A health official rushes to hug Prime Minister Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha as he arrives at Ban Koh Kong in Kong Krailat district of Sukhothai. Gen Prayuth was inspecting the flood situation and handed over relief aid items to 1,000 flood victims. PATIPAT JANTHONG
In Sukhothai, Gen Prayuth, also the head of National Council for Peace and Order, received a warm welcome from villagers and several approached to hug him.
The prime minister said after conducting inspections and listening to a briefing by local officials that water levels in many flooded areas of the province had receded. The flood waters affected almost all of the province's nine districts.
Gen Prayuth said Sukhothai faces both annual floods and drought because of the province’s landscape.
The Yom River basin experiences the worst problems since it lacks a dam to manage water flow, Gen Prayuth noted.
The Yom River is the only one among four main rivers in the North which has no dam to manage water flow. The other three are the Ping, Wang and Nan rivers.
He said he has ordered authorities to devise an effective water management plan, particularly for the Yom basin.
"We already have a plan," Gen Prayuth said, adding that the plan to manage water flow in the Yom River basin needs to take the whole river into consideration.
"I will not talk about dam construction now since it needs to be thoroughly studied," he said.
Gen Prayuth said flood threats in 27 northern and northeastern provinces have eased, while the situation in some districts of Sukhothai had not improved. He ordered officials to examine the extent of flood damage and to speed up assistance to victims.
In Ayutthaya province, the army helped villager Sombat Chanthorn from Bang Ban district whose riverside home was swept away by water flowing from Chao Phraya Dam discharge. Soldiers reinforced the house poles to protect it against flood water.
Sainoi tambon head Pitsanu Saengdean said riverbanks in several tambons close to the Chao Phraya River are breached.
Meanwhile, officials at Regional Irrigation Office 12 say the Chao Phraya Dam in Sapphaya district of Chai Nat province is discharging less water.
The volume of water discharged by the dam was yesterday declined by 10 cubic metres per second, bringing the combined discharge rate to 990 cubic metres per second. This was the first time in a month that the volume of water discharged by the dam was below 1,000 cubic metres per second, according to officials.
Water levels in low-lying areas including Pa Mok district of Ang Thong province, Bang Ban district, Sena district and Phak Hai district of Ayutthaya province should recede by 5-10 centimetres today.