Floods hit North, central provinces

In Uttaradit, many Chiang Maibound trains from Bangkok have been suspended after sections of the railways were inundated. Commuters were forced to use buses after the trains stopped run¬ning due to the flooding.

A warning about possible land¬slides has been issued in Uttaradit, where many people were killed in separate incidents two years ago. A total of 189 villages in Lablae, Muang and Tha Pla districts are still at risk of landslides or mudslides.

In neighbouring Phrae, both passenger and cargo trains heading to Bangkok have been stuck for days, but they were expected to be back in service yesterday evening after the railway lines were repaired, said senior State Railways of Thailand official Charn Tansiri.

In Kamphaengphet, thousands of rai of farmland are under flood¬water and more than 40 families are stranded. Monks are starving and receiving food from villages after they stopped taking morning alms due to flooding.

In Tak's Mae Sot district, more than 500 families have been strand¬ed by floods, and many schools have been damaged.

In Chaiyaphum in the Northeast, thousands of rai of farmland are either under water or damaged. People living by the Chi River have been warned to watch out for flash floods.

In Chaiyanat, eight villages located downstream to the Chao Phya Dam are flooded after water was released to avoid excessive capacity. The flooding also hit two districts in neighbouring Ang Thong, inundating 230 households there.

In the central province of Ayutthaya, where high floodwater is a regular occurrence every wet sea¬son, preventive measures are being carried out and embankments being built, although the water level is not yet high.