Ayutthaya hit by heavy flooding

Out of 208 local schools, 33 have been flooded, with five of those already closed. A sum of Bt363 million is being urgently requested for repair and renovation of 135 other flooddamaged schools in 47 provinces once the flood waters have subsided.

A large amount of water has been released into the Chao Phya River from major dams upstream, including the Pasak Dam in Lop Buri province, possibly resulting in flash floods in Ayutthaya, said senior irrigation official Ukrit Thavornkraikul.

He said the water needed to be released because the Pasak Dam had now reached the same critical level it had two years ago when almost the entire Central region was heavily flooded.

In neighbouring Angthong province, 50 families living in Pa Moke district slept in the road next to their cattle after their homes and barns were flooded. One man said he had no choice but to sleep in the road despite worries that passing vehicles might crush his family of five at any time.

In Sing Buri province, nine local schools have been forced to close after heavy floods hit the province. Provincial authorities and the governor are closely monitoring the water level in the Chao Phya Dam to protect the market area, as well as a crocodile farm that stands to lose some of its specimens if flood waters rise.

Sing Buri Governor Wichai Phraisangob said the flood had severely affected three districts, but especially In Buri and Phrom Buri. In Buri district was the most affected, with 30 villages in six tambons inundated. In response, the local authorities have built a 60centimetre sandbag dike to protect In Buri Market from the raging waters.

The governor said he was closely coordinating with the Chai Nat provincial office of the Royal Irrigation Department, which controls the discharge of water from the Chao Phya Dam, for the latest reports on the water level in the dam.

Water flow from upriver in Nakhon Sawan that had been filling the dam was decreasing, and the discharge of water will eventually be reduced.

The Sing Buri Education Service Area Office yesterday ordered the closure of two more schools due to flooding after ordering seven others to suspend classes on Wednesday.

The Sing Buri Red Cross led a humanitarian emergencyservices operation to distribute 3,450 survival bags to flood victims in the province.

Meanwhile, a crocodile farm owner in Tambon Paknam Pho of Nakhon Sawan's Muang district said he owned 200 specimens and had already increased the height of the embankments of the breeding ponds to prevent flood waters from spilling in.

However, if the water continues to rise, his farm will be affected. He plans to move larger reptiles to higher ground, while smaller crocodiles will be kept in steel cages covered with steel mesh to prevent them from escaping.