A 64-year-old inmate went into shock at Ubon Ratchathani prison and succumbed to a chronic respiratory problem at a local hospital yesterday.

The second victim was a 6-month-old baby with asthmatic symptoms in Pathum Thani who was found dead yesterday morning by his mother after he suffered high fever all Sunday night.

All 25 families of a Mlabri (Yellow Banana Leaves) tribe are suffering from cold due to insufficient winter clothes and relying on bonfires to keep warm. Around 70 children were suffering cold and fever, local disaster prevention official Thawat Phetthera said.

Around 65,000 people living in Nan were in need of blankets and winter clothes, he said. Nan has been declared a risk zone because of the severe cold.

Ubon Ratchathani is also classified a risk zone after temperatures dropped to lower than 15 Celsius in the past three days in 2,668 villages in 20 districts and five subdistricts, affecting around 240,000 people, disaster prevention chief official Suksant Bunsaengtho said.

Around 8,000 blankets had been distributed but around 270,000 were still needed. An emergency Bt50-billion budget is being considered by local authorities at both provincial and tambon levels to provide the blankets.

In Chiang Mai, around 58,000 people living in 95 villages in Om Koi district were now suffering from the cold, district chief Phutthiphong Sirimart said. Around 10,000 survival kits had been distributed.

In Wiang Haeng district, more than 1,000 families in 23 villages were still vulnerable to the cold and waiting for assistance from authorities, district chief Chao Plengwitthaya said.