RID: Many areas in Thai south back to normal

BANGKOK, Jan 28 (TNA) -- Thailand's Royal Irrigation Department said that many areas in Thai southern region have now returned to normal, as the floods have receded, with only a few low lying areas still inundated, adding that authorities are continuously draining out excess water. The Department Deputy Director General Thongplew Kongjun said inundations still remained in some lying areas in the Thai south, in which the Department has been continually draining out excess water from those areas. He noted that the water level in the Tapi River in Surat Thani province's Khian Sa and Phunphin districts is showing tendency to continually drop. He said around 6,600 acres of low lying areas in the province are still under flood water, accounting for a water level of around 40 million cubic metres, which would also lower in time with the decreasing water level in the Tapi River. The Department, in the mean time, has installed 32 water pumps in the area, expecting them to help clear out the excess water within the next 3-4 days. The flood water level of 551 million cubic metres in the Pak Panang river basin in Nakhon Si Thammarat, meanwhile, is also decreasing constantly. Songkhla province, on the other hand, is still seeing inundations in various locations, particularly those situated in the low lying areas along the Songkhla Lake, including Ranod, Krasaesin, Sathing Phra, and Singhanakhon districts, though the flood has shown signs to be decline continuously, leaving the province to deal with inundations of about 15 million cubic metres. The water level measured at the Lantu Bridge in Su-ngai Golok district of Naratiwat province yesterday, stood 1.06 metres higher than the river bank, where the water level in predicted to lower to the normal level by January 30, 2017. The Department, said the deputy director, would continue to release out flood water from all affected areas regularly until the situation returns to normalcy. (TNA)