Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has ordered the creation of a national centre to monitor the flood situation across the country, as well as two new agencies to coordinate the flood response and post-flood recovery efforts.
In a post on her X account, the PM said she will convene a meeting to establish a national flood victim rescue centre, a committee to direct official flood response efforts, and another committee to monitor the flood and landslide situation.
A source in Government House said the PM will ask state agencies to take part in the meeting, during which she plans to discuss ways to better handle the situation. The source said the PM herself will serve as the chairwoman of the flood victim rescue centre.
Since Aug 16, about 130,000 people have been affected by floods in the North, Northeast and parts of the Central Plains, according to Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.
Affected provinces include Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son, Nan, Tak, Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, Phetchabun, Nong Khai, Loei, Ang Thong, Ayutthaya, and Prachin Buri.
The situation is expected to deteriorate further, with more rain set to come over the next two weeks, worsening the inundation and risk of landslides in affected areas, according to the Meteorological Department, Hydro-Informatics Institute and Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency.
Ms Paetongtarn also took the opportunity to thank volunteers, as well as government- and non-government rescue workers who are working to help flood victims across the country.
"Let me thank all of those voluntary rescue teams and state officers who are working to the best of their ability to help people alike. They all deserve praise for their dedication," she said in the X post.
Additional flood response and post-flood recovery plans will be discussed at Tuesday's cabinet meeting, she said.
In another development, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Sunday chaired a meeting of the National Disaster Management Command, in which he was briefed on the latest flooding situation in the 76 provinces across the country.
Speaking after the meeting, which was also attended virtually by the governors from 76 provinces, Mr Anutin said several provinces in the North, Northeast and Central Plains were still dealing with significant flooding.
Provinces located along the Mekong River in the Northeast in particular, are faced with worsening inundation, as water levels along the river continue to rise, he said.
Mr Anutin also said he urged provinces which have run out of funds to cover their disaster response not to hesitate to divert other funds where possible to finance their rescue operations.
"The post-flood recovery work does require a great deal of funding," he said.
The government will instruct local administrative organisations to speed up surveys in affected areas to calculate the damage and financial assistance that will need to be prepared for distribution for the flood victims, he said.
Mr Anutin also said the Ministry of Interior, together with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, have set up a war room to monitor the situation across the country, so officials can distribute the necessary aid as quickly as possible.
The war room could also take in for requests for assistance from flood victims, said Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Minister Supamas Isarabhakdi.
People who are affected by floods and need help are urged to submit their request to the war room through the 1784 hotline, through Line by adding @1784DDPM, or the "Thai Disaster Alert" mobile application, she said.
The Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR), meanwhile, said its forward command for flood management has been relocated from Sukhothai to Ayutthaya to enable it to better monitor the situation across the Central Plains.
The forward command is focusing on the volume of excess water coming from upper regions of Thailand to the Central Plains and other related weather situations which may worsen the overall flooding situation in the Central Plains, said Phaithun Kengkanchan, deputy secretary-general of the ONWR.