Police have reported a 77-year-old man was found dead in a rice field in the Doi Luang District of Chiang Rai. He is the second person to die from flooding in the past two days.
On the evening of August 20th, police and rescue workers were called to a rice field in Pong Noi Village, Village 10, Pong Noi Subdistrict, Doi Luang District. They mobilized a team of villagers to search for a missing man, approximately 77 years old, whose relatives reported that he had set to net fish in the flooded rice field.
The officers and rescue workers used boats and searched until they found the body of the man who had drowned in the flooded field with both ankles entangled in the fishing net. His body was transferred to the local hospital.
The doctor on duty said he believed that it was an accident that caused the drowning.
A day before, a 39-year-old woman was discovered drowned near a riverbank in the Thoeng district of Chiang Rai. The body of Ms. Phonpimol, aged 39, was discovered on the banks of the Hong River in Ban Sai Kad, Village No. 6, Thap Tao Subdistrict, by local villages who immediately called the police.
Police arrived at the scene with a doctor from the local hospital who determined the woman had drowned and had been dead for a few days. Her body was transported to the local hospital for a postmortem examination.
Her family said the woman suffered from epilepsy and would disappear for 1-2 days but always return home. When she disappeared on August 17th, the family worried because of the heavy flooding because the victim couldn’t swim.
Police said that after her body was examined to make sure no foul play occurred, her body would be released for a ceremonial funeral.
Meanwhile, heavy rains continue to fall in Chiang Rai province, with many districts flooded and over a meter of water. The Chiang Rai Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation warned that the Kok River was 5.76 meters high, which could cause more flooding if the rains didn’t stop.
The Office of National Water Resources reported rainwater measured 120 millimeters in Chiang Rai Province over the past 24 hours.
The Chiang Rai Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation reports that floods have affected about 2,000 households in Chiang Rai Province. Unless the rains continue, flooding should end in a few days.
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Geoff Thomas is an award winning journalist known for his sharp insights and no-nonsense reporting style. Over the years he has worked for Reuters and the Canadian Press covering everything from political scandals to human interest stories. He brings a clear and direct approach to his work.
