Houses collapse into river as heavy rain continues to batter northern Thailand

Houses collapsed into a river as heavy rain continued to batter northern Thailand.

The two-storey concrete house slid into the Mae Rim River when mountain runoff washed away its foundation in Chiang Rai province on September 23.

Homeowner Mukda Wongnak, 65, said she was at home at around 3pm when she heard the entire house cracking.

She said: 'The flood began to erode the riverbank and the foundation of the house so I was hurrying to move my belongings outside. After about an hour, the house began to crack and made loud noises. I rushed outside but there were still many things like electrical appliances inside.

'When I was on the street, the house collapsed before my eyes. It was swept away by the flood. I felt so heartbroken that I almost fainted.'

The devastated resident said she had taken out a loan to renovate the house and was still paying the debt. She had been living in the refurbished home for around three years before it collapsed.

She continued: 'In the years I've lived here, there have never been floods like this until now. I will have to move away because my property has been completely washed away. I am scared of another flood destroying my house.'

Mukda's home was reportedly the eighth to collapse into the Mae Rim River this month.

The torrential floods were reportedly caused by a tree trunk blocking a part of the channel and intensifying the water flow.

Authorities have tried to fortify the embankment by installing sandbags and wooden supports. They said the river level remains high amid continued rain.

It came just days after Typhon Yagi devastated the country, killing at least 10 people and leaving thousands more displaced. At least 419 more lost their lives in neighbouring Myanmar and 350 others in Vietnam while hundreds of thousands were displaced across Southeast Asia and China.

The Thai Meteorological Department forecast that northern Thailand, including Chiang Mai province, would experience heavy downpours with potential flash floods and landslides due to a strong monsoon trough that sweeps the region.

The southwest monsoon, which covers the Andaman Sea and the upper Gulf of Thailand, is also intensified by a low-pressure system hovering over neighbouring Hainan, China.

Thailand and neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia are at the start of their annual monsoon rainy season which sees soaring temperatures followed by powerful rain storms. The rudimentary infrastructure often struggles with the deluge, leading to widespread flash floods.