The Thai Meteorological Department says that a monsoon trough from Cambodia will hit provinces along the Mekong River, then move down to Chanthaburi, Trat, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Phetchaburi, Ranong and Chumphon provinces.
Flood-ravaged Ubon Ratchathani province faces more downpours this week from a monsoon trough that will arrive on Thursday (19th September) and drench the lower Northeast, eastern seaboard and upper Gulf of Thailand this weekend.
The weather will hamper flood draining efforts in Ubon Ratchathani.
Water levels in the Moon River have gone down 40 centimetres over the past four days, yet the flood level is still about 3.5 metres high. Most villagers have been evacuated to shelters and told it will be about three weeks or more before the majority of them can return home.
The Office of the National Water Resources’ secretary-general Somkiat Prajamwong told reporters that flood agencies need to spend 20 days flushing out 2.1 billion cubic metres of water into the Mekong River.
“If we can speed the draining up, people will be able to go back home within 20 days. The severity of this flood has made us believe that it is a result of climate change, so we need to have better plans to cope with floods like this in future,” he said.
