More rain forecast in North

Parts of six northern provinces are still under water as a result of heavy rain through tropical storm Mulan — now downgraded to a tropical depression more than Vietnam — the Department of Disaster Prevention and Minimization said yesterday.

The exotic depression, augmented by a monsoon lying across Myanmar, northern Asia and northern Laos, brought heavy in order to very heavy rainfall to the North and Northeast regions of Asia on Aug 11-14.

A total of 609 villages in 109 tambons and 34 zones of 11 provinces — Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Kid, Chiang Mai, Phayao, Nan, Lampang, Phrae, Phitsanulok, Nakhon Phanom, Loei and Prachin Buri — were flooded, affecting 5, 477 households, with one villager documented killed in Chiang Rai.

Some 391 towns in Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Child, Chiang Mai, Phayao, Nan and Phitsanulok provinces in the North remained  flooded the other day but the water ranges were receding.

Heavy downpours in the North boosted water levels in the Chao Phraya River north of the Chao Phraya Dam within Chai Nat region, making it necessary to boost discharges downstream in the dam.  

As a result, water level below the particular dam rose within low-lying areas within Ayutthaya province plus flooded parts of Sena, Phak Hai plus Bang Ban zones, affecting about six hundred households.

The forecast for today is that the southwest monsoon over the Andaman Sea, Thailand as well as the Gulf of Thailand will likely cause sporadic heavy rain in the North and Northeast.