Severe flooding in southern Thailand has claimed 33 lives and displaced tens of thousands, with the impact extending into neighbouring Malaysia, officials reported on Wednesday.
The Thai government declared a state of emergency in Songkhla province after torrential rains since late last week inundated the tourist city of Hat Yai and surrounding areas. Thai government spokesman Siripong Angkasakulkiat confirmed the deaths across seven provinces, citing flash floods, electrocution, and drowning as causes.
Floodwaters have stranded residents and travellers in homes and hotels, prompting rescues via boats, jet skis, and military trucks. The military has deployed helicopters and an aircraft carrier to evacuate patients and residents to nearby hospitals. Over 10,000 people have been evacuated in Songkhla alone, and university campuses are serving as temporary shelters. Food centres distributing up to 20,000 food boxes daily have also been established.
Thailand experiences heavy rainfall from June to September annually, but experts say human-induced climate change has intensified extreme weather events.
In Malaysia, heavy rains caused flooding across eight states, forcing the evacuation of more than 27,000 people to temporary shelters. One death has been reported in Kelantan, on the northeastern coast. The Malaysian Meteorological Department warned of continuing thunderstorms in the northern states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang, and Perak.
Thousands of Malaysian holidaymakers were stranded in southern Thailand last week. As of Monday, over 6,300 Malaysians had safely returned home, according to Malaysia’s foreign ministry, which continues to monitor the situation.
