Flash Flood Devastates Wang Nam Khiao – 18-Year-Old Man Swept Away & Killed

Picture courtesy of Khaosod.

Torrential rains triggered a powerful flash flood in Wang Nam Khiao district,  Nakhon Ratchasima on 10 May, submerging homes and vehicles and claiming the life of an 18-year-old construction worker. Another man, aged around 60, is missing after being swept away in the floodwaters.

The downpour, caused by a summer storm, struck Udomsap subdistrict for nearly three hours, overwhelming the forested hills of Thap Lan National Park and unleashing a mass of water into Khlong Nong Somong. This surge inundated the nearby village of Ban Nong Somong in Moo 6.

A Myanmar construction worker, identified as Mr. Thun, 18, was swept away while attempting to escape the rising waters using two plastic jerry cans as flotation devices. He was reported missing, prompting an urgent search by rescue team Hook 31 and military personnel from the 2nd Army Region.

The search for the missing worker culminated around 19:15, when Mr. Thun’s body was found entangled in bamboo along Khlong Nong Somong, roughly 300 metres from the house.

While search operations for Mr. Thun were underway, rescue services received another distress call involving a man in his sixties who was reportedly clinging to a motorbike on a flooded road near the boundary of Ban Huai Phrom and Ban Takrut Rang villages. Despite a rapid response, rescuers found no sign of the man when they arrived. Thermal drone surveillance was deployed, but no heat signals were detected, and the search was suspended pending any local reports of a missing person.

Authorities are continuing to assess the full extent of the damage and are preparing for further recovery operations.

  Adapted by Asean Now from Khaosod 2025-05-12.