CHIANG RAI: The Mae Sai River burst its banks and swamped the border shopping area and roads in Mae Sai district yesterday morning.
Overnight heavy rain caused the river to overflow in the border area between Mae Sai district and Tachilek in Myanmar.
In the border market of Sailomjoy, more than 200 shops were flooded with some places under more than a metre of water yesterday morning. Vendors scrambled to take their goods to higher ground, but many were unable to move them in time. The flooding also ravaged the Huafai and Sailomjoy communities in Mae Sai municipality. The border road from Ban Huafai to the first Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge was submerged with some parts under a metre or more of water.
Soldiers and Mae Sai municipality officials assisted rescue workers, using flat-bottom boats to help residents in flooded areas. The municipality urged riverside residents to move their belongings to higher ground as the river continued to rise. Flooding was also reported at the popular Thalor tourist market in Tachilek, with water 30-50cm deep in places.
In the northeastern province of Khon Kaen, overnight downpours triggered flooding in several areas of Muang Khon Kaen municipality.
More than 50 houses in the Piman Place and Jurai housing estates, as well as Khon Kaen School for the Blind in Ban Kam Hai of tambon Ban Ped, were flooded with water more than a metre deep and roads impassable for all kinds of vehicles.
Kalasin governor Suwit Khamdee said yesterday that flooding in his province had eased but was still affecting five districts along the Pao and Phan waterways, which receive water from Lampao Dam.