Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district hit by flash flood today

About six months after recovering from the worst flooding in three decades, the Mae Sai border district of Chiang Rai province was struck by another flash flood today.

The swollen Sai River poured through gaps in the embankments, which are currently under construction, and inundated the Sai Lom Joy market, Koh Sai and Mai Loong Khon communities.

Sarayuth Komboon, Mae Sai district chief officer, attributed the flooding to heavy rainfall in the watershed area of Shan state in Myanmar, sending runoffs downstream and through gaps in the incomplete flood wall.

He confirmed that the river has not broken its banks yet, but water was able to rush through the gaps, adding that he expects floodwater in the township to recede quickly.

In the afternoon, the floodwater receded, and villagers began cleaning their houses. Soldiers lent a hand to help remove mud from roads in the district

Mae Sai district was submerged in floodwater and mud for several weeks last year, after it was struck by heavy flooding in late September and October.

A massive clean-up campaign was launched, with the cooperation of the private and public sectors and the army. It took more than a month for the thick layer of mud to be removed from the town. Damage to property and goods for border trade with Myanmar were officially estimated at over 100 million baht, but unofficial estimates put that much higher.