CHIANG RAI – The effects of Tropical Depression Wipha have started to cause chaos in Thoeng district. Flooding has blocked key roads and reached important government buildings, including the front of Thoeng Police Station, the district court, schools and recently Thoeng Hospital.
Hee hospital has had to stop accepting routine patients for now and has begun transferring inpatients to safer locations.
On 23 July 2025, heavy rain from Wipha began to affect several areas in Chiang Rai. Runoff from the mountains quickly filled rivers and flooded homes and farmland before dawn.
The Thoeng district saw some of the worst flooding, with government offices and vital community services underwater. Thoeng Witthayakhom School, the district court and Thoeng Police Station all faced significant water levels.
The hospital faced the most serious impact. They announced a temporary halt to services for non-emergency patients and only accepted urgent cases. Stable inpatients were moved to nearby district hospitals or local health centres for their safety.
The weather remained severe throughout the day, with heavy rain continuing. If the downpour continued, locals worried the flooding could be as severe as the major flood last year. Mr Anek Pantayam, the district chief of Thoeng, visited the affected areas since early morning.
He instructed officials to help residents in at-risk zones by moving belongings to higher ground and evacuating patients, elderly people and anyone at risk to safe locations.
The Thoeng district receives water from several rivers, mainly from the mountain streams of Phamon in Tab Tao subdistrict, and from Por subdistrict in Wiang Kaen. Locals call this stream “Nam Ngao”. It flows through Ngao and Wiang subdistricts, before joining the Ing River behind Wiang Thoeng municipal office and then on to the Mekong.
Rain has fallen day and night, raising water levels in the Ngao River, which passes through Por subdistrict in Wiang Kaen. The water rose quickly and started eroding the banks near Phalae and Panghat villages.
Several roads have been damaged, with long stretches eaten away by the current. The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation has issued a high alert to its monitoring network.
Many main roads in Chiang Rai city, like the road outside Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital, are flooded because the drains cannot keep up. Ban Rao junction in Wiang Chiang Rung was affected too. Once the rain eased, water levels began to drop slowly.
