Rain threatens ancient ruins
The Meteorological Depart-ment yesterday warned that a low-pressure ridge lying across the upper South, lower Central and Eastern regions would bring excessive rain and isolated downpours to many parts of Thailand.
In Phrae's Wang Chin district, 120 millimetres of rain caused a flash-flood in two villages, damaging two bridges and two weirs, but no injuries were reported.Wang Chin district clerk for disaster prevention, Songdech Ngamsa-ard, said heavy rain since Monday night caused a flash-flood in Tambon Mae Poon's two villages at 4am yesterday, but the flood quickly subsided after a few hours. With continuous rain over the last few days, the district has urged residents to beware of possible floods and landslides and to prepare for evacuation in case of emergency as many villages are located in a valley, he said. As heavy rain was forecast across much of the country, there was concern that downpours may damage ancient ruins in the North, especially the 700-year-old Chiang Saen ancient city in Chiang Rai. Sahawat Naenna, director of the Fine Arts Office Region 8 in Chiang Mai, said many ruins were "now under threat of erosion from rainwater and gusty winds from the early rainy season". Some 150 ruins located in the ancient city, which is being developed into a world heritage site, are most at risk, he said. Since the restoration budget was cut from Bt50 million last year to only Bt5 million this year, the office will aim at speeding up restoration in areas that have been excavated.
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