At least eight people, including two five-year-old girls, have been killed in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Trang and Songkhla provinces which have been hit by heavy flooding after four days of heavy downpours.
Southern provinces from Surat Thani to Yala have been warned of flash floods and landslides as heavy rains continue to batter the areas.
- Related story: Samui floodwater recedes
The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department on Sunday issued an alert to provincial offices in 10 southern provinces to be ready for possible disasters.
Some districts in Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Pattani, Narathiwat, Krabi, Trang, Satun, Songkhla, Patthalung and Yala are on the danger list as they are vulnerable to floods and landslide, according to the department.
The alert followed a warning from the Meteorological Department on Sunday that the southern region is still braced for heavy rain at least until Monday.
Downpours have also disrupted trains on Sunday.
Four south-bound trains were stopped at the Thung Song railway junction in Nakhon Si Thammarat on Sunday afternoon after many sections of the tracks were reported to have been flooded, media reported.
Chaiya Kocharat, a Thung Song railway official, said the four trains were from Bangkok. Two of them were bound for Trang and two others for Nakhon Si Thammarat.
He said the rail tracks had been inundated at many spots in Trang and Nakhon Si Thammarat, causing safety risks.
Buses were arranged to take the train passengers to their destinations. (continues below)
A man looks at a car making its way through a flooded street in Phra Phom district in Nakhon Si Thammarat on Sunday. (Photo by Nujaree Raekrun)
At least eight people, including two five-year-old girls, have been killed after much of Nakhon Si Thammarat, Trang and Songkhla provinces were hit by heavy flooding after four days of heavy downpours.
In Nakhon Si Thammarat, governor Chamroen Tippayapongthada said continuous rain for the past four days had caused run-off from Khao Luang Mountain range to flood many communities in lower areas.
As of Sunday morning, 1,245 villages in 18 districts had been flooded, affecting 234,158 people.
Four people were reported drowned, the last one at Tha Phae village in tambon Pak Phun of Muang district.
A man, identified as Pongsak Chuenpoj, a villager of Moo 4 in tambon Nasan of Phra Phrom district, was electrocuted near a cow pen.
Thirty-six communities in the Nakhon Si Thammarat municipality had also been flooded. A school had been used as a relief centre to shelter the evacuees.
In Trang province, northern run-off from Nakhon Si Thammarat's Thung Song district and Khao Banthad Mountain had flooded many localities in seven districts -- Ratsada, Huay Yod, Wang Wiset, Nayong, Yantakhao, Muang and Palian.
In Nayong district, a section of about 800 metres of the Trang-Phatthalung road was 60-80 centimetres under water. A mudslide had also blocked a road in Moo 9 village in tambon Lamo.
Tham Lay Khao Kob cave, one of the the province's major tourist attractions, in tambon Khao Kob of Huay Yod district, had been closed indefinitely as the water level continued to rise.
Governor Siripat Patkul said the flooding had affected about 20,000 people in 30 tambons of the seven districts. If the rain continued to fall, it was believed all ten districts of Trang would be hit by flooding.
In Songkhla, the provincial disaster prevention and mitigation office reported that out of the province's 16 districts, six had been hit by flooding. They were Muang, Hat Yai, Na Mom, Sabayoi, Sadao and Ranot districts.
About 70 people from 37 families had been evacuated from Lae Baeng village in Sabayoi district to the district community hall.
Two five-year-old girls were reported to have drowned in tambon Padang Besar and tambon Tha Pho in Sadao district.
However, water in the province's four major canals -- Khlong U-taphao, Khlong Nathawi, Khlong Phumi and Khlong Mambang -- was still at a normal level as of Sunday morning.