Five districts of Thailand’s southern border province of Pattani have been declared disaster zones after the swollen Pattani River overflowed its banks.
Water spilling from canals in Muang district has inundatedroads, making them all but impassable.
Pattani Governor Rachit Soodphum has instructed officials from the public disaster prevention and mitigation office to standby to help victims if the flooding gets worse.
In neighboring Yala province, the water level in the swollen Sai Buri River, which snakes through the province, is steadily falling, but people in Tha Sarp and Muang districts are unable to use water from the flooded wells in their communities.
A field kitchen has been set up by the police to prepare food and drinking water for distribution to those in need.
Chalermchai Trinarin, director of the 17th Irrigation Office, sayshe has ordered irrigation officials in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces to open all flood gates and to deploy water pumps to drain water out into the sea.
He expects the flooding to ease within a week.
