Excerpt From Bangkok Post 29 Mar 2011

Wild weather grips the nation

Temperatures plunge, storms wreak havoc

Thailand is expected to experience more unseasonal weather patterns this week causing more floods, rough seas, storms and cold temperatures, meteorology officials warn.

A crocodile is captured by zoo workers yesterday at Suan Somdej Phra Sri Nakharin Park, where Nakhon Si Thammarat municipality’s zoo is located. It was one of 11 crocodiles that escaped the flooded zoo. Zoo staff shot dead one crocodile and caught three others. Seven remain at large. Two bears also escaped. NUCHAREE RAKRUN

A further drop in temperatures in most parts of the country and continued heavy rainstorms over the southern region during the next few days have been forecast.
Heavy downpours and turbulent seas have caused flash floods in at least six southern provinces, disrupting land, sea and air travel and causing devastating damage to farmland and property in many areas.
Local and foreign high-season tourists were caught off-guard by heavy rainstorms while celebrating their summer holidays in popular southern tourist provinces.
Thousands of tourists were stranded on Koh Samui after bad weather forced the closure of the island's only airport and the suspension of the ferry service to and from the mainland yesterday.
Airline personnel were unable to provide exact departure periods for those stranded as bad weather continued into the night.
Roads in the densely populated tourist areas of Chaweng and the fishermen's village of Bophut are submerged under nearly a metre of flood water.
Compounding problems for international travellers are fully booked flights from Koh Samui because it is still the busy tourist season on the island. Bangkok Airways personnel said they will give priority to passengers with international connections if weather conditions improve tomorrow.
Several hundred more tourists were also reportedly stranded on islands at Similan National Marine Park in the Andaman Sea because of the turbulent weather.

Waves in the Gulf of Thailand and on the western coast were reported to be as high as 5m, forcing fishermen and tour boat operators to temporarily suspend their services.
At least eight people have died - seven in Nakhon Si Thammarat and one in Phatthalung - while more than 268,000 households have been affected by severe floods covering Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Trang, Surat Thani, Chumphon and Songkhla.
But in other parts of the country, 47 provinces, particularly in the north and northeastern regions, have been declared as drought-affected areas with more than seven million people affected.
Weather officials said yesterday they could not say why the high pressure wedge has continued to prevail from China.
"If the influence of the high pressure remains strong, we will see more and more rain in the South," Weather Prediction Division chief Charoon Laohalertchai said.
He said the unusually heavy rainfall in the southern provinces was likely to be a result of the La Nina phenomenon.
The amount of rainfall in Nakhon Si Thammarat during the past week was higher than the province's year-long average of 200mm. In some places of the province, the amount of rain was more than 600mm in five days, which is higher than the average annual rainfall in the central region.
"We expect to see a declining amount of rain by the end of this month, together with a declining influence of La Nina by the middle of this year," Mr Charoon said. However, he said the increasing temperature in the Andaman Sea was an important factor that might lead to more rainstorms in May and June over Phuket and other provinces along the west coast.
The Meteorological Department predicted yesterday the temperature in north, northern, eastern and central provinces, including Bangkok and nearby cities would decrease by three to five degrees Celsius from today.
Residents living in several provinces in the lower Northeast have experienced a sharp drop in temperatures during this summer season.
In Nakhon Ratchasima, a cold spell gripped the province yesterday with Pak Chong district experiencing the lowest temperature at 16.1C.
The temperature dropped to 12C at Phu Rua district in Loei and 5.5C at the top of Phu Rua national park.
In the North, cold spells have also gripped the region, with the temperature on Doi Inthanon, the country's highest peak, measured at 7.8C yesterday.In lowland areas, average temperatures were between 18C to 23C.