Thailand: Southern Thailand is reeling under one of its worst flood disasters in decades as days of unprecedented rainfall submerged Hat Yai and surrounding districts, prompting the Catholic Church and emergency authorities to mobilize large-scale rescue and relief efforts. Local officials confirmed that all 16 districts of Songkhla province have been declared disaster zones, with more than 465,000 people affected. The catastrophe forms part of a wider regional crisis, as nine southern provinces collectively report over 2.1 million impacted residents and at least 13 fatalities. Floodwaters rose sharply overnight, catching communities off guard and overwhelming rescue teams attempting to reach stranded families across the city.
Floodwater continued to swallow entire neighborhoods in Hat Yai through early Wednesday, with rapidly rising levels submerging cars, inundating streets, and seeping into hospital wards, significantly complicating the treatment of vulnerable patients. Authorities said some parts of the city were buried under two meters of water, while widespread power failures and communication disruptions deepened the crisis. Emergency responders struggled to move through fast currents and flooded intersections, leaving many residents waiting for help as conditions deteriorated further. Amid the chaos, health services faced mounting strain as staff tried to relocate patients to safer sections of facilities already stretched to their limits.
The scale of devastation pushed Songkhla’s leadership to order a full evacuation of Hat Yai on Monday, as the province encountered its heaviest floods in 25 years, driven by once-in-300-year rainfall, relentless cloudbursts, and runoff from upstream districts. Thousands of residents fled to temporary shelters, while tourists both Thai and international found themselves trapped by impassable roads. Many Malaysian travelers, who frequent Hat Yai as a weekend destination, have been stranded in hotels without electricity and running water since Saturday. Others have slept inside Hat Yai Airport for days, unable to leave due to grounded flights and submerged access roads, highlighting the city’s complete transportation paralysis.
With the humanitarian situation worsening, Bishop Paul Trairong Multree of the Diocese of Surat Thani convened an emergency meeting on Tuesday to coordinate the Church’s immediate response, activating volunteer teams and relief networks across the region. The diocese outlined a comprehensive plan that includes distributing safe drinking water, emergency food supplies, medical support, and rescue assistance. A central emergency kitchen has also been arranged prepared to provide both regular and Halal meals in collaboration with the Catholic Office for Emergency Relief and Refugees (COERR). Bishop Trairong said that teams would begin on-the-ground operations at first light, with additional aid shipments expected from Bangkok and neighboring dioceses in the coming days.
Meanwhile, donation drives are rapidly expanding across the country, with clergy and laypeople in Bangkok launching urgent appeals to support communities in the South. Fr. Chonnapat Sukanate of the Bangkok Archdiocese issued a rare emergency plea for contributions, requesting essential items such as instant noodles, powdered milk, medicine, diapers, raincoats, and fully charged power banks to help flood-hit families endure power outages. He announced plans to travel personally to Surat Thani Diocese on Thursday to deliver the collected supplies, calling the crisis one of the most severe the region has faced in years.
Despite partial improvement in other regions of Thailand, government agencies warn that the South remains in a critical state as continual downpours threaten to worsen already catastrophic conditions. Emergency crews are stretched thin, major highways are blocked, and thousands remain trapped in waterlogged communities, with officials stressing that the next two days will be decisive in determining the scale of human and structural losses. As floodwaters continue their destructive spread, Church-based relief groups, government responders, and local volunteers are locked in a race against time to deliver aid, rescue stranded residents, and prevent further tragedy across the battered region.