Hat Yai mayor apologises over flood response, outlines recovery plans
Hat Yai Mayor Narongporn Na Phatthalung has issued a public apology over the city’s handling of the recent floods, acknowledging misjudgments in crisis management and outlining ongoing recovery efforts.
Speaking on the “Kammakorn Khao” programme on Friday, November 28, the mayor admitted that city officials underestimated the scale and speed of the disaster.
One of the main issues, he explained, was a “rain boom,” continuous heavy rainfall over six hours that hit Hat Yai and Nammom, resulting in over 300 millimetres of water inundating the area, much faster than previous incidents.
Before the flood, officials had assessed that runoff from Sadao was still three metres away from Hat Yai. Believing that water would enter the city from the same direction as in past floods, they assumed the situation was under control.
However, heavy rain unexpectedly struck Khao Kho Hong instead, an area that had not previously contributed to flooding, causing the situation to escalate rapidly.
“I apologise to all the people of Hat Yai for the misjudgement,” he said, calling it a collective mistake involving multiple agencies, including the Royal Irrigation Department, the Meteorological Department, and the municipality.
Addressing controversy over flood warning signals, the Mayor said a red flag had been raised to alert the public, following standard procedures and with approval from the provincial governor. He clarified that the green flag seen in social media footage had been hoisted earlier, when conditions were still under control.
Narongporn said he remained at the scene throughout the night, personally overseeing the evacuation of 700 to 800 people, many of them elderly or injured, to Prince of Songkla University.
Still, the situation was worsened by the collapse of phone and internet networks, making coordination impossible, says the mayor.
“I didn’t know who to communicate with because the phone lines were down, and there was no internet. Even the journalists who came had no internet access.”
He also joined rescue operations in District 8 alongside social activist Gun Jompalang, but noted that only five functioning boats were available for thousands of affected residents. Many municipal boats had already been damaged.
The Mayor ended his remarks with a plea for assistance.
“We really can’t handle this alone. I sincerely apologise to all the people of Hat Yai.”
He emphasised that this was an unprecedented disaster, and recovery efforts must now focus on cleaning up, reopening roads, and ensuring aid reaches all affected residents.
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