Lower areas of the Central and Northeast were being battered by floods on Monday following days of continual rain, with the outlook for more of the same to come.
People in Kabin Buri district of Prachin Buri province forced out of their homes by rising flood waters sit it out in a drier part of the town on Monday, Sept 23, 2013 . (Photo by Thanarak Khoonton)
Flooding also caused the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) to suspend train services to Ubon Ratchathani province on the border with Laos.
Trains from Bangkok were to terminate at Srikhoraphum district station in Surin province. This included rapid train No.139, scheduled to depart Bangkok at 6.55pm, and express train No. 67, due to leave Bangkok for Ubon Ratchathani at 8.30pm.
Both trains would terminate at Srikhoraphum, the SRT said.
As of Monday, 21 provinces were hit by flooding, affecting some 600,000 people, the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department said.
All northeastern provinces bordering Cambodia - Buri Ram, Surin, Si Sa Ket and Ubon Ratchathani - were among the seven provinces hit by flooding. Further north, the situation was improving in Kalasin, the department said.
In the Central Plains area, eight provinces were flooded, including Ayutthaya, Ang Thong, and Phichit, Phitsanulok and Kamphaeng Phet provinces in the North were reporting the same problem.
There was no damage assessment available.
Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra remained confident the capital was not at risk of flooding. Monitoring of the water level of the Chao Phraya River showed no sign it would overflow its banks. What concerned the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration was the northern water run-off coming from Ayutthaya province, he said.
Workers build a temporarily walkway for residents in Sena district, Ayutthaya, after the town was flooded. (Photo by Sunthorn Pongpao)
However, the water level of dams which could affect Bangkok was at 40% of capacity, far less than two years ago when it was double that at this time and authorities were forced to release water which culminated in the great floods of 2011, he said.
The Meteorological Department forecast is for less rainfall from Monday in the regions hit by flooding.
The floods in Ayutthaya prompted the Industry Ministry to focus its attention on any possible threat to industrial parks in the province.
Industry Minister Prasert Boonchaisuk said Saha Rattana Nakorn Industrial Estate in Nakhon Luang district, in particular, would be watched closely as the construction of the floodwall to protect the area was still underway, Matichon Online quoted him as saying.
Bang Pa-in and Ban Wa industrial parks in Bang Pa-in district were also being watched by the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand, in case thewater level rises, he added.
Sena and Bang Ban were hard hit districts of Ayutthaya where water continued to rise and workers were trying to divert water from district towns and other key areas, as the upper Chao Phraya dam in Chai Nat province continues to release water to areas downstream.
Ayutthaya governor Witthaya Piewpong said he was concerned the old capital could again be affected.
In Buri Ram, chief of the management section of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office Amnuay Thongbo said run-off from Phanom Dongrak mountain following heavy downpours last week caused floods in villages and farmland in seven districts in the south of the province.
The seven districts are Ban Kruat, Lahansai, Non Din Daeng, Pakham, Prakhon Chai, Phlap Phla Chai and Chalerm Phrakiat.
The floodwaters hit 24,000 households in 336 villages of 30 tambon in the seven districts, causing damage to more than 8,000 rai of rice fields, 77 roads, five dykes and 40 fish ponds.
The governor has declared the seven districts disaster areas and the damage is being assessed in order to provide assistance to flood-hit people.
Water from Lam Pathia stream is overflowing to flood many localities in Nang Rong and Nong Ki districts, Mr Amnuay said.
In Prachin Buri, which borders southern Buri Ram, the average water level in Kabin Buri district was still one metre high as of Monday morning.
Somchai Premjai, the Kabin Buri Prison commander, said 669 female prisoners had been moved to Chanthaburi and Thanya Buri prisons while 65 female inmates had transferred to Sa Kaew Prison. Floodwaters were more about 60cm high inside Kabin Buri Prison