Thailand's rice bowl is now Thailand's nightmare. The Chao Phraya River delta nourishes the nation's vast rice paddies. But Friday, the river and its many tributaries eyed the capital, Bangkok, like a ferocious animal stalking its prey. Monsoonal rains have flooded Thailand's plains and now the bursting river threatens to drown Bangkok. The water has already turned parking lots into marinas, markets into lakes and houses into homes suitable only for fish. It has gushed into houses of the holy -- Buddhist temples stood amid rising water -- and into sanctuaries of the vulnerable. Fifteen elephants, including seven mothers with babies and a 9-year-old known for its painting skills, are stranded on top of Ayutthaya's Royal Elephant Kraal. The elephants climbed on top of the building last week and are going hungry now that food can only be brought in small quantities on rowing boats. Elephants can swim but the babies might drown in an attempt to escape. In Bangkok and other deluged cities and towns, the strong carried the feeble on their backs. The young aided the old. Everyone helped each other. It was hard to imagine that last year, Red Shirts battled Yellow Shirts in deadly political street protests that prompted a state of emergency in Thailand and left a nation deeply divided. Disaster brought them back together this week. An English Facebook page set up to help foreigners in