Courtesy of VOA News - Floodwaters continued to threaten central Bangkok Monday even as clean-up efforts begin in some areas north of the city where waters have receded.

Authorities said the death toll in Thailand's worst floods in a half century has gone over 500, with drowning blamed for most of the deaths. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said her cabinet will meet Tuesday to begin considering a reconstruction plan valued at more than $3 billion.

For many Bangkok residents, transportation remains the biggest problem, with people turning to boats, buses and military vehicles to make their way through affected areas.

The death toll from floods in Thailand has reached 342 and floodwaters are reaching outer Bangkok.

Courtesy of VOA News - Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra urged residents in the Thai capital Friday to move their belongings to higher ground, but she asked them not to panic.

Water rose to knee-level in some places after flooding over canals in Bangkok's northern Lak-Si district, about 16 kilometers from the city center.

Many Bangkok residents are rushing to stock up on food and drinking water, while those in the flooded north have already fled their homes.

The prime minister also invoked the natural disaster law that gives her authority to implement a nationwide disaster relief plan and punish the officials who fail to follow instructions.

The worst flood in 50 years has already hurt Thailand's industry and agriculture in one third of the country.

Heavy rains since July have inundated large parts of Southeast Asia, forcing millions from their homes. Another 336 people have died in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Thousands of people in southeast Asia have been displaced.

On Thursday, the Thai government ordered the opening of Bangkok's floodgates to drain water through the canals to the sea, and relieve pressure on dikes that had kept water out of the city for about a week.

Courtesy of VOA News - China has sent naval patrol boats into nearby Thailand to escort home sailors and ships stranded after 12 Chinese mariners were killed in an apparent hijacking last week on the Mekong river in northern Thailand.

The official Xinhua news agency said Thursday that 164 sailors and 28 cargo ships were stranded after Beijing ordered a halt to all Mekong shipping earlier this week. State television said the convoy and its escorts would likely return home Friday.

The Chinese shipping ban came days after two cargo boats were seized in the notorious Mekong drug trade region know as the “Golden Triangle.” Thai and Chinese authorities said the bodies of the sailors were recovered near the Thai river port of Chiang Saen with hands bound and eyes covered with adhesive tape. Police also recovered the hijacked vessels, killing one of the bandits in a shootout. Authorities say the others escaped.

In Beijing Thursday, Vice Foreign Minister Song Tao summoned diplomatic envoys from Thailand, Laos and Burma and urged them to step up investigations of the attack. Xinhua said the diplomat also asked the foreign envoys to provide help for the Chinese patrol craft in escorting the ships and sailors back into Chinese territory.