Thailand floods claim 100 lives, 5 mn affected

BANGKOK - Extensive flooding in central Thailand this month killed up to 100 people and affected 5 million others, officials said Saturday.

Unusually heavy monsoon rains since Oct 10 caused flooding in 38 of 76 provinces, swamping 640,000 hectares of farmland and causing more than 10 billion baht ($333 million) in damage, the disaster prevention and mitigation department said.

It said 22 provinces were still partly submerged.

At least 100 people died during the past three weeks, mostly from drowning, the Emergency Medical Institute said.

Many died attempting to catch fish in the floodwaters, officials acknowledged. The institute said it would launch a campaign to teach more Thais how to swim.

Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said Friday that medical teams had treated 229,398 patients for flood-related ailments. Half of the patients suffering foot infections.

The government has approved a special allocation of 3 billion baht ($100 million) to provide 5,000 baht to about 600,000 affected households.

The government approved 300 mn baht for emergency relief.