NAKHON SI THAMMARAT: A five-year-old boy drowned in flash flooding as Tha Ha canal overflowed in Lan Saka district on Wednesday morning after two days of heavy rain.
Residents told police the boy was caught in the rising current and swept away while playing in the canal at Ban Wat Samo, or Moo 4 village, in tambon Kam Lon.
Rescuers from the Pracha Ruam Jai Foundation and police launched a search. Nearly two hours later they found the boy dead, two kilometres from where he went missing, Pol Col Somkid Damkliang, the Lan Saka police chief, said.
The body was sent to Lan Saka Hospital for post-mortem examination.
The dead boy was Pichayakorn Intra, who had been living with his grandparents at house 1/3 in Ban Wat Samo since his parents separated and had new families.
Witnesses said the boy had earlier left home on his bicycle with friends to play in the canal.
At the suspension bridge over Tha Ha canal at Ban Khiriwong, a popular tourist spot, the water level had risen to less than 30 centimetres beneath the footway.
The flash flood hit villages along the canal. Fortunately, they had advance warning and people had moved their belongings to higher ground.
Chokdee Lerttham, of Ban Khiriwong, said the flood hit there about 9am. It was still raining, and he expected the flooding to continue for several days.