and other northern provinces last week.

The catastrophic mud slides and flash-floods that struck Uttaradit, Sukhothai, Phrae, Lampang and Nan killed dozens of people and affected thousands of families.

Worst-hit Uttaradit saw 68 deaths with 128,800 residents in 214 villages in Muang, Tha Pla and Laplae districts affected. Thirty-five people are still missing and over 10,000 people have been left homeless due to the extensive property damage, said governor Ouparit Srichan.

Six unidentified bodies are awaiting DNA testing while the search for 31 missing people in Tha Pla and four in Laplae continues, Ouparit said.

Deputy governor Suksan Wanaphuti said the Air Force had brought the mine-field scanning devices - which can detect metal to a depth of 10 metres below the surface - into the two districts.

Tha Pla deputy governor Chakkarin Plianwong, who is heading the rescue operation in that district, said his team was using two boats from the Royal Irrigation Department to help clear floating debris in searches at reservoirs where many bodies are believed to have collected. Despite the use of the boats, he said the scuba-divers had become exhausted after long hours diving in the murky, low-visibility waters.

Ouparit said that a committee set up to find land for those left homeless by the floods had so far found 1,826 rai of land for these people, with 5 rai to go to each of the most severely affected families.

The province will also move - using a court order if necessary - those living in high-risk areas to safer places with houses, land, basic infrastructure and vocational training provided by the province, Ouparit said.

Provincial permanent secretary Sompong Arunrojpanya said the province had so far paid Bt1.1 million to those who lost family members and whose homes were completely destroyed, and Bt18 million more would be paid to the most severely affected. He also estimated that damage to the infrastructure and property in Muang district would be about Bt61 million.

Meanwhile, the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department's Region 10 office in Lampang warned residents in seven northern provinces - Mae Hong Son, Lampang, Chiang Rai, Nan, Phrae, Chiang Mai and Phetchabun - of more flash-floods and landslides, as heavy rain and thunder storms were forecast for early this month.

In related news, Phitsanulok province's education office has ordered 10 schools in Bang Rakam district to prepare for possible floods in anticipation of the Yom River bursting its banks, which happens every year.