Yingluck to visit flooded-impacted areas this weekend

BANGKOK, August 10 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra convened disaster officials at parliament on Wednesday to prepare relief measures before her trip to flood-impacted areas this Saturday.

During the House session, Prime Minister Yingluck was briefed on the latest situation in northern and northeastern provinces, where floods triggered by tropical storm Nock-ten continued to jeopardize livelihoods.

In Phitsanulok province, flooding was reported as critical in three low-lying districts in the Yom River basin.

Over 83,000 rai or some 130 square kilometers of paddy fields also remain inundated, as more people voiced frustration over one of the decade’s worst flooding.

In Sukhothai, floodwaters were measured above two meters deep in hard-hit areas, particularly in Muang Sukhothai district.

Teachers and students in many affected areas braved the waters on pick-up trucks to travel to school.

In Phichit province, the water level in the Nan river climbed to critical heights, with overflowing waters having destroyed banana plantations and swamping roads.

In northeastern Nakhon Phanom province, a few areas reported floodwaters brimming up to the second floor of houses with no signs of receding. (TNA)