As the floodwater in many provinces had subsided, officials would soon be able to carry out the rehabilitation as well as restoration of flood victims' mental and physical condition, Boonsrang, the chairman of the Flood Assistance Centre, said.

A recent meeting with related agencies had concluded 30 lessons from the recent flooding and long-term flood solutions - some of which could be done within a year of the Cabinet's approval, Boonsrang said. These measures would be proposed to the premier in one or two days.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister General Boonrawd Somtas, who recently inspected the flood situation, gave 900 relief bags to residents and presented Bt200,000 in donations to flood-hit temples in Ayutthaya yesterday.

He told local officials the interim government would move quickly to tackle the flooding issue and improve water management.

In regard to an additional Bt50 million sought by Ayutthaya administrators, he said there would be no problem as the province's flood crisis had to be solved quickly.

To prepare for high tide from November 6 to 10, the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) has started reducing the amount of water released from Lop Buri's Pasak Dam, dropping it to 147 cubic metres per second (cms). It would stop releasing water altogether for three or four days during high tide, RID chief Samart Chokanapitak said.

Samart said the Chao Phya River at Nakhon Sawan was at 3,136 centimetres, down 92cm from recent days, while the river level from Ayutthaya's Bang Sai district leading into Bangkok was measured at 3,134cm.

As officials were draining water out of the western plains into the Chao Phya and Tha Chin rivers, Samart warned this might cause levels in Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani and Nakhon Pathom to rise and affect residents.

In the meantime, Permanent Secretary for Public Health Dr Prat Boonyawongvirot ordered all provinces to watch for the emergence of leptospirosis and dengue haemorrhagic fever outbreaks after the floods subside.

Phitsanulok and Sukhothai had each reported at least five cases of leptospirosis. People with cuts or rashes on their legs who had waded through floodwater were 15 times more at risk of contracting the disease, the official warned.

Education Minister Wijit Srisa-an, who visited flood-hit schools in Pathum Thani and Nonthaburi yesterday, said 1,200 schools nationwide had suffered damage, with about 500 remaining closed after the new school term began on Wednesday.

He said the flood-relief budget to assist the affected schools was about Bt1.6 billion. Wijit said Mathayom 6 students at the closed schools who are soon to take the O-Net (Ordinary National Educational Test) examinations might have to study temporarily at other schools nearby.

Weerasak Wongsombat, secretary-general of the Vocational Education Commission, urged the public to donate money to build 30 more floating toilets - which cost Bt7,000 each - for Nonthaburi and to provide affected schools with teaching materials, student uniforms and computers.

Officials in Phichit, which also has many districts still inundated, warned Loy Krathong revellers not to light candles and incense on their floating krathongs as they might get stuck under flooded homes and cause fires.

In Suphan Buri, a long stretch of highway number 340 (Suphan-Bang Bua Thong) was still under 50cm of water.

The Weather Bureau yesterday warned of heavy rainfall in southern Thailand from Surat Thani on down, and urged small trawlers to exercise caution as waves of up to 3 metres were expected. It said Typhoon Cimaron had headed towards Hong Kong and would not affect Thailand's general weather.