Severe floods swamp homes amid heavy rain in northern Thailand

Severe floods swamped thousands of homes as heavy rain battered northern Thailand.

Monsoon thunderstorms spawned torrential floods that submerged parts of Thailand's Chiang Rai province bordering Myanmar on August 18.

In the Phaya Mengrai district, around 790 acres of land were flooded, while landslides hit the the Mae Sai and In Thoeng districts and caused traffic disruptions.

Meanwhile, heavy rains caused several rivers, including the Sai River between Myanmar and Thailand, to burst their banks, with water spilling over to nearby communities and the heavily flooded Wat Boonyawat temple.

At the Sai Lom Joy market next to Myanmar's Tachileik district, vendors were grappling with chronic floods swamping their stalls. Officials said they deployed tractors to scrub mud off roads.

The Office of National Water Resources said 120 millimitres of rain fell in Chiang Rai over 24 hours.

The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said the floods affected around 2,000 households in Chiang Rai. The Chiang Rai Provincial Administrative Organisation have dispatched rescue personnel and water pumping machines to ease the flooding. Sandbags were also placed to block the deluge from flowing into low-lying areas.

Local authorities said police were handing out relief goods while machinery were clearing roads of mud and fallen trees.

Thailand and neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia are in their annual monsoon rainy season which sees soaring temperatures followed by powerful rain storms in the afternoon leading to widespread flash floods.