Thailand’s 2011 southern floods – navy evacuates tourists from holiday islands

Thailand’s 2011 southern floods – navy evacuates tourists from holiday islands
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Foreign governments are warning travellers to Thailand to exercise a “high degree of caution” as floods, mudslides, and the closure of airports and coastal boating services to popular southern holiday islands see the Thai navy sent to evacuate tens of thousands of foreign tourists and residents.

The Royal Thai Navy Flower class corvette, HTMS Bangpakong evacuating tourists from southern Thailand holiday islands
The Royal Thai Navy Flower class corvette, HTMS Bangpakong evacuating tourists from southern Thailand holiday islands U.S. Navy/ Wikipedia

A Smarttraveller update issued by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) at 4.15pm on Thursday, March 30, advised that “weather reports indicate that heavy rains will persist for the time being”.

Specific warnings were issued for those contemplating travel to Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Surat Thani, Koh Phang-nga, Phuket, Krabi, Phattalung, Songkhla, Chumphon, Trang, and Satun.

The disruption to regular flights and coastal boating services has seen supplies on many of Thailand’s popular resort islands run low, with the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) dispatching it’s flagship aircraft carrier, HTMS Chakri Naruebet, as well as the HTMS Bangpakong, the HTMS Sukhothai and the HTMS Longlom, to assist in the evacuation of residents and tourists.

More than 13,000 foreign tourists and residents are reportedly stranded on the island of Koh Samui, with additional tourists stranded on Phang-nga, the islands off Krabi, the Similan and Surin islands, Kho Tao, and Kho Lao.

Islands inundated

Residents on Koh Phang-nga report roads, beachfront and land have been washed away as a result of the weather, with many resorts and homes being inundated by flood waters.

According to Thailand’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department (DPMD) 842,324 residents in eight southern provinces have so far been affected by severe flooding, with rail services from Bangkok to southern Thailand being suspended at Thachana Station, Surat Thani.

A motorcyclist tries to shelter himself from heavy rain while riding a motorcycle in Thailand
A motorcyclist tries to shelter himself from heavy rain while riding a motorcycle in Thailand John Le Fevre

Early Thursday (March 30, 2011) morning, Thailand army commander General Prayuth Chan-o-cha deployed mobile army medical teams to flooded provinces, as well as 15 sniffer dog teams and 10,000 relief supply kits.

The Emergency Medical Institute of Thailand said Thursday that floodwaters affecting the provinces of Chumphon, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Trang, Krabi, and Songkhla had so far claimed 20 lives. Another 20 people are missing after a massive mudslide swept away up to 50 homes in a village in Khao Phanom district of Krabi Province.

In Nakhon Si Thammarat the airport remains closed, while Surat Thani’s Samui Airport is opened periodically, depending on weather forecasts.

Thasala Hospital in Nakhon Si Thammarat has resumed outpatient services, but inpatients who were transferred to nearby hospitals have not yet returned due to faults in the hospital electrical system.

Floods, mudslides prompt evacuation orders

Yesterday more than 600 people were evacuated from Koh Samui by national flag carrier Thai Airways international (Thai) on three flights, while about 2,000 people were flown out on 19 flights operated by regional carrier, Bangkok Airways.

Thailand Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, said the Government was ramping up the delivery of relief supplies to the southern provinces, including dispatching mobile medical units from the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) and the establishment of a 1669 telephone hotline for those in flood affected areas needing urgent medical assistance 24/7.

The Royal Thai Navy flagship aircraft carrier, HTMS Chakri Naruebet, despatched to rescue tourists stranded on southern holiday islands
The Royal Thai Navy flagship aircraft carrier, HTMS Chakri Naruebet, despatched to rescue tourists stranded on southern holiday islands U.S. Navy/ Wikipedia

Mr Vejjajiva said local government administrators in Thailand provinces currently experiencing heavy rain have been instructed to take pro-active steps to minimize damage, the loss of life and property, as well as warned of the dangers of flash flooding.

In the Andaman Sea small vessels have been advised to remain in harbor, with waves up to four meters making boating conditions hazardous.

Phuket International Airport’s Southern Meteorological Center has warned of possible very heavy rains along Thailand’s entire Andaman Sea coastline and the danger of flooding and landslides in Ranong, Koh Phang-nga, Phuket, Krabi, Trang, and Satun, for several more days.

As of midday Thursday the DPMD were advising that 1,500 roads and 64 bridges had been damaged by the Southern Thailand floods, with 27 sections of highway impassable.

Thailand’s Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MAC) said 118,000ha (about 291,600 acre) of southern farming land had been affected by the floods, including 39,700ha (98,000 acre) of rice paddy and 8,012ha (19,800 acre) of rubber plantations damaged by mudslides.

The Ministry said on Thursday that the inclement weather had affected 111,000 farmers and 6,000 fishermen, with 7,400 fish farms damaged and more than two million head of livestock affected. Concern is also held for fruit farmers, with durian, rambutan, and longkong, all due to bloom in the next few weeks.

 

 

Photos US Navy/ Wikipedia

 

 

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John Le Fevre is an Australian national with more than 40 years experience as a journalist, photographer, videographer and editor.

He has spent extensive periods of time working in Africa and throughout Southeast Asia, with stints in the Middle East, the USA, and England.

He has covered major world events including Operation Desert Shield/ Storm, the 1991 pillage in Zaire, the 1994 Rwanda genocide, the 1999 East Timor independence unrest, the 2004 Asian tsunami, and the 2009, 2010, and 2014 Bangkok political protests.

In 1995 he was a Walkley Award finalist, the highest awards in Australian journalism, for his coverage of the 1995 Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) Ebola outbreak.

Most recently he was the Thailand editor/ managing editor of AEC News Today . Prior to that he was the deputy editor and Thailand and Greater Mekong Sub-region editor for The Establishment Post, predecessor of Asean Today.

In the mid-80s and early 90s he owned JLF Promotions, the largest above and below the line marketing and PR firm servicing the high-technology industry in Australia. It was sold in 1995.

Opinions and views expressed on this site are those of the author’s only. Read more at About me

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