Train, airline services in Thai South temporarily suspended

BANGKOK, January 3 (TNA) - All airline and train services heading for Thailand’s southern provinces are temporarily suspended on Tuesday after severe flooding and landslides battered the region due to heavy downpours. The State Railway of Thailand and domestic airlines have decided to suspend their services temporarily, stranding many New Year revelers who plan to return to the capital of Bangkok to resume work on Wednesday. Flooding in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat has become worse after heavy downpours on Monday night, especially in Sichon district while people in nearby Nopphitam district have evacuated their homes. Soldiers and policemen have helped in providing necessities to the victims who have evaded from their homes. Heavy rains and water runoff are still battering 13 villages in Lang Suan district of Chumphon province. The district seat itself is now cut off from the outside world as floodwater measuring over 50 centimetres inundated the highway, making it impassable for small vehicles. Tens of thousands of villagers in Lang Suan are now suffering tremendously. Six districts in Surat Thani province, near Nakhon Si Thammarat, have now been declared disaster zones. By early Tuesday, water runoff has inundated the highway linking the two provinces for a distance of about three kilometres, causing problems for small vehicles to pass through. People living in Kanchanadit district have been warned by authorities to prepare for a fresh water runoff from nearby national park later on Tuesday. The overall situation in Trang province has improved slightly after the rain stopped since Monday. Floodwater in Muang district has receded by over 50 centimetres and the situation should return to normal on Tuesday evening if there is no rain. (TNA)