Prawit flies to Narathiwat to monitor flood situation in the South
Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan flew to Narathiwat province on Wednesday morning to oversee efforts to mitigate the plight of local people affected by flooding two days ago.
Prawit made the trip in his capacity as the director of the Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR).
He was briefed of the flood situation by Narathiwat Governor Sanan Pong-aksorn and ONWR secretary-general Dr Surasee Kittimonthon at the Narathiwat provincial hall.
The deputy prime minister was also briefed of the latest help from government agencies for flood victims by the secretary-general of the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre (SBPAC) and the governors of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani.
After the briefing, Prawit ordered all government agencies to join hands to provide relief to the flood victims as soon as possible and expressed moral support to them.
The deputy prime minister told the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) to work with the Interior Ministry on how to drain the floodwaters as soon as possible.
The RID was also told to work with the Public Works and Town Planning Department to plan construction of flood levees at flood-risk areas in the three southern provinces to prevent flooding in the future.
The deputy prime minister also instructed the ONWR to work with the SBPAC to implement the 20-year water resources management plan to minimise flooding and to prevent water shortage in the deep South in the future.
The deputy prime minister told government agencies to speed up the repair of the flood levee along the banks of Kolok river to prevent flooding in the tambon in the future.
ONWR secretary-general Surasee said normalcy is expected to return in the three southern border provinces in about a week.
Surasee said his office has coordinated with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand to reduce the volume of water released from the Bang Lang dam in Yala to reduce the impact on downstream areas.
Surasee said officials were speeding up efforts to drain floodwaters, and the situation would improve soon if there were no more heavy rains.
Also on Wednesday, Pol Colonel Jeffree Salaimankul, commander of the Muang Narathiwat Police Station, led police and volunteers to visit hundreds of families in Moo 10 and Moo 11 villages in tambon Lamphu to hand out bags of necessities and drinking water.
On Tuesday, Army Area 4 commander Lt-General Kriangkrai Srilak and Narathiwat Governor Sanan visited flood victims to hand out cooked foods and bags of necessities in tambon Munoh in Su-ngai Kolok district.
On Tuesday, the Month village and the Chonlaprathan Road was still under 80-100 centimetres of water.