The flooded Nakhon Si Thammarat airport may reopen this morning after experts were sent in to repair aircraft navigation and passenger service systems yesterday.
Heavy flooding has forced the airport to stop services. However, water was pumped out of the runway and taxiway yesterday.
Experts were inspecting all system functions and restoring them to comply with standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
The authorities were assessing the repairs and expect the airport to reopen this morning.
Passengers booked on flights suspended after the shutdown were being transported to airports in nearby Surat Thani, Krabi and Hat Yai.
Also in Nakhon Si Thammarat, community leaders in flood-hit Pak Phanang district were mobilising large water pumps from provincial authorities and local businesses. The mobile pumps were installed at Ban Bang Sai and tambon Bang Sala, which receives water diverted from flooded fields from the district and neighbouring Chian Yai district.
Witthaya Kaewparadai, a former MP for Nakhon Si Thammarat, said the Royal Irrigation Deparment's water pumps may not be sufficient. Additional pumps were being supplied by private businesses.
The water was being pumped into the Pak Phanang River and floodwater in affected areas of the two districts should start to recede in three days provided there is no more rain.
In Songkhla, low-lying areas near Songkhla Lake and communities close to waterways in Ranot, Krasae Sin, Sathing Phra, Singha Nakhon and Khuan Niang districts are battling floods for a second week.
Worst hit are 12 tambons in Ranot district, especially the Ban Hua Ked community now under one metre of water. Food, water and medicine were being distributed by the military to residents stranded in their homes.
At least 50 schools in five districts are expected to remain closed until next week.
Floods persist in seven southern provinces, with more than 900,000 people affected by the inundations that have resulted in 22 deaths over the past 15 days.
The northeastern monsoon that began on Nov 25 has brought flooding to 11 southern provinces: Pattani, Yala, Songkhla, Phatthalung, Trang, Satun, Chumphon, Narathiwat, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani and Krabi.
The floods still persist in seven provinces, with 903,603 people from 3,077 villages in 56 districts enduring hardship, Chayapol Thitisak, director-general of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, said yesterday.