Thailand suffers decade’s worst storm

BANGKOK: Tropical storm Pabuk has killed three people and prompted an evacuation of more than 34,000 villagers in southern Thailand, a senior government official said on Saturday.
Director General of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Chayaphol Thitisak said one crewmember of a fishing boat was reportedly killed and another was missing due to the tropical storm in the sea off Pattani province, while two elderly persons were reportedly killed in Nakhon Si Thammarat province on Friday.
Due to the tropical storm, which has weakened into a depression moving from the Gulf of Thailand to the Andaman Sea, more than 34,000 villagers in several districts of Nakhon Si Thammarat have been evacuated to safety, the DDPM chief said. Eight southern provinces of Thailand have been affected by Pabuk, including Chumphorn, Songkhla, Phatthalung, Pattani, Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Surat Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat. With a wind speed of 55 km per hour, Pabuk has moved from one side of southern Thailand to the other or from the Gulf of Thailand to the Andaman Sea, raising strong winds, high tides, heavy rains and flash floods on Saturday, said a latest statement from the Meteorological Department. (Xinhua)