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Floods in Thailand engulfed another industrial estate on Sunday but the capital, Bangkok, appears for now to have escaped the devastation seen elsewhere in the country despite heavy monsoon rain and water streaming towards it from the north.

Flooding has killed 297 people since late July and caused $3 billion in damage. A third of the country is under water but officials are confident low-lying Bangkok will be spared after the strengthening of its system of defensive dikes and canals.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra told reporters "We're dredging canals in both western and eastern zones, which should be completed in no more than a week. The irrigation department has provided an update on the water situation, which has reassured us.”

Provinces north of Bangkok have been devastated. Floods have swallowed up homes and forced a series of huge industrial parks to close, including the Bang Pa-In estate in Ayutthaya on Saturday.

Another estate, Factory Land in Ayutthaya, which has 93 factories employing 8,500 employees, flooded in the early hours of Sunday.

Most of the factories make electronic components and car parts, so this will add to the problems of the international firms that use Thailand as a regional production hub.

Thai media said soldiers and workers from the estate, Thailand's oldest with more than 200 factories, were working around the clock to strengthen its walls and divert water.

On Sunday the Bangkok Post website quoted an irrigation official as saying a crucial sluice-gate had been repaired so the estate was now safe.

China's People's Liberation Army will offer relief materials to the Thai armed forces to aid the country's flood relief work, according to a news release issued by Defense Ministry on Saturday.

The relief materials, including 24 speed and rubber boats, six diesel-fuel generators and 200 emergency lights were expected to be airlifted to Bangkok on Sunday.

Questions:

1. How many people have died since late July?

2. What is the cost of the damage?

3. How many boats are being sent by the People’s Liberation Army?

Answers:

1. 297.

2. $3 billion.

3. 24.

（中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.