BANGKOK, Sept 28 – Several parts of Thailand, particularly the eastern region, have been severely submerged by floods as train services were disrupted and disgruntled citizens protested against the closure of sluice gates.
Interior Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan has empowered Prachin Buri governor to enforce the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act in case protests escalated.
Prachin Buri people whose homes have been flooded demanded that provincial authorities open three water gates at Petch Erm, Klong Ta Hae and Klong Had Yang to release waters into rivers and canals.
Water runoff from heavy downpours has inundated the municipality centre and government buildings in Ta Phraya district and train services in between Bangkok and Aranyaprathet district were suspended.
In nearby Sa Kaeo province, a major road between Ta Phraya and Ban Ko Klan has been submerged under 20-cm-high waters, which flowed into the municipality centre, police apartments, schools, post office and the office of the Provincial Electricity Authority. One villager in Ko Klan sub-district has been reported missing.
In the ancient capital of Ayutthaya, 80 km north of Bangkok, residents on both sides of the Pa Sak River were told to move their belongings to higher grounds, after a report that Pa Sak Cholsit dam was 93 per cent full and rainfalls have yet to cease.
The Irrigation Department has to release water into paddy fields in three rice-planting districts of Bang Ban, Sena and Pak Hai. Paddy from the second crop has already been harvested.
