Short (flood) news (update November 23)
The schools in Bangkok under the responsibility of the municipality will resume classes on December 1 instead of December 6 and in seven heavily flooded districts on December 13 or later.
More than 15.000 evacuees who have taken refuge in a school have been forced to move. They go to youth centers and a boy scout camp in Thon Buri.
– In a pond near a house in the Bung Khong Long district (Bung Kan), the border police found 32 blocks of payung (rosewood). The police had been tipped off that the wood was there to be smuggled to Laos. Arrests have not yet been made. See page Illegal logging.
– The highway between Bang Pa-in and Bang Phli (highway 9) will remain free until the end of the month.
– The Education Loan Fund grants an exemption for 2 years to debtors who work or live in an area that has been flooded. About 2 million people should start paying off their debt early next year. The message does not state how many of these qualify for postponement. The period in which students can submit an application has been extended to 31 December.
– Police officers in region 3 in Nakhon Ratchasima province will guard rice stocks of farmers. After the floods, the price of price has skyrocketed. Farmers have also been advised to form security teams themselves.
– Six main roads in the north and northeast of Bangkok are impassable. They are closed to traffic.
– About 2.000 residents have been blocking the access road to a natural gas factory in the district of Chana (Songkhla) for 2 days. They demand compensation of 5.000 baht per person from PTT Plc because the factory pollutes the environment and harms their health. Negotiations with the committee overseeing the factory have failed. As a result of the blockade, there is a shortage of natural gas for vehicles in three southern provinces.
– Volunteers in Ratchaburi have made a leaflet with cleaning and recovery tips for residents returning to their homes. The folder will be distributed to 4.200 evacuees.