Ferries were forced to suspend services and residents had to move to higher ground.

Nakhon Si Thammarat declared a 54-kilometre coastal stretch from Hua Sai to Pak Phanang district a disaster zone.

Tambon Bor Thru mayor Kamol Pinyo said 30 houses in Bor Thru village in Songkhla's Ranot district were swamped, after the weather bureau warned of a monsoon bringing big swells to the South from yesterday to tomorrow.

Ranot district chief Thanee Kamolchino urged coastal residents to be cautious and pile up sandbag barriers.

The Kao Seng community in Muang district was also in fear, as pounding waves crashed through sandbag barriers to reach some beachside homes. Villagers got more sandbags to fortify the barriers, but the municipality was kept busy loading up 20,000 sandbags to protect Chalathas Road on Simila Beach from severe erosion.

Songkhla disaster relief chief Wichit Chanthornpan said parts of Chana and Ranot districts suffered from strong winds and high waves. He urged small craft to stay put and beachside residents to move inland as a precaution.

In Nakhon Si Thammarat's Pak Phanang district, residences in Tambon Laem Talumpuk were lashed by the waves, while Hua Sai district's Kho Petch Temple - with five rai of land washed away over the past five years - found itself only a few dozen metres from the crashing waves.

Local authorities stacked up big rocks to help absorb the surf's force. Deputy governor Arunee Kulnarong urged fishing families in the tambon to evacuate but they insisted on staying, out of worry about their properties.

In Surat Thani's Tha Chana district, the monsoon's four-metre waves flooded 15 homes along beaches in tambon Tha Krajai, prompting local officials to warn people to be alert and to transfer some residents, especially children and the elderly, to higher ground. Paknam Takrajai School was flooded and all classes were suspended.

The Racha Ferry operator said some services would be cancelled. But many tourists continued to flock to the coast to take photos of the stormy seas.

Samui was also hit by the storm, with roads along Baan Nathon beach submerged. District chief Decha Kangsanan said he had ordered speedboats to forego all trips and warned tourists not to swim in the sea.

A report said strong waves also damaged a 2km stretch of shore in Surat Thani's Don Sak district and Chol Kham Tambon Administration Organisation's pier. But residents insisted on staying, claiming strong waves did not come all the time.