Heavy rain with strong waves, wind affect tourism in Thai South

PHANG-NGA, THAILAND, June 16 (TNA) - Heavy downpours with strong wind and waves have continued along the upper southern Thai coast facing the Andaman Sea, somewhat affecting local tourism-related businesses. Waves have damaged seaside hotels and shops in the area, while small boats have been prohibited from going offshore for the time being. Waves, as high as 3-4 meters, have caused heavy damage to buildings over a distance of more than 100 kilometers along the coast of Phang-nga Province. Despite an embankment worth about 10 million baht, the compound of a five-star seaside resort in the province eroded over one kilometer inland due to the forceful and high waves. Rungsuriya Piyathamrongrojana, secretary to a tourism association in Phang-nga, urged concerned authorities on Monday to cope with the erosion, which he said, partly resulted from the encroachment of some hotels into the sea, changing the directions of seawater currents. An embankment was damaged over a distance of about 300 meters along Nopparat Thara Beach in Ao Nang Sub-district of nearby Krabi Province's Muang District, prompting owners of seaside shops to clean leaves and mud off their premises, while small boats are prohibited from going offshore there. Meanwhile, it was also raining heavily in many northern provinces, including Wiang Sa District of Nan Province, prompting local disaster prevention and mitigation officials to be on alert and standby to cope with possible runoffs and landslides. There are eight villages with 842 houses in Wiang Sa District and they are, thus, prone to such disasters because they stand in valleys.(TNA)