Narathiwat Governor Sittichai Sakda said yesterday that flooding had already hit 470 villages in 13 districts across the province, affecting the lives of more than 145,000 people over the past two months.

For the second time since December, he has declared his province a disaster zone to facilitate the disbursement of emergency funds for relief operations.

In hard-hit areas, floodwaters were still between one and 1.5 metres deep while hundreds of people have sought refuge in evacuation centres.

Heavy rain has caused severe flooding in 12 provinces, mostly in the South, this year.

In the southern province of Pattani, several schools have suspended classes due to flooding. Many others have continued to conduct classes because floodwaters in their areas are not deep and children have been seen leaving heavily-flooded homes in boats to travel to school.

“Some children cannot make it to school. Attendance rates are low at schools that remain open,” said Attasit Rattanaklaew, the acting education chief of Pattani.

In Nakhon Si Thammarat province, residents of all 23 districts have been told to watch out for possible flash floods and landslides.