Woman commits suicide as flood victims struggle with severe stress

Of the flood victims assessed by the Public Health Ministry’s Mental Health Crisis and Treatment teams, 6.8 per cent, or 152 individuals, were found to be under great stress. The teams are now monitoring people who have suffered significant losses or are known to have emotional problems. 
“One woman was so stressed that she ended up hanging herself,” Prachuap Khiri Khan’s public-health chief Dr Surin Suebseung said yesterday. 
The suicide brought the flood-related death toll in the province to six. Flash floods hit Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Thap Sakae and Bang Saphan districts hard on Monday. 
“We are sending relief items to those affected,” Bang Saphan district chief Sakkarin Thumsen said. 
The owner of a furniture shop in Bang Saphan said the floods this year had been the worst in two decades. “The water was about two metres high, so the furniture got wet even after we moved it to a higher area,” he said.
The Bang Saphan Hospital was not spared either, and had to suspend services once its compound was inundated. The hospital was being cleaned up as of press time, and the Public Health Ministry said it hoped the facility could resume services today. 
“We have brought medical staff from other places to ensure the hospital is fully functional as local staff have to deal with flood-related problems at home,” the ministry’s permanent secretary Dr Sopon Mekthon said. 
According to the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, floods have affected more than 1.2 million people already this year, causing 36 deaths and leaving one person still missing. 
Apart from Prachuap Khiri Khan, the southern provinces of Phatthalung, Songkhla, Trang, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Chumphon and Krabi are also still experiencing flooding. 
The Pak Phanang River Basin in Nakhon Si Thammarat is now under 800 million cubic metres of floodwater, equivalent to the Pasak Jolasid Dam’s volume, and efforts to drain the river basin have aggravated the flood situation in Surat Thani province. 
Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department has forecast heavy downpours in the South again on Monday and Tuesday. 
In Trang province, residents are enduring serious flooding for the second time in a month after being hit earlier in mid-December. 
“We are under so much stress, even the roofs are flooded,” said Viporn Jenjitwong, who has been living with her husband at a local temple since January 5. 
She said she was able to deal with the floods last year because it was quite a common problem. “But it’s difficult to cope with what has happened now. We just got our flood-hit house repaired and it’s flooded again,” she said. 
However, she said that she had decided to keep fighting, adding “I won’t kill myself”.
Public Health Ministry’s deputy permanent secretary Dr Kiattibhoom Vongrachit, meanwhile, is calling on flood victims to stay strong. “Remember there is a solution to every problem. If you lose heart, think of your family and your faith,” he said. 
He also advised people to exercise to ease stress. 
“You should also try and help the less fortunate and realise that you can be heroes. You don’t need to be victims,” he said, adding that people affected by flooding should strictly avoid alcohol and drugs. 
“If you really can’t cope, call us at 1323. We are ready to help you around the clock,” he said.