Leaving Chitrlada Palace at 7.15am, the Princess travelled by air to Phitsanulok military airport before taking a helicopter to Uttaradit's Laplae district, where she distributed relief packages while being briefed about the damage by local officials.

The Princess then went to Muang and Tha Pla districts in the afternoon to distribute relief packages, agricultural implements and trade goods to villages at Wat Dan Nakham and to inspect two sites where homes for flood victims are to be built by the Chaipattana Foundation, before travelling by air back to Bangkok.

Uttaradit was hit the hardest by the floods that struck many northern provinces including Sukhothai, Phrae, Nan and Lampang, claiming many lives and causing extensive damage.

Meanwhile, losses to the local tourist industry from the flooding in Chiang Mai City earlier this week was estimated at Bt200 million, as 30 per cent of hotel reservations were cancelled, said Mayor Boonlert Buranuprakorn.

Chiang Mai Irrigation official Prapon Kruapan assured local residents that his office had prepared for flooding by keeping the Mae Ngad Dam water level at 39 per cent of capacity and the Mae Kuang Dam at 50 per cent.

In neighbouring Lampang, the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department's office has warned low-lying areas in Mae Mo, Mae Tha, Koh Kha, Mae Phrik, Sop Prap, and Thoen districts that there is a strong possibility the Wang river will burst its banks when the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand releases water from the Mae Chang Reservoir.