The worst floods in 60 years have submerged some suburbs of Bangkok but defences around the centre of Thailand's capital mostly held off critical high tides Saturday morning and evening.

"Outside the city, the situation remains dire," CTV's Beijing Bureau Chief Ben O'Hara-Byrne told CTV News Channel from Bangkok. "But the inner city remains quite dry (and) life continues as normal with a sense of foreboding."

O'Hara-Byrne said the combination of massive runoff from torrential rains in the north of Thailand combined with extremely high tides has created "the perfect storm" for the worst flooding in more than half a century.

"It will be months before people can find normal lives again," he said, noting that while the central old city of Bangkok has held off the floods so far, several suburbs are under water.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra put a positive spin on the crisis in her weekly radio address Saturday while urging her people to let nature take its course.

"We have the good news that the situation in the central region has improved as runoff water gradually decreased," she said. "I thank people and urge them to be more patient in case this weekend is significant because of the high tide."

The prime minister has said the flooding should recede in about a week, although scientists say it could take two weeks to a month.

Across Thailand, almost 400 people have been killed by the floods which have washed over entire towns and forced hundreds of factories to close over the last two months.

With Bangkok in the path of rainwater draining to the sea, residents in the city's centre heaved a sigh of relief at 9 a.m. Saturday when a system of dikes and sandbag barriers held off the high tide that rushed up the Chao Phraya River from the Gulf of Thailand.

The Thai navy has warned of higher than usual tides through the weekend, but none as high as the one seen Saturday morning.

O'Hara-Byrne said tourists are staying away from this popular destination, mainly because Canada and dozens of other countries have advised them to avoid Thailand until the crisis passes.

But a hardy few are staying on, including one Australian O'Hara-Byrne found who refused to go home.

"A lot of the shops, all the convenience stores, the 7-Elevens are all empty," said Kevin Williams, bemoaning the fact he can't find any of the popular Thai beer Singha. "But we make do with the other beer."

Seven of Bangkok's 50 districts are submerged while eight others have seen less serious flooding. Some areas near the river were lightly covered, including the streets from Chinatown to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The temple stayed dry inside, even though it was surrounded by ankle-deep floodwaters.

The prime minister said the flood in the Bangkok area is expected to recede within days, although thousands of city residents left town for a special five-day holiday. Those leaving cited several reasons for their departure including: confusing government warnings about the flood threat, supermarket shortages caused by panic buying and distribution problems caused by flood waters in the region.

But one thing the floods couldn't stop was the annual Land of Smiles Hockey Tournament.

Organizers had considered cancelling the 24-team tournament being held in the skating rink at Bangkok's Imperial World Mall but thought it was important to keep going, O'Hara-Byrne reported.

"There's a lot of mental stress going on," said Scott Murray, one of the Canadians playing in the tournament. "I think people need an outlet, a positive outlet, a fun outlet amidst all this trauma."

With files from CTV's Ben O'Hara-Byrne in Bangkok, Thailand and The Associated Press