pell, paula hancocks joins us live from bangkok on where the water is going.he government is facing some difficult decisions it seem. >> reporter: absolutely, charles. the preparations are being made in central bangkok as well in case the water gets this far. the building where we are at this point, the sandbags are coming out and they are making sure that they're taking every precaution in case the water does get this far. now, authorities are hopeful that it won't get to the central business district which is where we are at this point but the waters have been inching forward. we've seen the domestic airport. this is ironically where the headquarters of the flood relief operations command is, that is seeing flooding around the area. they have to move and have their headquarters elsewhere. there's about 3,500 evacuaees bt no plans to move them. another in a university that's now been flooded and they're being moved further into bangkok into a stadium. it looks like according to authorities it could be saved but that's little comfort to those in the suburbs. e

we'll go around the world with paula hancocks. she is live in bangkok. ese pictures, paula, you know, the floodwaters around these historical sites are sad. >> reporter: well, carol, i'm not sure if you can hear me. it's a particularly bad line because i'm on the back of a military truck at the moment in the area. this is the eastern suburb of bangkok and it is completely flooded. and it has been for about three days we're being told so parts of the capital are suffering very badly from this rain. the only way to get around these areas is by boat. that's what we've been doing and seeing people evacuating from homes that are being submerged by the waters. it is very difficult for people here to get food and water. there are volunteers in the navy is carrying out donations and jobs to those people that can't get any help. now, this is one of the most difficult areas for residents because they -- the water that is here would ordinarily go into the inner city of bangkok, the business district of bangkok before heading out to the sea but the government has dec

paula hancocks, cnn, bangkok. >> a look at the areas affected by the floods. karen mcginest is live at the cnn international weather center. karen, is there any letup in sight? >> it looks like we are starting to see the shift as far as heavy rainfall is concerned but nothing is going to make it improve because the water is already there. so we're looking at several more weeks where that rainfall is going to be fairly consistent, but we do have high pressure expected to move on in and drag that rainfall a little bit further towards the south. you have to remember that these river basins, it all just feed in from the north towards bangkok and lean towards the gulf of thailand have been running high. what we can expect over the next 24 to 48 hours, a continuation of the floodwaters across the region means we'll see situations like this. this man carrying a small dog and helping someone through the flooded waters, this is kind of a typical scenario that we've been seeing across most of the provinces of thailand. here several containers are floating in the floodwa

that's where paula hancocks filed this report. >> reporter: this is a neighborhood, an eastern suburbthe capital. this is a perfect example of many other areas around the inner city of the capital, bangkok, that are affected by the flood. water here has been here for at least three days. the water levels are expected to rise as more than 1 billion cubic meters a day is reaching bangkok. now, for this particular area, it is one of the areas the government is willing to sacrifice so that the business district is not affected. this area is sandwiched in between the river on this side and the flood gates on the other side, which are protecting the inner city. you can see the chaos it has created. the water itself has turned many of these roads into rivers and obviously there are gridlock as people are trying to go about their business but obviously it's very difficult. many cars getting stuck in the water. now, of course, there ask another fear for this neighborhood. this is the time of the high tides as well as seeing a deluge of water coming from northern parts of thailand, from the 13t

as paula hancocks report, the design-savvy south korean market may not be ready for america's gas-guzzling vehicles. >> reporter: jung hang su bought his car three months ago. he even joined a local chevrolet club. he's not convinced the u.s./south korea free trade agreement will not lead to an influx of models into south korea. first of all, he says, parking spaces in korea are made to fit korean cars. european and japanese cars are okay but the big american cars will have problems. the korean mark set an attractive one for the u.s., given the phenomenal explosion in car ownership here. back in 1990, just over 3 million vehicles were on the road. 20 years later, there were almost 18 million. that's an increase of more than 400%. environmental concerns could make some u.s. models undesirable in an increasingly green korea. as part of the fda agreement, south korea agreed to lower its strict emission and safety requirement in some cases. car design is also a factor. one fta expert tells me when koreans buy cars they look for style, design and convenience. big powerful cars like in the u.s.,

