Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday (Dec 7) visited the hardest-hit province, Nakhon Sri Thammarat, where 19 have died and about 180,000 houses have suffered flood damage.
The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department on Monday also reported that a woman drowned in Phrasaeng district of Surat Thani and two women drowned in Sathing Phra district of Songkhla, on Sunday.
The region has been pounded by rain brought by the northeastern monsoon over the Gulf of Thailand since Nov 25, bringing the worst floods in Southern Thailand in recent years.
The deluge has resulted in 555,194 households being flooded as of Monday.
In response, the Phuket Provincial Police has la unched a campaign to collect donations of money and essential household goods to help people affected by the floods.
“People can come and donate items at their nearest police station. Items donated will be delivered to the Phuket Provincial Police daily,” Phuket Provincial Police Deputy Commander Col Sermpan Sirikong explained to The Phuket News.
“We have already received a lot of donations, but we are still accepting more, especially items such as clothes, dry food, drinking water, rice and other essentials,” he said.
“All these items will help people who have suffered from flash floods in Nakhon Sri Thammarat and Surat Thani,” Col Sermpan noted.
“We are not sure exactly when we will send the donations to Nakhon Sri Thammarat and Surat Thani. We are talking to local municipalities in those provinces to confirm which areas need the donations the most,” he added.
“We will post notices explaining our plan to deliver donations on the Phuket Provincial Police Facebook page,” he said.
“For more information, please call 076-212046,” Col Sermpan added.
Unlike in the aftermath of previous flood disasters, the Phuket Provincial Government so far has yet to announce any campaign to collect donations to help victims of the current floods.
Sophon Thongsai, Chief of the Phuket Provincial Office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket), explained that the DDPm also has yet to launch a donation-collection campaign.
The DDPM must wait for the Ministry of Interior to order officials to do so, he said.
Meanwhile, Patong Municipality has already its own campaign, with donations being accepted at the Patong Municipality Fire Dept. For more details call 076-342600.