Thailand has been battered by heavy rain and floods over the recent weeks.
Thailand’s southern coastal provinces, in particular Satun Province, were hit by floods around 10th June this year. Then nearly 13cm of rain fell in a 24 hour period on 4th July 2013 in the Phang-Nga province in southern Thailand. The flooding continued later in July moving eastwards.
Chanthaburi Province
Flood warnings were issued for the region – in particular Trat and Chanthaburi, where flooding was expected from 17th July to 19th July 2013. A few days later flood waters in streets of areas of Chanthaburi province were said to be between 30cm and 80cm.
Nakhon Ratchasima Province
The floods then moved northwards. Torrential rain during the night of Monday 22nd July 2013 brought floods to the city of Nakhon Ratchasima (also known as Korat) in north eastern Thailand.
Chiang Rai Province
In Chiang Rai Province, flash floods struck around 30th July 2013. A young child was swept away in the floods and at the time of writing was still reported as missing. Chiang Rai Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office said that the flooding also killed 2 people and injured one other. 20 houses were damaged, as well as roads and bridges, and also around 8,000 hectares of crops. Thirteen districts of Chiang Rai Province are expected to be designated disaster zones which will help with getting financial assistance to the region.
Over the last few days the flooding has been mainly in northern Thailand, most recently especially around the border area with Myanmar.
Kanchanaburi Province
In Kanchanaburi province, a flash flood on 29th July damaged a 100 metre long section of the Mon Bridge (Uttamanusorn Bridge) which crosses the Songkalia River. The bridge has something of an iconic status in Thailand. It was built in 1986 and is 850 metres long. It links the Mon community at the Thai-Myanmar border with Sangkhlaburi. The damaged bridge was closed until repairs could be made.
Photo courtesy of Facebook
Tak Province
On Wednesday 31st July it was reported that flooding had struck the town of Mae Sot, in Mae Sot District. The town lies on the border with Myanmar, close to the Myanmar town of Myawaddy, where 7000 people have been evacuated as a result of flooding there. One report claims that the flooding was caused as a result of opening the floodgates of a dam further upstream from the 2 towns. According to Independent Catholic News, which has contacts with many humanitarian projects in the area:
It is thought that after exceptionally heavy rain, it has been necessary to release water from a dam upstream, perhaps to prevent a failure. The result is that there is water in central Mae Sot, two miles from the river…
As of today the waters have receded in the town centre but remain high in outlying areas, especially near the frontier checkpoint.
“The situation has returned to normal in Mae Sot city,” Pramote Chantasri, of Mae Sot City Municipality told AFP.
“The worst was on Monday after four days of heavy rain in the mountains,” he said, adding the bridge across the Moei River between the two countries remains open.
Poor Drainage Blamed
According to Dr Royol Chitradon, director of the Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute (HAII), the flooding in north Thailand was a result of insufficient drainage. According to Asian News Network:
Royol said the key factor behind the floods wasn’t the rain itself, but mismanagement of land usage. While flooding was a seasonal phenomenon in the north, the bigger issue was land subsidence due to poor drainage, he said.
Summary
As of yesterday it was reported that the recent floods had affected nearly 20,000 homes across 7 provinces in Thailand.
According to DDPM Director General Chatchai Promlert, 18,788 homes in Chiang Rai, Kanjanaburi, Tak, Nan, Payao, Sakon Nakorn and Prajinburi have been affected by flash floods as heavy rains continue raging across these provinces.
Sources: Pattaya Mail; Thai Financial Post; Asian News Network; Independent Catholic News
