At least 18 dead in Thailand floods

People walk in a flooded street in the Muang district of the Nakhon Si Thammarat province in southern Thailand. Photograph: Reuters

Flooding from heavy rains hammering Thailand’s south has left at least 18 people dead and thousands of villages partially submerged.

The flooding, which was roof-high in some areas, has affected nearly one million people in 10 southern provinces since it started a week ago, according to the country’s interior ministry.

At least 18 people had died and one was missing, the government said, with the rains turning roads into rivers, inundating farmland and damaging more than 1,500 schools in the region.

The downpour was expected to persist for at least two more days, according to Thailand’s meteorological department, which warned of flash floods.

“The situation is very bad today and tomorrow. It’s still raining heavily,” said Junjuda Pornsri, a meterological official.

Armed forces across the region were mobilised to help evacuate flood victims, provide temporary shelter and distribute emergency aid, the government said on Saturday.

In hard-hit Nakhon Si Thammarat province two army helicopters were deployed to deliver food to families trapped inside their homes in Cha-uat district.

Bapha Suthiphanya, a 60-year-old who has spent the past three nights in a makeshift government shelter in the district, said she was forced to evacuate her home after the waters rose above her head.

“I was so shocked and scared. I’ve never seen water like this and I also can not swim,” she told AFP.

A flooded area in Jal Besar, Malaysia, on the border with Thailand. Photograph: Mohd Rasfan/AFP

The monsoon rains are unusually heavy for this time of year in Thailand, which normally sees a three-month stretch of relatively dry and cool weather starting in November.

It is high season for tourists who flock to the kingdom’s island resorts.

But the deluge disrupted beach holidays in several traveller hot spots, including the popular islands of Samui and Phangan.

Hundreds of tourists had their flights delayed, while train and bus services on the mainland were suspended.

Some travellers refusedto let the storm stop the fun, coasting through flooded streets on pool floats and sipping drinks.

“Some tourists are enjoying the flooding, they’re taking pictures and going swimming,” said Nongyao Jirundorn, a tourism official on Samui island.

Neighbouring Malaysia was also hit by severe flooding earlier in the week, with thousands stranded in relief centres in two north-eastern states.

By Saturday the number of evacuees in Kelantan and Terengganu had dropped to about 13,500, from almost 23,000 on Wednesday, as weather conditions improved and authorities forecast less rainfall over the weekend.

The prime minister, Najib Razak, visited Kelantan on Saturday and met with people sheltering at a relief centre.