The purpose of Mr Chatda’s visit was to obtain a progress report while simultaneously offering support and encouragement to victims of the landslide and officials working to address the sitaution.
Immediately on arriving at the scene, Mr Chatda visited Soi Patak 2, the location of the landslide, to inspect the damage firsthand before listening to a briefing on the situation from Phuket Governor Sophon Suwannarat.
Mr Chatda ordered relevant agencies to continue investigations into how the disaster happened while also advising to expedite the process of bringing in machinery and equipment to help clear mud and debris from people’s homes to enable them to return to normal life as soon as possible.
He also emphasised that the province should expedite inspection work and ensure that the operations are in strict accordance with government regulations.
Mr Chatda then donated money to support the disaster relief center based at Wat Kittisangkaram and joined in aid efforts by distributing relief bags to those impacted by the landslide.
Phuket Vice Governor Sattha Thongkham confirmed late yesterday that a 10th victim was recovered following the devastating landslide in the early hours of yesterday morning. One person remains missing, officials have confirmed.
This took the death toll from the disaster to ten people overall – a Russian man and woman, two Thai nationals and six people from Myanmar.
A total of 19 people have also been confirmed as being injured in the landslide and 209 households have been affected by the floods.
The Phuket Provincial Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Command Center has monitored the situation in the area and found that the amount of water flooding in many areas has decreased to only low-lying areas.
Officials explained that if there is no further rain in the area, it is expected that the situation will return to normal; water flooding people’s houses has dried up and the roads are almost back to normal, even if they are still not fully recovered, officials added.
At time of press, the area impacted by the landslide is still covered in rain clouds and the sky is overcast, suggesting more rain could be on its way.