paula hancocks, cnn, bangkok. >>> and going around the globe, imagine a wave of garbage, wrecked fishingniture, and other debris surging towards hawaii. it is a reality and coming a lot sooner than expected. the debris washed out to sea after a tsunami rushed ashore last march and now 20 tons of trash is floating in the pacific ocean. the researchers say that the currents are carrying it to hawaii and they don't know when the wave will arrive, but they know it is moving faster than they thought. some expected it to arrive next spring, but it is already there. and hawaii could see the trash wash up on the shores in less than two years. >>> and now to the big stories in the week ahead. from the white house to tinsel town, our correspondents will tell you what you need to know. we begin tonight with the president's plans for the week. >> i'm dan lothian at the white house after a big foreign policy week for president obama, he heads west again attending fund-raisers in los angeles and san francisco. during the trip, he will make a stop in denver, colorado, and sit down on late night televis

paula hancocks, cnn, bangkok. >>> well, mixed martial arts was once banned in the united states.'s fastest growing sports. women are getting in on the action. why the support is so addictive for female fighters. >> reporter: they're tough. skilled. and not afraid to be sexy. in an exploding sport dominated by men, these female fighters fight for much more than a win. they want respect. why do you fight? >> it's very empowering. it's the hardest sport out there. there's nothing that you can do to test your limits more than mma. >> reporter: michelle gutierrez is a pro mma fighter. that's mixed martial arts. a full combat sport. we're talking two fighters, in a cage, no pads. once banned akros much of the u.s., today mma is one of the fastest growing sports among men and women. >> let's do it, katherine! >> that's one of four riveting storying you will see next hour. from the merchandise branding of legendary rockers kiss to a shocking alleged hate crime in mississippi. revealing investigations, fascinating characters. it is an hour of television you will want to see because you're

paula hancocks is joining us live from the capital of ban coo kock. >> we were at the flood relief headquartersituation even starts to get better. more suburbs in bangkok, in the north, are being submerged in water over the past couple of days, seeing people having to move out because the water has risen from ankle level to waist level within a matter of hours. the prime minister and also many of the officials are still saying that they are confident they can keep central bangkok safe. we just spoke to the prime minister earlier on and she was confident that the drainage situation in bangkok was going to be okay and they were going to be able to keep the business district dry, but that doesn't help those who are in the suburbs themselves. and there is a lot of misery there. thousands of people have had to leave their home. there is at least 110,000 evacuees at this point. many of them living in tents, in domestic airports. the arrivals hall and departure hall turned into an evacuation center and could go on for a couple more weeks. the expectation is these waters will not recede for a month or

paula hancock reports on what this might mean for u.s.r makers. >> chung su bought his chevrolet three years ago. since then he's been a big fan of the u.s. car, even joining a chevrolet club. but he's not convinced it will lead to an influx in chevrolets in korea. first of all, he says parking spaces in korea are made to fit korean cars. european and japanese cars are okay. the big american cars will have problems. the korean market san attractive one for the u.s. given the phenomenal explosion in car ownership here. back in 1990, there were just over 3 million vehicles on the road. 20 years later, there were almost 18 million. that's an increase of more than 400%. environmental concerns could make some u.s. models undesirable in an increasingly green korea. as part of the fta agreement, korea agreed to lower its strict emission and safety requirements in some cases. car design is also a factor. one fta expert tells me when koreans buy cars, they look for style, design and convenience. big powerful cars like in the u.s. are not seen as s

our paula hancocks is in bang k bangkok. >> reporter: this is an eastern suburb of the capital bangkoke of what many other areas around the inner city of the capital that are affected at the moment by the floods. the water here has been here for at least three days, and the water levels are just expected to rise as more than 1 billion cubic meters a day is reaching bangkok. for this particular area, it is one of the areas the government is willing to sacrifice so that the business district is not affected. this area is sandwiched in between a river on this side and the floodgates on the other side which are protect being the inner city. and you can see the chaos that it has created. the water itself has turned many of these roads into rivers and obviously there is gridlock here as people are trying to go about their business but obviously it is very difficult. many cars are getting stuck in the water. now of course there is another fear for this neighborhood. this is the time of the high tides. as well as seeing a deluge of water coming from northern parts of thailand, from the 13th to