Bangkok , Thailand ( CNN ) -- The worst flooding in generations crept deeper into Bangkok Friday as the Thai leader asked residents to come to terms with water everywhere . Cars looked like boats driving on roads turned to rivers . People propped their feet up on coffee tables not for rest but just to keep dry as murky water entered homes . The flooding has claimed 442 lives , the Interior Ministry said . Of Thailand 's 64 provinces , 25 have been affected . Bangkok 's central business district is still dry but other parts of the bustling metropolis of 12 million people are inundated . Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra told western Bangkok residents that the water was sure to linger and they must learn to cope , the MCOT news agency reported . She said the real problem was western Bangkok , which has no infrastructure to handle the massive volumes of runoff from provinces farther north soaked by this year 's heavy monsoons . The flooding has had an enormous business impact as many factories and offices have been under water for more than a month . That includes Hi Tech Industrial Park , where Canon and Sony own assembly plants . Thanakit Photong , the site 's safety manager , said he expected to begin pumping water out next week . Srisuda Khunnatham , an employee at the tech park , said she was frightened when she first saw the flooding . `` At first I was afraid that I might be laid off , but my company reassured us , '' she said . `` I did n't expect it would be that bad . '' CNN 's Kocha Olarn contributed to this report .
Interior Ministry says 442 people have died . The government blames the unrest on a group of armed men who seized control in April and are demanding greater autonomy for their region from Baghdad. This is Thailand 's worst flooding in decades .