A leading Ban Phamub villager, Pairat Rienpaeng, said many locals whose homes were partially or completely damaged remained housed in temporary shelters, fearing flood waters will again surge through their broken village. Army officers are now guarding their homes.

But scavenger trucks have been seen dropping by unoccupied houses in both Ban Phamub and Ban Maharat, and homeowners have noticed furniture and the like missing.

So they have erected signs at all the entrances of the villages: "No scavengers allowed."

Meanwhile, the head of Uttaradit Hospital's Psychiatry Department, Netnapa Pamarapa, said psychiatrists had been dispatched to help about 1,800 villagers cope with their stress and loss as a result of the floods.

About 65 per cent of the villagers were said to be highly or moder¬ately stressed, she said, but fortunately no cases of suicide had been reported - although some people are being kept under close watch.

She also urged relatives of the affected to keep an eye on their kinfolk - not to leave people overwhelmed by their loss alone too much, and to perhaps try Dhamma to help calm them down.

She said much of the stress was a direct result of loss of lives and property, and the fact the immediate future seemed clouded by inse¬curity.

Netnapa said the priority should be rebuilding villagers' lives, giving them new homes and job training.

New warning systems should also be put in place as a matter of priority, she said.

The sooner villagers feel secure, the less stressed they'll be, she said.

The Nation