One dead in Thailand as tropical storm uproots trees, blows off roofs

[webfact]

One dead in Thailand as tropical storm uproots trees, blows off roofs

By Patpicha Tanakasempipat and Panarat Thepgumpanat

 

Fallen electricity poles are seen along a road as tropical storm Pabuk approaches the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand, January 4, 2019. REUTERS/Krittapas Chaipimon

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's first tropical storm in three decades killed one person on Friday as it arrived on the south coast, knocking down trees and blowing off roofs in its path, but was losing speed, officials said, while warning against the risk of flash floods.

 

Accompanying winds churned up high waves and gusts in the Gulf of Thailand as tropical storm Pabuk made landfall in the Pak Phanang district of Nakhon Si Thammarat province, where trees crashed down on houses to cause widespread damage.

 

Disaster mitigation officials said the person killed was among the crew of a fishing boat that capsized in strong winds near the coast of nearby Pattani province. Another of the crew was missing, but four others were safe.

 

Waves crash along an oil rig as tropical storm Pabuk reaches the Gulf of Thailand in this still image taken from a video obtained from social media January 4, 2019. FACEBOOK/LOONG KENG JAI DEE/via REUTERS

 

Weather officials warned of torrential downpours and strong winds in 15 provinces in the Thai south, home to one of the world's largest natural rubber plantations and several islands thronged by tourists.

 

But by Friday afternoon, the storm was slowing, and was heading for the province of Surat Thani, the Thai Meteorological Department said in a statement.

 

"It is expected to downgrade to be a tropical depression," it added. "People should beware of the severe conditions that cause forest runoffs and flash floods."

 

The conditions are expected to persist into Saturday. With airports and ferry services shut, people were advised to stay indoors until the storm passed.

 

The National Disaster Warning Center also sounded alarms around tourist beach destinations, such as Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, urging people to leave high-risk areas for higher ground.

 

During the past few days, 6,176 people have been evacuated to shelters from Nakhon Si Thammarat as well as the provinces of Pattani, Songkhla and Yala, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation has said.

 

The Nakhon Si Thammarat airport said it had closed, and low-cost Nok Airlines Pcl said it had cancelled all eight flights to and from the province.

 

The Surat Thani airport will also close from Friday afternoon to Saturday, cancelling flights by Nok Airlines, Lion Air, and Thai Smile, a subsidiary of national carrier Thai Airways.

 

Earlier, Bangkok Airways Pcl said it had canceled all flights to and from the holiday destination of Koh Samui, where ferry services have also been suspended.

 

National energy company PTT Exploration and Production Pcl said it had suspended operations at Bongkot and Erawan, two of the country's biggest gas fields in the Gulf of Thailand.

 

(Reporting by Patpicha Tanakasempipat and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by Kay Johnson and Clarence Fernandez)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-01-04

 

A woman holds up her dog as she runs toward her house as tropical storm Pabuk approaches the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand, January 4, 2019. REUTERS/Krittapas Chaipimon

 

A red flag, warning of dangerous conditions, is seen at a beach as tropical storm Pabuk approaches the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand, January 4, 2019. REUTERS/Krittapas Chaipimon

 

Fishermens pull a boat offshore as tropical storm Pabuk approaches the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand, January 4, 2019. REUTERS/Krittapas Chaipimon

[rumbo1]

Good that is down grading and up to now minimal problems but why not show the same interest in reducing road deaths which happen on a daily basis as to x amount of decades with minimal cost to lives

 

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Latest : Pabuk makes landfall in Nakhon Si Thammarat

By The Pratch Rujivanarom 
The Nation

 

Tropical storm Pabuk has now officially made landfall in Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Pak Phanang District, the Meteorological Department announced.

 

In its 18th warning on Friday, the department said that as of noon, the eye of the storm was at latitude 8.2 degrees North and longitude 100.2 degrees East.

 

The current maximum speed of the storm was 75 kilometres per hour, though the storm is expected to downgrade to a tropical depression and should hit Surat Thani soon. 

 

The Meteorological Department cautioned that the South will face widespread, torrential downpours as a result of the storm.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30361615

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-01-04

 

[DrTuner]

One, sure it wasn't just 1/40th of the usual road carnage? The way this storm was hyped one would've expected at least an apocalypse.

[snoop1130]

Crewman dead, another still missing, as trawler sinks in huge storm

By Pares Lohasan 
The Nation

 

Thai rescue workers carry the body of a fisherman who drowned at sea following heavy downpours and high waves caused by tropical storm Pabuk in Pattani province. // EPA-EFE PHOTO

 

A crewman drowned and a second is still missing after a fishing trawler with six crew members sank in stormy seas off Pattani Bay early on Friday.

 

The body of crew member Pramote Wongsuwan, 47, washed ashore at Yaring's tambon Laem Pho at 11am. Another worker, Chalong Chanthana, 51, was reported still missing at press time.

 

The four remaining crew - captain Surin Bintuan, 41, and workers Santhat Matchamonthon, 44, Prachak Sararat, 48, Theerayuth Khunprabat, 34 - were rescued after the boat capsized in huge waves as tropical storm Pabuk hit Pattani's Yaring district at 3am. 

 

The 40-ton Chok Malinee fishing trawler was on the way to Songkhla when they heard the radio warning of the incoming storm and made a U-turn to seek refuge at the bay along with another 30 boats. 

