Buriram faces cold front, residents at risk

BURIRAM, Dec 7 (TNA) -- Buriram Province's Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office in the Thai northeastern region is worried that local residents would be affected by the continual temperature drops, while more patients continued to arrive at local hospitals for treatments ob respiratory-related illnesses. The weather in Buriram remains cold, as the temperature takes another dip by 2 degrees Celsius to only degrees Celsius this morning. The cold weather has already starting to affect the health of local villagers, as the number of patients seeking treatments for respiratory-related diseases have increased by 100 persons daily. The Buriram Public Health Office, meanwhile, is hurriedly providing information to the people on how better take care themselves against the harsh weather. Head of the Buriram Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Centre, Pornchet Saengthong said preliminary survey has revealed that around 133,000 people are lacking winter necessities, such as blankets and clothing. He said that if the temperature remained below 15 degrees Celsius for 3 consecutives days, his office would declare the province as a cold stricken zone, in order to be able to allocate a budget from the government to purchase winter necessities for the victims. (TNA)