ordered residents in a nearby area to evacuate immediately, after a barrier apparently failed, but the order was quickly countermanded as repair work brought the situation under control.
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