Thai military to help flood victims after girl drowns

BANGKOK, January 3 (TNA) - A girl was drowned early on Tuesday while tens of thousands of people in southern Thailand still suffered from severe floods and landslides. More than 50,000 people suffered after houses, schools and government offices have become inundated from the overflowing Pattani and Saiburi rivers. In nearby Sungai Kolok district of Narathiwat province, the situation also looked grimed after 163 people evacuated from their homes and took temporary shelter at a government-run school. The water level of Sungai Kolok River was measured at 1.30 metres on Tuesday. People living in small communities in Songkhla province have returned and cleaned their homes after the flood situation has returned to almost normal. Meanwhile, Defence Ministry spokesman Colonel Thanatip Sawangsaeng told journalists that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has asked Defence Minister General Yuthasak Sasiprapa to order the military to urgently assist flood victims in southern Thailand following the drowning incident of nine-year old “Sarita Sa-u” in Yala province. (TNA)