Although the Ping River flowing through Chiang Mai city has begun to recede after reaching its highest point of 5.30 meters, many communities and commercial areas are still flooded, especially in the southern part of the city where the water is still rising, forcing hundreds of families to evacuate immediately.
More than 600 villagers in Saeng Phet and Lanna Village in Rong Rue Kham Village in Pa Daet Subdistrict had to rush to move their belongings and pets, dogs and cats, into floating baskets and walk through the floodwaters almost 1 meter high out of their homes after the water level rose even higher. Most of the houses are single-storey and therefore uninhabitable.
Like this woman who was 8 months pregnant, she had to climb over the fence to get into her pickup truck to escape the flood. Most of the villagers were unable to pack their belongings in time, especially the cars parked in their houses, which were almost all submerged in the water because they didn’t expect the water to rise this high. This
place has never been flooded before. Like this woman, the water in her house was up to her waist. She had to quickly get her 3 dogs out first.
While rescue workers from Plaeng Daeng, Rayong, came to help evacuate Grandma, Nong Sun and Nong San, the twin grandsons, especially Nong Sun, who is a special needs child and sick and cannot help himself, out of the house because the water is up to his chest.
Like many communities and commercial areas in Chiang Mai city, the flooding is still widespread. In some areas, the water level is higher than 2 meters, including Waroros Market or Kad Luang, which connects to Chang Moi Road, Dokmai Market and Ton Lamyai Market, which are still flooded. Although the water level has receded, many shops are still flooded with water as high as 40-50 centimeters. Many shop owners are trying to fight the water to prevent their products from being flooded. For example, this motorcycle parts shop owner has installed 2 water pumps to pump water out of his shop for 2 days. Even though h
e has placed sandbags to prevent flooding in front of his shop, the water has overflowed through the drainpipe behind his house and flooded his products, causing damage worth hundreds of thousands of baht.
From the high angle image, we can see that the Ping River is still overflowing its banks within a 3-kilometer radius on both the east and west sides of the city. Charoen Prathet Road, including Chang Klan Road, is still flooded in a condition no different from a canal. Although the water level in the Ping River that flows through Chiang Mai has begun to recede somewhat, it is still almost 5 meters high, causing many areas to still be flooded. Officials have to rush to evacuate people who are stranded in flooded areas throughout the city.
Source: Thai News Agency