Special Sunday Report
THAILAND FLOODING: Hat Yai Flood Toll Confirmed at 65/Sad litany of flood missteps/Hat Yai health system in crisis/Forensic team of 40 arrives/Mental health crisis teams deployed/1,800 tourists get helpad
Hat Yai Flood Toll Revised and Confirmed at 65
The Ministry of Public Health has confirmed that 65 people died unnaturally during the Hat Yai floods, clarifying confusion after earlier reports suggested 131 fatalities. Officials said the higher figure referred to the total number of bodies received at Songklanagarind Hospital, which included deaths unrelated to the disaster.
Dr. Sakda Alphachin, deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Public Health, explained that the hospital had received 131 bodies, with 55 originating from Hat Yai Hospital, where they had been stored since the start of the flood. The remaining 76 were newly received during the flood response. Continued …
Sad litany of flood missteps
Entrenched patronage networks, political meddling in appointments, and a lack of professional disaster-management leadership created a cascade of preventable failures in the catastrophic flooding that tore apart Songkhla’s Hat Yai district, a major economic engine of the south, according to academics.
Experts warn that while climate-driven extreme weather is intensifying, local leaders and the central government continue to misjudge risks, rely on outdated assumptions, and respond with ad-hoc, election-minded decisions rather than evidence-based strategies. Continued …
Hat Yai health system in crisis as only one hospital remains for 700,000 people
Pat Korathanakhun, assistant dean of human resources at the Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, has raised an alarming issue regarding the catastrophic impact of recent flooding on Hat Yai’s healthcare system.
The city, with a population of over 700,000, has been hit hard by the flood, with a significant number of hospitals and private clinics now out of service. Continued …
Forensic team of 40 arrives to assist with autopsies during Hat Yai flood crisis
The Ministry of Public Health has dispatched a 40-member forensic team to support Prince of Songkla University in autopsies during the Hat Yai floods, with dental professionals aiding in identification.
Weerawut Imsamran, deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Public Health, reported that the Songklanagarind Hospital at Prince of Songkla University had been designated as the central hub for receiving and conducting autopsies on flood victims in Hat Yai, Songkhla province. Continued …
Mental health crisis teams deployed in southern Thailand to support flood victims
The Ministry of Public Health has dispatched six mental health crisis assessment and treatment teams (MCATT) to southern Thailand to provide emotional support and mental health care to flood victims in evacuation centers.
Dr. Kittisak Aksornwong, director-general of the Department of Mental Health, revealed that the MCATT teams will work alongside medical emergency response teams (MERT) and special health emergency response yeams (SHERT) over the next two weeks. Continued …
1,800 tourists get help in south as water recedes
More than 1,800 foreign tourists have been rescued and assisted in flood-stricken southern Thailand, where improving conditions were reported in all nine provinces yesterday.
Tourism and Sports Minister Atthakorn Sirilatthayakorn said there were no new reports of tourists left stranded in flooded areas in the south, and transport networks were largely restored. Continued …
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