It comes as officials say most of Bangkok appears to have escaped the flooding, although some parts of the capital are still under threat.

Water began seeping into Navanakorn industrial estate in Pathum Thani, 45km (30 miles) from Bangkok, on October 17.

As many as 1,000 soldiers and factory workers worked over the weekend, filling sandbags, reinforcing dykes and repairing holes.

Navanakorn houses some 250 factories, employing up to 200,000 people. It is not the only industrial estate to have been affected. Five industrial estates in the badly-flooded province of Ayutthaya have been damaged, including Factory Land, which is reported to be under 1.5m (5ft) of floodwaters.

Many of these industrial estates house both local and international factories and businesses - a large number of which make electronic components and car parts.

A number of firms - including Japanese carmakers Toyota and Honda - have been forced to suspend production because of damage to facilities or disruption to local supply chains.

The government predicts costs to the economy could total more than US$ 3 billion.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on October 16 had expressed optimism that Navanakorn would be spared, but admitted on October 17 their efforts had failed.

She said the barriers had been breached by a combination of heavy rain over the weekend, high tide levels as well as large amounts of water running-off from the flood-hit north of the country.

Ms Yingluck is to meet with industry representatives to discuss how best to help flood-hit companies, the Bangkok Post reports.