Weather takes a toll

By Wichayant Boonchote Jakkrit Waewkraihong

Gale force winds and driving rains lashed many parts of the country on Thursday day, making residents in landslide-prone areas in the North and the resort island of Koh Chang off Trat province fear for their safety.

NOTE: Weather summary forecast for Friday: Isolated heavy rain and flood warnings in far North including Chiang Mai, and in Chanthaburi, Trat. High waves in Andaman Sea. Bangkok widespread rain.

Staff of a forest protection unit ran for their lives on Thursday as their office caved in under a fierce storm in Songkhla's Sathing Phra district, where high winds blew off roof tiles and damaged hundreds of houses around Songkhla Lake.

"Powerful winds carried the roof of my pig farm into the air and slammed it onto my kitchen. I have never seen anything like this before," said Pramote Kongcharoen, 62.

Itthipong Thanujitmethi, chief of region 6 water resources office, expressed concern over the increased risk of landslides on the tourist island of Koh Chang, where forest encroachment was widespread. He feared repeated natural disasters would drive away tourists.

In Chanthaburi, technicians had to repair power and telephone poles felled in the wake of heavy downpours in Soi Dao district on Wednesday.

In Chiang Mai, governor Vichai Srikwan told district chiefs to remain on alert for flash floods and mudslides, especially in some 900 low-lying villages earmarked as highly vulnerable.

As a precautionary measure for downtown Chiang Mai, the Ping river has been dredged and widened to ease the flow of water.

Nonthaburi and Bangkok were also hit by storms yesterday.

The Meteorological Department said the southwest monsoon over the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand will continue to cause widespread downpours across the country and heavy rain, especially in the upper North.