Nearly one million swamped in south Thailand

Help is on the way: A rescue boat and a helicopter moving towards a group of stranded people in the Srinakarin district of the southern Thai province of Phattalung. — AFP

Bangkok: Flooding in lower Thailand has now expanded to leave 10 of the 15 southern provinces inundated, affecting nearly a million people and claiming 11 lives, according to the Interior Ministry’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department.

And eight provinces – Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chumphon, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Ranong and Phang Nga – face more heavy rain until today.