The ministry's budget proposal, adjusted by the Bureau of Budget and then passed by the flood-relief follow-up committee, will be submitted to the Cabinet on Tuesday for final approval, Permanent Secretary Prat Boonyawongvirot said yesterday. Once the flood waters recede, the ministry will hurry to help flood victims, he said.

Many areas of Nonthaburi and Suphan Buri still suffer severe flooding while Nakhon Pathom is less severely flooded, he said.

Since the widespread floods hit in late August, 757, 413 people have fallen sick from water-borne diseases, mostly hand, foot and mouth disease at 312,703 cases, Prat said.

Seree Hongyok, deputy director-general of the Mental Health Department, said his department had found that 1,238 flood victims, especially in hardest-hit Angthong, Ayutthaya and Nakhon Sawan, suffered from severe stress while 671 people were traumatised from the devastation and 72 persons admitted they had become suicidal.

The department has registered the patients for treatment and observation, he said.