TMD under fire for calling private weather alert ‘fake news’ before severe floods
The Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) is facing public backlash after accusing a private weather-alert Facebook page of spreading fake news about “great flooding” in southern Thailand, only for the flooding to materialise as predicted.
The Facebook page ที’ ลมฟ้าอากาศ, run by an anonymous meteorologist, issued a warning on November 18 predicting major flooding in the South. The page shared a rainfall forecast map with a caption stating…
“Warning! A great flood! The central and lower eastern coast of southern Thailand, from Chumphon to Narathiwat, will see accumulated rainfall exceeding 1,000 millimetres from today (November 18) over the next 10 days. There will be continuous heavy rain for 3 to 5 days from November 20-24.”
The page also warned that rainfall would be two to three times higher than last year and said this was only the beginning, with more rain expected afterwards.
Initially, the page described the situation as a “thousand-year rain,” but later removed the phrase to avoid causing panic after the government’s Anti-Fake News Centre accused the page of spreading misinformation.
The centre’s Facebook page shared the post from ที’ ลมฟ้าอากาศ, labelling the information as fake news.
As officials reassured the public, many locals did not prepare for the massive flooding that struck southern provinces, especially Hat Yai district in Songkhla, from November 24.
Following a torrential downpour, thousands were stranded as floodwaters climbed to the upper floors of two-story homes. The depth of the flooding left countless residents trapped on rooftops across the province.
Villagers suffered severe shortages of food and drinking water. Families with elderly people and infants urgently requested evacuation, but rescue operations were slow due to strong currents and rising water.
After the flooding worsened, many social media users revisited the earlier warning from ที’ ลมฟ้าอากาศ and questioned why authorities had labelled it as fake news. Netizens criticised the officials for downplaying the risk and failing to warn the public properly.
TMD issued a clarification yesterday, November 25, saying it had never stated that the entire forecast was fake. The department said some terms used by the Facebook page were exaggerated, especially “great flood” and “thousand-year rain.”
However, the clarification did little to quell public outrage as social media users continued to accuse TMD of refusing to admit to their mistakes. Many called on the department to issue a public apology.
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