MALAYSIAN TOURISTS TRAPPED IN HAT YAI FLOOD

BY JAMALUDDIN MUHAMMAD

BANGKOK, Nov 3 (Bernama) -- Hundreds of tourists including Malaysians are still
trapped in the Hat Yai district of Songkhla province as the district is still
inundated between two and three metres while the death toll in the country due
to floods rose to 104 Tuesday.

Floods hit the southern part of the country since Monday and apart from Hat Yai,
two other districts in the South – Pathalung and Nakhon Si Thammarat have been
declared flood disaster zones while Pattani and Narathiwat provinces have also
been hit by floods.

The affected tourists are stuck at hotels and railway stations in Hat Yai.

However, their exact number has yet to be ascertained.

The Bank of Thailand Tuesday announced that 121 of its branches in the South
have been closed temporarily due to the floods.

A total of 162 schools comprising 127 schools in Songkhla, 22 in Narathiwat and
13 schools in Patani have also been closed temporarily.

Thailand's Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department said the 104 dead were
from the northern, northeastern, eastern and central provinces of Thailand.

Apart from the newly-hit southern Thailand, floods still remained in 21
provinces in the northern, northeastern, eastern and central parts of Thailand
and close to one million people have been displaced.

However, the flood situation in 17 provinces including Chiang Mai, Sa Kaeo,
Samut Prakan and Nakhon Pathom has eased.

Chairman of the Tourism Council of Thailand Konkrit Hiranyakit said about
500,000 tourists visit Hat Yai annually and half of them come from Malaysia.

He said the flood was expected to drive away at least 120,000 tourists in Hat
Yai this year.

"It is going to take at least three weeks to restore the situation in Hat Yai.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva visited flood areas in Songkhla Tuesday," he
added.
-- BERNAMA