Thailand’s north-eastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima was declared a disaster zone over the weekend after floods inundated hundreds of houses and cut off the highway leading to Bangkok.
Two days of heavy rains forced thousands to evacuate their at least 20 villages flooded by water 1 metre deep, the Bangkok Post reported Sunday.
Sections of Mittaphap Highway, the main road linking Bangkok to the populous north-eastern region, were cut off by flood waters Saturday, causing a traffic jam stretching 20-kilometres.
Elderly residents in the province, situated about 300 kilometres north-east of the capital, said it was the worst flooding they had witnessed in 50 years.
Nakhon Ratchasima governor Rapee Pongbuppakit declared 10 districts as disaster zones. He dispatched flat-bottom boats to deliver emergency supplies to areas cut off by the floods.