Thailand's Floods Have Killed 83. A New Wave Is Hitting the Coast That Lost 145 Last November

Nearly a million people are still living in floodwater across Thailand, 43 days after the water first rose. The national death toll stands at 83. The south is now being warned again.

Thailand's Floods Have Killed 83. A New Wave Is Hitting the Coast That Lost 145 Last November

Phuket, Thailand — A red alert went out to Phuket City at 7.40am on Thursday. Water is rising in the Bang Yai Canal. Three days ago, all three districts of this province went under.

The Alert That Went to Every Phone

Cell Broadcast messages went out to villages in Nakhon Si Thammarat and Krabi this week. The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation sent them with the mobile operators AIS, True and NT. The alerts named Si Khit, Sichon and Thung Sai subdistricts in Sichon district, Nakhon Si Thammarat. They warned of flash floods, forest run-off, mudslides, waterways overflowing and standing water along the Tha Ruea Ri, Huai Nam Sai and Ta Po canals. The same alerts went to villages 7 and 8 on Phi Phi, Ao Nang subdistrict, Mueang Krabi district, after heavy rain, strong winds and high waves. Residents were told to move belongings higher, to beware electric shocks and to look after vulnerable groups. Assistance runs through the district chief, subdistrict headmen, village headmen, local administrative organisations and community leaders. The DDPM hotline is 1784. The warnings followed accumulated rainfall across the south, issued on Wednesday.

A Season That Has Already Killed Eighty-Three

The national death toll since mid-September is 83, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation reported on 25 October 2026. Flooding began on 16 September 2026. Fifty-three provinces plus Bangkok have been affected since then, according to the AHA Centre's weekly disaster update for 19-25 October, citing the DDPM. Cumulative figures put 2.2 million households and 6.8 million people affected. The provincial breakdown from the DDPM lists Prachin Buri with 26 deaths, Samut Prakan with 9, Chachoengsao with 8, Sa Kaeo with 6 and Nakhon Nayok with 6. Suphan Buri recorded 5 and Bangkok 4. Two deaths each were recorded in Sing Buri, Kanchanaburi, Saraburi, Chanthaburi, Samut Songkhram and Pathum Thani. Single deaths were recorded in Chiang Mai, Tak, Ayutthaya, Rayong, Phetchaburi, Trang and Ratchaburi. The DDPM also publishes a separate count covering only provinces currently listed as flooded. That figure stood at 64 on 23 October 2026, when 16 provinces were listed. It falls as provinces come off the list. It is not the same measure as the cumulative toll. Relief payments have reached 1,169,366 households in 54 provinces, totalling 8,953.286 million baht as of 08:00 on 25 October 2026, paid through the Government Savings Bank and PromptPay linked to ID numbers.

Where the Water Still Stands

At the 6am update on 27 October, the DDPM Operations Centre listed 978,112 people and 327,004 households across 20 provinces and two eastern Bangkok districts. That covered 60 districts, 387 subdistricts and 2,738 villages. The figure stood higher the day before: 336,472 households and 1,008,982 people on 26 October. In Bangkok, 168,203 households remain affected in Lat Krabang and Nong Chok, across 14 subdistricts. Ayutthaya lists 52,188 households across 149 subdistricts and 988 villages in 11 districts, down from 66,825 households on 23 October. Suphan Buri lists 21,194 households across 52 subdistricts and 543 villages. Nakhon Pathom lists 19,153 households across 49 subdistricts and 396 villages. Samut Songkhram lists 15,870 households across 33 subdistricts and 255 villages. Water levels are falling in all listed areas, the DDPM said.

When Phuket Went Under

Flash floods inundated all three districts of Phuket on 26 October, including Phuket City. Water receded by late morning but low-lying areas stayed flooded, the Associated Press reported. Mudslides hit parts of the province. Officials cleared debris to stop it falling into canals and obstructing waterways. About 100 households were affected, with no reports of casualties, deputy provincial governor Romdon Hayiawae told the AP. In Patong, runoff poured down hills toward the Nanai neighbourhood around 3:05am. Rocks, soil and mud piled up around the Makro Nanai area. Floodwater shattered shopfront windows and submerged parked vehicles, the Bangkok Post reported. Rainfall reached 142.8mm over 24 hours in Phuket. Separate monitoring showed 117mm at Ban Na Yai, 93.2mm at Rawai and 94.4mm at Bang Neaw Dum Reservoir. Flooding was also reported in Trang, Satun and Nakhon Si Thammarat.

The Red Alert on Bang Yai Canal

Phuket City Municipality issued a red flood alert at 7.40am on Thursday for residents and businesses along Bang Yai Canal. The alert urged them to move belongings, electrical appliances and valuables to higher ground as heavy rain and incoming runoff drove levels up. Karon Municipality temporarily closed Khok Tanot Road after flooding, citing risks to people and property. At 7.45am, Phuket Info Center reported floodwater too deep for small cars and motorcycles outside Wat Tai, also known as Wat Latthiwanaram, in Chalong subdistrict, Mueang Phuket district. At 8.10am, Chalong Municipality urged motorists to avoid the Khok Tanot traffic-light junction in Chalong because small vehicles could not pass. The Thai Meteorological Department forecast thundershowers across 70% of the southern west coast, with very heavy rain in parts of Phuket. Radar showed moderate to very heavy rain across nine southern provinces. No casualties have been reported in Phuket.

