Cold snap hits Thailand for three months

BANGKOK, January 24 (TNA) - People in all parts of Thailand have been affected by a cold snap in the winter over the past three months, especially those in the North and Northeast, with more than 60 deaths and 45 provinces declared cold-hit disaster zones so far. According to a latest report released by the Meteorological Department, even Bangkok was hit by the lowest temperature in 30 years on Thursday morning, at 15.6 degrees Celsius. The lowest temperature in a year was also recorded in Loei Province in the Thai Northeast on Thursday morning, at -4 degree Celsius on the Phu Rua Mountain, where the widest area of frost in a year also happened, its 7th time this winter, covering grass fields and roofs of vehicles. Frost even made its presence for the first time in about three decades on a field in front of the office of the local administrative organization of Saeng Pha Sub-district, where temperature was measured at -3 degree Celsius. In Surin Province, also in the Thai Northeast, soldiers and Thai Red Cross staffs distributed blankets to people in Nok Muang Sub-district, where doctors and nurses from a local hospital also provided locals with check-ups and medicines. In the northeastern Bung Kan Province, local traders were considerably selling used winter gear they had bought from the Rong Klua Market in Sa Kaeo Province, with the rural poor being most of their customers. In Chiang Rai Province in the Upper Thai North, very cold weather continued to blanket provincial areas, with temperatures in its plain areas measured at only 5 degrees Celsius on Thursday morning, and layers of winter clothes could not, thus, cope and many children fell ill, while temperatures on mountaintops stood at 1-2 degrees Celsius and frost appeared on the Phu Chi Fa Mountain. Meanwhile, the Thai Ministry of Public Health recommended that people keep themselves warm, as cold-weather related deaths in the country have risen to 63 people in 27 provinces since October 22, 2013, three of them were confirmed foreigners. Dr. Sophon Mekthon, Director General of the ministry's Department of Disease Control, told journalists that over 25 million people in 45 Thai provinces have been affected by the cold spell. The department's Bureau of Epidemiology has, therefore, been assigned to take care of local people’s health in every province, especially those in risk groups including young children, the elderly, people with chronic diseases and underlying diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure, chronic lung disease and asthma. (TNA)