Bangkok post, January 2, 2012
Heavy rain and flash floods are causing New Year's havoc in the South, with one man feared dead, eight hikers missing, and evacuations ordered.
Motorcycles navigate a flooded road in Yala’s Muang district after the Pattani River overflowed. MUHAMMAD AYUB PATHAN
In Hat Yai, some tourists were stranded in their hotels after roads were cut off. In Narathiwat, some residents are getting about on flooded streets by boat.
Weather forecasters have warned the flooding could affect up to six southern provinces.
Hat Yai municipality has ordered an evacuation amid heavy rainfall, which has also triggered flash floods in 12 Songkhla districts as well as other parts of the deep South.
Hat Yai mayor Phrai Phatthano said floodwater from Sadao district was likely to rise to 1.2 metres high.
Floodwaters inundated parts of the municipality yesterday amid fears it could also penetrate the downtown area.
Residents were told to take their belongings and vehicles out of the area immediately. The municipality had raised red signal flags, which signify an evacuation.
Among the eight areas is Chanwirot community. It is the front line before water enters inner Hat Yai where the commercial area is located.
Local officials have built a wall of sandbags to protect core areas.
One resident, identified as Fakmeng Sae Jia, 54, reportedly drowned after being unable to leave his flooded house in tambon Phatong in Hat Yai district.
A pre-dawn torrent from the Banthat mountain tore through Moo 1, 2 and 7 of tambon Chalung in Hat Yai, hitting residents' cars and other belongings.
Hat Yai and Sadao have been hardest hit by the flooding with a section of Kanchanawanit road in Ban Luk Thung under one metre of water.
The road which links the two districts could no longer take traffic, and transport to Sadao was cut off.
Many tourists from Malaysia and Singapore who celebrated the New Year in Hat Yai have been left stranded in hotels because they cannot use the road to Sadao, which borders northern Malaysia.
Train transport between Hat Yai and Padang Besa stations in Sadao is also closed because water has flooded a section of railway in Phatong municipality in Hat Yai.
Other flooded districts in Songkhla include Muang, Chana, Na Thawi, Na Mom, Saba Yoi, Khlong Hoi Khong, Bang Klam, Thepha, Singha Nakhon and Sathing Phra.
Meanwhile, overnight rainfall in Songkhla, Phatthalung, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat has resulted in flash floods.
In Phatthalung's Kong Ra district, eight hikers have not been heard from since Saturday night. The group went into a forest on the Banthat mountain range to view the "sea of mist" on Khao Lon mountain on Saturday morning. Their friends staying at a village at the foot of the mountain said they had been unable to contact them.
In Yala, residents of Muang, Raman and Yaha districts scrambled to take their belongings to safety to escape the floods.
Overflow from the Pattani River inundated roads, affecting more than 10 communities in Yala municipality.
Yala governor Detrat Simsiri inspected flooded areas in the municipality and the main pumping station yesterday.
Officials found "some flaws" in the flood prevention system at the station, he said. However, they were told to fix the problems and increase water pumps.
Flooding was also serious in Raman with some spots in Moo 1 of tambon Yaha under one metre of water.
In Yaha, motorists could not use the Yaha-La-ae, Yaha-Ban Kue Tae and Yaha-Patae roads due to high flood waters.
In tambon Patae, a mudslide was reported.
Water rose to 50-70cm in eight districts of Narathiwat, with farmland, communities and main streets hit by floods.
Some families in Sungai Padi district were forced to use boats on some flooded streets.
Other troubled districts in Narathiwat were Chanae, Si Sakhon, Cho Airong, Bacho, Rueso, Sukhirin and Muang.
Many districts are having difficulty draining water from canals because weeds are clogging them up.
Meanwhile, water levels in the Sungai Kolok, Bang Nara and Sai Buri rivers in the province were increasing last night with increasing mountain run-off.
In Pattani, many roads in 12 districts were flooded.
Officials of Pattani municipality also warned communities near the Pattani River to take their animals and belongings to safety as the run-off from Yala into the river raised fears of overflow.
Southerners, especially those living by the sea and in low-lying areas, were told to brace for further rainfall until tomorrow, said Wiboon Sanguanpong, chief of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department.
The torrential rain in the deep South is caused by the combined effects of the northeastern monsoon in the Gulf of Thailand and a low pressure cell covering northern Malaysia, according to the Yala meteorology station.
Officials and residents should closely monitor weather conditions in Songkhla, Phatthalung, Yala, Narathiwat, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Pattani, said station chief Surayut Iamsa-at.
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