The Forecast Now Points South

The Thai Meteorological Department issued Weather Advisory No.10 (282/2026) at 05:00 on 28 October 2026. It warns of heavy to very heavy rain in the South, with flash floods, overflows and landslides along waterways near foothills and lowlands. Waves are expected to exceed two metres in the Andaman Sea and the Gulf in thundershowers. Ships have been advised to keep off thundershowers. The department attributes the conditions to a low-pressure area over the Andaman Sea, easterly winds across Thailand and the Gulf, and a high-pressure system, a cool air mass, from China. The Hydro-Informatics Institute warned 10 provinces for 28-29 October: Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chumphon, Ranong, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi and Trang. Its 24-hour at-risk areas include Lan Saka district in Nakhon Si Thammarat and Rawai subdistrict in Mueang Phuket district. The Department of Mineral Resources warned 14 provinces of landslides and flash floods for 27-28 October. The Office of the National Water Resources issued its 12th warning of 2026, covering 14 southern provinces for 26-29 October.

Bangkok's Second Front

The DDPM issued a tidal flood alert for Bangkok and six central provinces from 27 October to 5 November 2026. It followed a notice from the Royal Thai Navy's Hydrographic Department on Chao Phraya River levels around Phra Chulachomklao Fort, notice No. 14/2569, issued on 26 October 2026. High tides are expected between 6am and 3pm during the period. Areas to watch are low-lying land beside rivers and canals, communities outside flood embankments, and places without permanent flood defences or with gaps in them. The six provinces are Pathum Thani, covering Mueang Pathum Thani and Sam Khok; Nonthaburi, covering Mueang Nonthaburi, Pak Kret and Bang Kruai; Nakhon Pathom, covering Bang Len, Nakhon Chai Si and Sam Phran; Samut Sakhon, all districts; Samut Songkhram, all districts; and Samut Prakan, covering Mueang Samut Prakan, Phra Samut Chedi, Phra Pradaeng and Bang Bo. The capital is already holding standing water in two eastern districts.

The Canal That Failed Last November

Khlong R.1 is the backbone of Hat Yai's drainage system. It takes water from the U-Tapao River basin and channels it toward Songkhla Lake and the sea, according to Royal Irrigation Department director-general Witthaya Kaewmee. Flooding in November 2025 damaged sections of the canal. On 31 August 2026, Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul inspected the works at the Na Khuan sluice gate on Khlong Phuminat Damri, Khuan Lang subdistrict, Hat Yai district, Songkhla. He was accompanied by Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit. The prime minister ordered agencies to complete urgent work within 90 days to prepare for further flooding. The work covers repairing damaged concrete walls and reinforcing canal banks with about 5,000 steel sheet piles at vulnerable points along more than two kilometres. The budget is 400 million baht for R.1 and associated structures, part of a programme of 66 irrigation repair and rehabilitation projects across southern Thailand worth more than 821 million baht.

The Ninety-Day Deadline

Ninety days from 31 August 2026 falls on 29 November 2026, at the start of the north-east monsoon. The works also include dredging: the R.1 and R.3 drainage canals, Khlong Tha Chang-Bang Klam, Branches 1 and 2 of Khlong U-Tapao, the R.5 retention pond and the R.6 drainage canal. The Government Public Relations Department said the Royal Irrigation Department reported dredging more than 650,000 cubic metres of sediment across seven canals, due to finish before October, plus urgent repairs to a 600-metre stretch of R.1 by 23 September. Once complete, the canal drains at 1,200 cubic metres per second. On 11 July 2026, Deputy Transport Minister Sanphet Boonyamanee said sediment had left water depths at several points only 30 to 50 centimetres, delaying drainage into Songkhla Lake and the Gulf. The Marine Department was to dredge R.1 over 2,150 metres and the U-Taphao canal over 1,000 metres, each 300,000 cubic metres. Anutin had also inspected R.1 on 10 July 2026. A medium-term plan for 2028-2030 would raise the R.3 to R.6 canal system from a five-year to a 25-year return period.

What Last November Cost

In November 2025, heavy rain fell from 21 to 25 November over Songkhla, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. The U-Taphao overflowed at the Sadao gauge on the afternoon of 23 November and in Hat Yai in the early hours of 24 November. Hat Yai recorded 335mm of rain in a single day, its highest single-day total in 300 years, the BBC and Reuters reported. Around Hat Yai, 630mm fell over three consecutive days, above the previous peak of 428mm in 2010, according to GISTDA. The government said on 28 November 2025 that 145 people had died in eight provinces, 110 of them in Songkhla. The Ministry of Public Health gave 267 deaths in eight provinces, 229 of them in Songkhla, on 2 December 2025. Counts differ by definition. Hat Yai Hospital's ground floor was inundated with about 600 patients inside, around 50 of them in intensive care. Patients were evacuated by helicopter. More than 16,000 people were moved to 16 evacuation centres in Hat Yai district. The north-east monsoon brings heavy rain to southern Thailand from November to December, the same season that flooded Hat Yai last year.

By Jessica Ali, Staff Writer

This article was produced with AI-assisted research and editorial support. Sources: Associated Press; Bangkok Post; Nation Thailand; Thairath; The Star (ANN); AHA Centre; Thai Meteorological Department; Royal Irrigation Department; BBC; Reuters via CNA and Nikkei Asia; FTN News. Photographs: Bangkok Post (Chachoengsao); Manit Sanabboon/Bangkok Post (Prachin Buri); Thairath (night flooding).