Thai PBS World Daily is here to provide you with a daily news roundup of the top stories in Thailand. Here’s what you need to know for today.

Tropical storm Noru to hit Thailand’s north-east this Thursday

Tropical storm Noru is expected to hit Thailand’s north-eastern provinces of Mukdahan and Amnat Charoen this Thursday, after it swept through Vietnam and the Lao PDR.

The approaching storm will strengthen the south-westerly monsoon, which is looming over the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, and this will bring widespread heavy rain and isolated very heavy rain to most parts of Thailand, including Bangkok and surrounding provinces, from Wednesday through Sunday.

Bangkok takes precautions ahead of arrival of tropical storm Noru

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has taken steps, including draining water out of canals in and around the city and procuring 2.5 million sandbags to reinforce flood walls, to brace for heavy rain and possible waterway overflows induced by tropical storm Noru.

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said today that the most worrisome aspects of the storm are the runoffs from the Pasak reservoir in Lop Buri and from the Chao Phraya reservoir, which will put pressure on the eastern part of Bangkok and both sides of the Chao Phraya River.

Farmland and residential areas flooded after dike partially collapses in Si Sa Ket

About 960 hectares of farmland and residential areas in two districts of Thailand’s north-eastern province of Si Sa Ket are flooded, after an earthen dike partially collapsed yesterday, due to increased water pressure in the swollen Lam Siao Yai River, a tributary of the Mun River.

Heavy machinery was sent to the dike in one of the districts today by the Royal Irrigation Department, to close the gap and stop water from flowing downstream to flood rice fields and residential areas.

Mental Health Department wants psychiatric meds to be added to essential drug list

Thailand’s Mental Health Department will coordinate with the National Health Security Office to push for the inclusion of psychiatric medication in the National List of Essential Medicines, to cope with the rise in psychiatric patients, especially those suffering from major depressive disorders.

The director-general of the Mental Health Department said that the number of such patients in Thailand has been increasing, which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and is also in line with the global trend.