As floods continue to wreak havoc in Thailand, the death toll has now risen to 356 and more than 2 million people have been affected within the 147 districts and 26 provinces still submerged by the country's worst natural disaster in a century.

Floods continue to submerge Thailand's major industrial parks around Bangkok, which hold electronic manufacturing hubs including plants of Japan's Sony and JVC.

The Lat Krabang Industrial Park could be flooded if water runoff from overflowing the Saen Saep canal could not immediately be drained, said Somchet Thinaphong, chairman of the board of the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency, according to reports of the Bangkok Post.

Retailers known for their night markets in Chatuchak and Pat Pong are seeking government help to include their sector in the government's post-flood rehabilitation program, which will be focused on exporters.

Thai retailers' group president Busaba Chirathivat said local shopping destinations had drawn 16 million tourists in 2010 and tourism's economic impact redounded to hotel and food industries in the country.

Busaba said the retail sector should also be a priority as it would have an immediate effect on reviving the domestic economy.

The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department said the three-month floods had inundated these provinces and cities: Phichit, Phitsanulok, Nakhon Sawan, Uthai Thani, Chai Nat, Singburi, Angthong, Ayutthaya, Lopburi, Saraburi, Suphanburi, Nakhon Pathom, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Samut Sakhon, Ubon Ratchathani, Khon Kaen, Si Sa Ket, Surin, Roi Et, Mahasarakham, Kalasin, Chachoengsao, Nakhon Nayok, Prachinburi and Bangkok.

The government seems to have softened its policy of keeping the central business district of Bangkok dry at the expense of the suburbs.

The Khlong 9 sluice gate will no longer be closed and will remain open after residents protested and tried to destroy flood gates.

Pathum Thani residents said the gate closure would put vast areas of their farmland and catfish breeding ponds in danger of flooding.

They agreed to the government's proposal led by the Royal Irrigation Department to install 27 water pumps to drain floodwater in their communities by Monday.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has distributed relief goods to flooded stricken districts in the last two days. She and other volunteers helped roll up effective microorganism balls at the Amarin Plaza shopping complex near Ratchaprasong Road on Thursday that would minimize the growth of water-borne diseases in flood waters.

Related article: Unrest Grows Among Thailand Residents still Submerged in Floods