According to the Bangkok Post newspaper (20/10/11), the disaster has devastated 837 factories in 6 industrial estates, leading to the loss of 370,316 jobs. Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani, a huge industrial zone with many factories producing goods such as cars, electronic parts and clothes, were swamped, causing thousands of people to temporarily lose their jobs as factories were forced to end operations. It will take at least 45 days after the floodwaters have receded for factories to begin operating again – in the meantime, many of the factory workers, who were mostly migrants from other parts of Thailand or from Burma, Laos and Cambodia, have been forced to return to their homes in order to get by.