Death toll in Thailand flooding jumps to 25
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A Buddhist monk and local residents wade through a flooded street near Wat Mahattamangkalaram Temple in Hat Yai district, Songkhla province, on Nov 30.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BANGKOK - The death toll from flooding in southern Thailand has risen to 25, officials said on Dec 3, with more days of heavy rain forecast.
Twelve provinces in southern Thailand have been hit by flooding since late November, affecting 410,451 people, the country’s disaster agency said on Facebook.
The agency’s announcement raises a previous death toll of nine reported on Nov 30.
More than 22,000 people have been displaced from their homes due to flooding in Pattani, Narathiwat, Songkhla and Yala provinces, the Thai government’s public relations department said.
Mr Suwas Bin-Uma, a chicken farm owner in Songkhla, told state broadcaster Thai PBS that the floods had wiped out his flock of more than 10,000 chickens.
“I’ve lost at least three million baht (S$117,000),” he said.
The Thai weather agency on Dec 3 warned of continued heavy rain until Dec 5.
The government has deployed rescue teams to assist affected residents and designated 50 million baht in flood relief for each province.
On Dec 3, the Thai Cabinet approved a 9,000 baht payment per family to support those affected.
In neighbouring north Malaysia, disaster officials said on Dec 3 that more than 94,000 people were yet to return to their homes after being evacuated due to the floods, with five people reported dead.
While Thailand experiences annual monsoon rains, scientists say climate change is causing more intense weather patterns that can make destructive floods more likely.
Widespread flooding across the country in 2011 killed more than 500 people and damaged millions of homes. AFP
