Local residents in Sukhothai are asking the government to step in to help resolve the floods in the area, which have been going on for over two months.
Floods have been reported for several weeks in tambon Pak Phra in Muang district, and tambon Kong in Kong Krailat district, prompting local residents to appeal for help as more rain is set to fall across the North due to Typhoon Yagi.
Wongduan Si-phongsai, 60, who lives on Koh Kong in the middle of the Yom River, said access to her village has been affected by the rising water. She feared the village would be flooded until the rain receded after the Loy Kratong festival in November.
Another resident, who requested to remain anonymous, said the discharge rate at Yang Sai floodgate in Muang district has continued to increase over the past several days, as more run-off flows down the Yom River as a result of Typhoon Yagi, which made landfall in Vietnam over the weekend.
As of Monday, seven floodgates had to be opened to allow the excess water in the Yom River to flow downstream, affecting Kong Krailat district in Sukhothai and Bang Rakham district in Phitsanulok.
According to local authorities, water levels on the Yom River in the northern part of Sukhothai were not at a critical level, with the river estimated to be at about 78.5% full.
However, water levels along the river in Phitsanulok were said to be increasing despite efforts to divert the excess water to the Nan River. As of Monday, the water level at the Y64 water station in Bang Rakham district stood at 7.8 metres, 1.4 metres higher than the river embankment.
As a result, many areas in the province were flooded on Monday.
According to Phitsanulok governor Phusit Somjit on Monday, at least 58% of the areas designated as water retention zones under the Bang Rakham model, or about 153,390 rai, were flooded by over 264 million cubic metres of water.
Mr Phusit and Phimpitcha Supphakitcharoen, a Pheu Thai MP for Phitsanulok, on Monday inspected the area and handed over aid packages to the locals affected by the floods in tambon Chum Saeng Songkhram.
In Ang Thong's Sapphaya district, rice farmers were forced to prematurely reap their recently planted rice to lessen the damage from the floods.
According to the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) on Monday, the water discharge rate at the Chao Phraya barrage dam in Chai Nat stood at 1,434 m³ per second.
The rate will be limited to 1,500 m³ per second over the next seven days to protect downstream areas from flooding.
Despite the inundation reported in six provinces, RID said that only 47% of water in the nation's dams, 27.125 billion m³ in total, is usable at the moment.