CHIANG RAI - The Mae Sai River burst its banks and swamped the border shopping area and roads in Mae Sai district on Friday morning.
Overnight heavy rain caused the river to overflow in the border area between Mae Sai district and Tachileik in Myanmar.
In the border market of Sailomjoy, more than 200 shops were flooded with some spots under more than one metre of water on Friday morning. Vendors scrambled to take their goods to higher ground, but many were unable to remove them in time.
The flood also ravaged Huafai and Sailomjoy communities in Mae Sai municipality. The border road from Ban Huafai to the first Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge was submerged with parts of it under a metre or more of water.
Soldiers and Mae Sai municipality staff assisted rescue workers, using flat-bottom boats to help residents in the flooded areas. The municipality urged riverside residents to move their belonging to higher ground as the river continued to rise.
Flooding was also reported at the popular Thalor tourist market in Tachileik, with water 30-50cm deep in places.
In the northeastern province of Khon Kaen, overnight downpours triggered flooding in several areas of Muang Khon Kaen municipality.
More than 50 houses in Piman Place and Jurai housing estates, as well as Khon Kaen School for the Blind in Ban Kam Hai of tambon Ban Ped, were flooded with water more than a metre deep and roads impassable for all kinds of vehicle.
Kalasin governor Suwit Khamdee said on Friday storm-triggered flooding in the province had eased but still remained in the five districts along the Pao and Phan waterways, which received water from Lampao Dam. The flood has damaged more than 300,000 rai of farmland in the province, he said.
The Mai Sai River swamped a border shopping area in Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai on Friday. (Video by Royal Thai Army)