Phuket Governor Norraphat Plodthong together with Prapan Kanprasang, Chief of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Phuket office (DDPM-Phuket), inspected the damaged houses in Rassada's Moo 5 locale, north of Phuket Town, yesterday.
Having inspected the neighborhood, Gov Norraphat confirmed that nobody was injured in the landslide. He pointed out that there was a wall erected to protect the houses, but it was not strong enough.
“The landslide was caused by heavy rains. The soil uphill got soft and started sliding down towards the wall which was unable to hold the pressure and gave way. Then it slid on the houses,” Gov Norraphat explained.
“I instructed officials to organise temporary shelters in every sub-district for people affected by heavy rains,” he added.
Earlier in the day another landslide occurred at a villa construction site in Kamala. Several of the two-story buildings under construction partially collapsed when the earth beneath them slid down the hillside after a retaining wall below gave way.
Officials did not receive any reports of injuries from the landslide, but residents of 12 houses were evacuated for fear that their homes may be crushed if the heavy rains cause another landslip (read more here).