Mae Sai district returns to normal after two-month clean-up

Main photo: Houses in Mae Sai district

Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai will preside over a ceremony in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai province today, to hand the responsibility for the administration of the district back to the municipality, at the completion of the major post-flood clean-up of the border town.

The military and volunteers from private relief organisations have spent about eight weeks returning the border town to normal, after it was buried under a sea of mud by the devastating flooding in September.

Residents and local officials held a ceremony yesterday to bid farewell and to express their thanks to the troops and volunteers for their hard work in disposing of the mountain of mud, and for enabling life to return to normal.

Meanwhile, the provincial administration has set up a committee to survey, design and build a flood wall, to prevent soil erosion along the Sai River, and the dredging of Sai and Ruak rivers, as part of long-term measures to prevent future flooding.

Chiang Rai Deputy Governor Prasert Chitpleecheep said that it had been agreed among relevant agencies, at a meeting yesterday, that a buffer zone along the Sai River, about 40 metres wide, must be reserved for the construction of the flood wall, which means that many buildings, which are illegally encroaching on the river, will have to be demolished.

Residents have expressed concern that their houses and stores on the river bank may have to go, but that they will wait for a clear answer from the authorities.

It has been reported that the Myanmar military in Tachileik district, opposite Mae Sai district, have agreed to dismantle encroaching buildings and other structures on the Myanmar side of the border as well.

The Thailand-Myanmar Joint Committee Relating to the Fixed Boundary on Mae Sai-Nam Ruak Rivers Sector is scheduled to meet in Bangkok from November 5th to 7th.

Both Mae Sai and Tachileik districts were devastated by the September flooding, following prolonged heavy rainfall.