 

As the storm's outer band hit Pattani, the trawler, anchored one kilometre offshore, capsized and quickly sunk.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30361624

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-1-4

[Formaleins]

Lucky that it is slowing down. Not surprised people here lose their roofs though. Quite a few of the roof designs and construction styles wouldn't stand up to a huff and puff from The Big Bad Wolf, let alone a hurricane. Some of the designs appear to based on horizontally laid kitets, or made from raffia held together with cuckoo spit and a prayer.

[Easy Come Easy Go]

38 minutes ago, Formaleins said:

 Some of the designs appear to based on horizontally laid kitets, or made from raffia held together with cuckoo spit and a prayer.

Or worse asbestos. I've been here 10 years this year, and it is one of the worst aspects of living in Thailand, and most of SE Asia for that matter. 99% of Thais do not know how dangerous this stuff is, they see it to be as normal as wood. Yet a single fibre into your lung cavity can cause lung disease / cancer within a few years. If I had the resources I'd set up education to Thais on this matter because it is pretty serious, especially after a storm like this that has introduced broken asbestos into the environment. I once saw a kid walking along a beach with a broken sheet of the stuff, and then used it to sit on to keep his behind from being sandy, if only he knew..

[zyphodb]

Should be some interesting beach combing to be had along the shores for the next couple of days...

[geriatrickid]

21 minutes ago, Easy Come Easy Go said:

Or worse asbestos. I've been here 10 years this year, and it is one of the worst aspects of living in Thailand, and most of SE Asia for that matter. 99% of Thais do not know how dangerous this stuff is, they see it to be as normal as wood. Yet a single fibre into your lung cavity can cause lung disease / cancer within a few years. If I had the resources I'd set up education to Thais on this matter because it is pretty serious, especially after a storm like this that has introduced broken asbestos into the environment. I once saw a kid walking along a beach with a broken sheet of the stuff, and then used it to sit on to keep his behind from being sandy, if only he knew..

Russia and China are very important business partners and we won't see a disruption of the asbestos imports.

[Easy Come Easy Go]

10 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

Russia and China are very important business partners and we won't see a disruption of the asbestos imports.

That is the case, but if more people knew about it's dangers, then less people would be inclined to build their roofs with the stuff, or move into houses that have it installed. Without much demand there would be less supply. But yes, this isn't going to happen soon. My gf didn't have a clue about asbestos, like most Thais she just thought it was any other building material. 

[Chongalulu]

49 minutes ago, Easy Come Easy Go said:

That is the case, but if more people knew about it's dangers, then less people would be inclined to build their roofs with the stuff, or move into houses that have it installed. Without much demand there would be less supply. But yes, this isn't going to happen soon. My gf didn't have a clue about asbestos, like most Thais she just thought it was any other building material. 

Look,they can’t even be bothered to put a 20 baht bulb in the rear light of their motorcycles despite 25000 deaths per year on roads  so what makes you think they’d pay any attention to the longer term dangers of asbestos?

[lvr181]

17 hours ago, rumbo1 said:

Good that is down grading and up to now minimal problems but why not show the same interest in reducing road deaths which happen on a daily basis as to x amount of decades with minimal cost to lives

 

Multi-tasking is NOT a feature of Thai authorities? ????

 

Anyhow it is not the 'ruling elite' who are dying, so why would they care! ????

 

Yup, harsh comments but likely realistic.

[dcnx]

37 minutes ago, nchuckle said:

Look,they can’t even be bothered to put a 20 baht bulb in the rear light of their motorcycles despite 25000 deaths per year on roads  so what makes you think they’d pay any attention to the longer term dangers of asbestos?

People who eat the raw fish from rice ponds have all been taught about liver fluke disease and they continue to eat them despite now knowing it might cause death. 

 

They just don’t care.

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, zyphodb said:

Should be some interesting beach combing to be had along the shores for the next couple of days...

If you find a few thousand tons of plastic waste interesting then I might agree with you.... 

but I don't find it interesting.

[ReMarKable]

3 hours ago, Easy Come Easy Go said:

That is the case, but if more people knew about it's dangers, then less people would be inclined to build their roofs with the stuff, or move into houses that have it installed. Without much demand there would be less supply. But yes, this isn't going to happen soon. My gf didn't have a clue about asbestos, like most Thais she just thought it was any other building material. 

I doubt knowing it is dangerous to health would make any difference.  My ex father-in-law, a Swiss engineer, had a job in Guatemala designing and developing a roofing material without asbestos.  He did and it sold somewhat, but not like the asbestos stuff.  He found people knew it is dangerous, but wanted something cheap and long lasting; even if it was a health hazard.

[hotchilli]

19 hours ago, DrTuner said:

One, sure it wasn't just 1/40th of the usual road carnage? The way this storm was hyped one would've expected at least an apocalypse.

It's not so much hyping up the strength of the storm, it's more of taking into account the fragility of Thai infrastructure!!

Downgraded to a tropical depression I'd dred to think what would happen should they ever get hit by a big one !!

[Vacuum]

From tropical storm to asbetos..

[DrTuner]

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

It's not so much hyping up the strength of the storm, it's more of taking into account the fragility of Thai infrastructure!!

Downgraded to a tropical depression I'd dred to think what would happen should they ever get hit by a big one !!

The usual would happen. Electric poles down, next day they stick in new ones and pull wires again, only to be toppled once again when a mosquito farts 50km away. Like bamboo huts things here are not made to last but to be rebuilt quickly. Quality is of course crap.