PHOTO: Flooded Samui roads – Facebook/Thunder Road Reporters

“The city Mayor says the municipality had arranged for medical staff to be on stand-by to help patients at evacuation centres already set up to deal with potential flood crisis in Nakhon Si Thammarat.”

Heavy rain has been battering the southern regions of the Gulf coast for the past few days and caused flooding in Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Phatthalung provinces. The Andaman side of the coast has received little or no rain during the same period.

The heavy rains have reached as far north as Samui and the Chumpon coastline.

In Nakhon Si Thammarat, Muang district mayor Chaowas Senpong is warning people living in low-lying areas to prepare for evacuation as a huge water mass from Khao Luang mountain range in Lan Saka district was expected to reach the Muang district township through Klong Chandee canal.

Several areas in the main city area have already been flooded by torrential rain which has battered the province for the past three days.

Huge water pumps have been installed to pump to drain water out of the overflowing canals into the sea, he said, adding that all schools in the municipal area have been ordered closed on Monday.

In Phatthalung province, flood water continued to rise today in Kong Ra and Khuan Khanoon districts as water mass from Banthad mountainous range gushed downstream coupled with continuous raining.

The road in Khuan Khanoon district market was about 50 cm under water and water level was still rising, said district official.

Kanchanadit, Don Sak and Poonpin districts of Surat Thani were lashed with 203mm, 196mm and 170mm of rain water in the past 24 hours, resulting in the declaration of flood disaster area in five villages in Don Sak district.

In the Muang district, the detour road from Kawela hospital to a car dealer’s shop has been turned into a canal impassable to small vehicles. Several cars broke down on the road.

SOURCE: Thai PBS

by Krissana Thiwatsirikul

Several areas of Nakhon Si Thammarat province have experienced heavy flooding this morning following sudden downpours over Saturday night and into the early hours of the morning. Southern provinces facing the Gulf of Thailand have all experienced some rain the last 24 hours.

Water drainage systems were overwhelmed, sending excess volumes across the surface of many of the provinces’ roads.

The authorities have issued warnings various outlets on local social media and radio and, are preparing equipment supplies to help the people affected.

SOURCE: The Nation

by Santhiti Khorjitmet

Fighting between soldiers and eight armed militants has erupted on a remote mountain range in the southern province of Narathiwat in the Taway mountains.

According to reports, both sides fired more than 100 rounds of ammunition during the confrontation near a suspected insurgents’ base in the Rangae district. Though two suspects were believed to have been injured, all eight managed to escape as they were familiar with the local landscape, according to soldiers.

No soldier was injured in the incident.

Colonel Issara Jantakayom from the 45th Ranger Regiment was leading a 20-strong team to patrol the area as part of measures to step up security in the run-up to |New Year festivities, when his team came across armed men on the Taway mountain range.

The gunmen began firing at the soldiers, prompting Issara’s team to fire back. After 10 minutes of gunfire exchange, the suspected insurgents disappeared from sight. Investigators arrived at the scene later to gather evidence.

There were 10 tents in the area, erected a few metres apart, and more than 100 spent casings of war weapons and pools of blood. The authorities have launched a manhunt for the suspects in the mountain range.

A military source said the suspected gunmen might be working under Abdulloh Bula, who is wanted for eight security-related crimes.

Abdulloh’s hometown is near the spot where on Wednesday’s clash occurred. Unrest has been raging in Thailand’s deep South for more than a decade and thousands of lives have been lost during the period.

STORY: The Nation