Two Killed And One Missing As Mudslides And Storms Rock Trat And Rayong

[webfact]

Two killed and one missing as mudslides and storms rock Trat and Rayong

By The Nation

A waitress was killed and her husband seriously injured when a landslide hit a small resort in Trat's Koh Chang early yesterday.

Naree Khok died in the disaster while her husband Rin was pinned under debris and waited in pain for more than 10 hours before being rescued, due to limited equipment.

The couple worked at Little Chang Resort, a two-storey wooden structure that had eight to 10 rooms.

Many other properties in the same area were also damaged by the landslide.

Meanwhile, three dams on a Rayong golf park burst early yesterday, sending a fierce torrent of water down Mt Thammaros.

The torrent swept away around 100 houses and damaged many other properties.

One man - 41-year-old Thirapong Rodpai - was killed when the runoff slammed his car against a big tree.

A nun at Namtok Thammaros Temple was also missing and feared dead.

Many villages in nearby areas were flooded.

Rayong Governor Tawatchai Terdpaothai, who inspected the scene yesterday, said the three dams may have contained more than 200,000 cubic metres of water.

"The golf park owner must pay for damages," he said, "This is not a natural disaster."

Other dams inside the Wangjuntr Golf Park were threatening to burst also and officials were now busy trying to fix the problem.

Ranong disaster-prevention-and-mitigation chief Chasan Kongruang said that landslides had occurred at many spots in the province over the past two days.

"There's now high flood and landslide risks at various attractions especially waterfalls," he said. He warned tourists to be particularly watchful when visiting Ngao, Poonyabarn, Bokkrai, Chumsaeng, Suwansiri, Raloy, Heawlhome, and Tonepetch waterfalls.

"As heavy downpours continue, flash floods and mudslides may hit at anytime."

Chasan advised locals to keep abreast of weather updates.

-- The Nation 2010-10-12

[Shock]

Condolences and sympathies for those affected, but still...

there goes my holiday plans...

Anyone got any ideas?

[crazyswede]

As i see it golf is the source to all evil!

[sunanta]

Condolences and sympathies for those affected, but still...

there goes my holiday plans...

Anyone got any ideas?

EXTREME KAYAKING???????

[dominique355]

Yesterday morning, Monday Oct. 11, I drove on road 344 from Ban Bueng to Klaeng, when all of a sudden cars started to come on the wrong side of the divided highway and then obviously a lot of flooding and an accident. I saw a big white van having crashed against a tree between the roads, water everywhere running like a river from South to North over the North/West (Ban Bueng) bound lane first, ten over the divider and after over the South/East (Klaeng) bound lane on which I was driving.

I was wondering where all this water was coming from, because the area is rather flat, no hills or mountains in sight.

We had to proceed at walking speed through the water, afraid that some sink-hole would open anytime. The water was certainly higher then 30 cm (12").

Now I learned that dams protecting a private golf course near Rayong had burst and send floods all over.

Just wondering if these dams have ever been inspected by the authorities and been found safe.

[jesse89]

I was on holiday in Koh Chang a day before this happened, It was lovely weather all week while I was there. I did get the feeling that it was too good to be true that the rain storms hitting the mainland kept missing us. Sympathies for all of those affected.

[onlooker]

The Remains of Little Chang Bungalows

[otherstuff1957]

I just drove out of there this morning. The road was blocked for about a hour - and this was two days after the slide! They were still working on trying to fix the electrical power lines, but it was still raining, so they were not working a quickly as they could have otherwise. When we left White Sand Beach, most of the hotels had been without power for 2 days.

[loz944]

I also drove from Ko chang yesterday morning. sure sad about those killed and injured, We had no power the last day and night there but sitting in our Resort by the mountains (a great little place called TP Hut ) with just candles and listening to sounds of the jungle whilst having a beer was really relaxing.

it does look like the power may be off for a day or two longer it was some of the worst rain i have seen for many years and i come form cornwall we were lucky we had done most of what we wanted to do on ko chang before it hit

good luck to all those working on restoring the roads and power

[RickBradford]

The Thai Met Office has issued a continued warning

An intense monsoon trough still lies across the lower Central, the upper South, the East and the lower Northeast. The strong southwest monsoon prevails over the Andaman Sea, southern Thailand and the Gulf of Thailand. Abundant rain and isolated heavy rain are likely in many areas. People along hill slope near waterways and in the lowland are warned of possible flash flood during this period. The disaster areas include ;

Nakhon Ratchasima, Nakhon Nayok, Prachin Buri, Rayong, Chanthaburi, Trat, Ranong, Phang-nga and Phuket during Oct 13-17 2010,

Ratchaburi, Phetchaburi, Prachuap Kiri Khan and Chumphon during Oct 14-17 2010,

The wind-wave in the Andaman Sea and the Gulf is strong. All ships should proceed with caution and small boat should keep ashore during this period.

The advisory is in effect for Thailand from 13 October 2010

Issued at 5.00 a.m.