Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Tuesday gave assurances adequate relief and emergency supplies are reaching flood victims in the South as she toured stricken communities in Nakhon Si Thammarat, one of the country's worst-hit provinces.
She also said the flood crisis was expected to vastly improve from Thursday onwards.
The premier, accompanied by her husband, Pitaka Suksawat, who is a native of Nakhon Si Thammarat, visited the province and neighbouring Surat Thani, where she was briefed on the water situation and met flood victims and handed out flood relief bags to them.
"My sympathy goes out to all who are currently being impacted by the floods, which are expected to be over soon," she said.
"Necessary assistance and compensation have reached more than 80% of those affected, which is at least as fast as during earlier floods in the North."
Ms Paetongtarn stressed the importance of prompt and effective flood alerts. She said state agencies must ramp up flood warning operations.
Thirty-seven deaths have been recorded since floods wreaked havoc across many parts of the South on Nov 22 up until Tuesday, said Passakorn Boonyaluck, director-general of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.
In all, 762,163 households in 11 southern provinces have been impacted, while 161,605 households in Chumphon, Ranong, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Trang and Phatthalung still face heavy floods.
Water pumps, evacuation vehicles, mobile water purifying units, boats and helicopters are being deployed to flooded areas as the rescue operation continues, he said.
In the heavily inundated Muang district of Nakhon Si Thammarat, flood water finally began to recede Tuesday as sections of some roads, such as Ratchadamnoen Road in front of Maharaj Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital, were reopened to traffic.
However, alleys in low-lying communities in Muang district, as well as main roads in nearby districts of the province, remained heavily flooded.
Danai Ruangsorn, director-general of the Department of Airports, said airports in Chumphon, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Ranong and Surat Thani advised passengers to arrive at the airport at least three hours before their flight departure.