Record storms this year

The amount of rainfall at Bangkok's Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, measured by the Meteorological Depart-ment on April 27, was the highest recorded - 216 millimetres in the past 59 years, the director of the Weather Forecast Bureau, Somchai Baimoung, said.

The amount of rainfall in the area increased from 133.5mm on April 22, 1951, to 216.8mm on the same day this year, he added.

Increasingly heavy

The amount of rainfall in other areas also increased drastically. Nakhon Ratchasima's Chokechai meteorological station measured the amount of rainfall on April 25 and found that it increased from 75mm in April 1999 to 98.4mm last month.

Meanwhile, the amount of rainfall at the Khlong Toei Port was heavier - from 105.3mm in 1989 to 140.3mm in 2009.

Thailand generally records the highest temperature every April, but this year the temperatures were lower than the past few years due to heavy rainfall.