Chilly weather remains in Thai North, Northeast

NAKHON PHANOM, THAILAND, January 16 (TNA) - A cold snap has remained in several areas of the Thai North and Northeast, affecting tens of thousands of locals who now need for more warm clothes or suffer from respiratory and asthma problems. In Nakhon Phanom Province in the Thai Northeast, bordering Laos, temperatures dropped to 10-14 degrees Celsius on early Friday morning, prompting provincial authorities to have declared all districts cold-hit disaster zones. About 170,000 villagers in Nakhon Phanom are now suffering from the severe cold as they do not have enough clothing and concerned authorities are trying to assist them. In Phitsanulok Province in the Lower Thai North, people living in at least two districts are affected by the cold weather as temperatures have kept falling, measured 6–10 degrees Celsius from late Thursday night to early Friday morning, forcing local villagers to warm themselves by sitting around bonfire. A latest survey by local officials found that more than 100,000 people in Phitsanulok do not have sufficient warm clothing and help is underway to distribute warm clothing to them. (TNA)