Narathiwat hit by worst floods in years as Sungai Kolok River swells

A 14-year-old boy remains missing from Thursday and is believed to have drowned, police said. A soldier was also missing from a relief mission after the boat he was travelling on capsized. 

A disaster mitigation source said it was the worst flooding in Narathiwat for nine years, especially for communities along a three-kilometre stretch of low-lying land – three districts now inundated by the Sungai Kolok River.

The source said the Sungai Kolok River was also swelling and inundating a large area in a town on the Malaysian side. The flood has prompted a two-day closure of a border checkpoint. 

All 13 districts have been declared disaster zones with 115,853 residents from 30,624 households affected. The flood covers 335 villages in all 13 districts. It has badly damaged 12 homes and affected 55 others, while closing 115 schools and making 79 roads and bridges impassable. It has also caused landslides at eight locations, provincial governor Natthaphong Sirichana said.

 

Sadao, Hat Yai disaster zones 

The Army is providing assistance to flood-hit residents in Narathiwat, plus Yala, Pattani and Songkhla, Army spokeswoman Col Sirijan Nga-thong said. 

A total of 3,900 survival kits, courtesy of Their Majesties the King and Queen, have been given to affected residents.

Twelve schools in Yala have also closed while 17,225 people in 4,883 households in 175 villages in seven districts – out of 8 – have been affected, according to the latest update on Wednesday and Thursday.

Meanwhile, the situation in a number of areas in Songkhla has improved, although 23 schools were still closed. Eight of the 16 districts are inundated and three – Sadao, Hat Yai, and Khuan Niang – have been declared disaster zones.

A senior meteorological official, Sayant Wanlua, said Hat Yai’s business district would not be heavily flooded, as the drainage system and networks of canals were functioning effectively.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said he was concerned about the flooding in the South and would visit the affected region once he is free from work in the capital.

But Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said he would not visit – as he didn’t want Army and relief personnel wasting their time taking care of him.