Five out of eight districts of the central province of Chainat are under water, especially in Sapphaya district, where five out of seven sub-districts are submerged after a part of the floodwall in Talook sub-district collapsed yesterday, sending a surge of water from the swollen Chao Phraya River to inundate two villages.
Residents of the two villages were forced to evacuate and take refuge on a road beside the Maharaj canal. The two villages are now under 0.6-1m of water. More than 1,600 families are now taking temporary refuge on the road.
The villagers blame the collapse of the floodwall on the increased discharge of water through the Chao Phraya Dam, to 2,900m3/s, rendering the floodwall unable to withstand the water pressure.
Meanwhile, the Royal Irrigation Department reduced the water discharge to 2,860m3/s yesterday.
The districts in Chainat, which are now submerged, are Manorom, Wat Sing, Sankhaburi, Muang and Sapphaya.
In neighboring Ayutthaya district, which is bearing the brunt of the discharge from the Chao Phraya Dam in Chainat, an abbot of the Bandai Chang Temple in Sena district, has complained that the temple has been under water for more than three months now.
He said that monks in the temple have been unable to go out to receive alms from the public and the crematorium has been damaged, adding that remains of the deceased have to be taken to another temple, located about 8km away, to be cremated.
