LAMPHUN, Jan 9 – Thailand’s northern province of Lamphun declared another district a disaster zone affected by cold spell as temperature kept dropping on Wednesday.
Lamphun disaster response chief Chumphon Inthathep said the latest district declared a disaster zone is Ban Hong, following Li and Thung Hua Chang districts.
Altogether, he said, 60,000 local residents in three districts have been affected by the cold spell.
Baan Hong district, with a population of over 33,000, lies along a mountain range and is home to several ethnic minorities including Karen, Lahu and Lisu.
The Lamphun weather station reported a high pressure ridge extending to China. It will cover Thailand’s Northeast and the South China Sea tomorrow with westerly trough in the North bringing cooler weather by 3-5 °C drop between Thursday and Sunday.
The temperature in the North could lower to 12-15 degrees Celsius.
In nearby Lampang province, provincial weather station chief Thiwa Phanmaisee said today is the first time on record that temperatures in the plain dropped to 13.5 degrees Celsius, lower than the average temperature of 17 degrees Celsius during the past week.
Mr Thiwa said the temperature will keep dropping by 1 or 2 degrees Celsius in the next few days and this will probably be the last winter breeze as it will be warmer in late January.
