Floods in Thailand kill 14 and tourism sector badly hit

Floods in Thailand have killed 14 people and has also adversely affected southern holiday islands because the December-January period is high season for tourism who want to spend their Christmas and New Year in the exotic locations.
It seems a low pressure system has brought heavy rain to parts of the south that include the islands of Samui and Pha Ngan in the Gulf of Thailand. Floods have also severed the rail link to the south and Malaysia.
This has been reported in thehindu.com dated 6 December 2016.

Tourism has been a rare bright spot for the economy of the country that has struggled to gain traction since the army seized power in a bloodless coup in 2014 and put an end to months of political unrest. As per National Disaster Warning Centre, a total of 14 Thai people have lost their lives in various accidents that have been caused by the weather in different parts of the south.
Southbound trains have been halted in between because of flooding. Some areas have seen 447 mm of precipitation in the past 7 days - this is 380 mm more than the average for this time of year.
December is usually the beginning of the dry season when tourists arrive on palm fringed beaches to celebrate Christmas and New Year and the tourism ministry expects a record 32.4 million arrivals this year. But - the weather is playing truant. It may be recalled that widespread floods in 2011 had taken a heavy toll of more than 900 people and caused major disruption to industry.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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