SURAT THANI: Many parts of the main road around Koh Samui remained under water and hundreds of families on Koh Phangan were without power as storms continued to lash the southern tourist islands on Friday.
Persistent rain has flooded six sections of Thaweerat Phakdee Road on Samui, with floodwater 20-50 centimetres deep, according to Preecharat Jaeng-aksorn, chief of the island's disaster mitigation office. The water level in the Phru Chaweng reservoir is also rising.
Local authorities on Friday were operating big water pumps to alleviate pressure at the reservoir and drain areas along the main road, including near Chaweng beach.
Flooding had directly affected about 620 local families in seven communities on the tourist island, Mr Preecharat said.
Nathaphol Ubolkul, electricity manager on nearby Koh Phangan, said heavy rainstorms uprooted 60 power poles on hilly terrain, causing a blackout that affected about 600 families. Workers have been struggling to replace the poles on steep, soggy ground, he said.
Heavy downpours coming long after the usual end of the rainy season in the southern provinces have killed at least eight people and affected 120,000 households, the Interior Ministry said. Many road and rail links have been cut, with the impact especially heavy in Nakhon Si Thammarat.
Flooding in Surat Thani has already killed three people. Two of them were men aged 67 and 71 who were swept away by runoff in Chaiya and Tha Chana districts. The other was an 11-year-old boy who drowned while swimming in floodwater in front of his house in Kanchanadit district.
Local authorities have closed 110 local schools because of the flooding.
