Hat Yai, Songkhla —
More than 400 tourists stranded in 17 hotels across Hat Yai were urgently evacuated on November 23rd after heavy flooding inundated the city. Authorities coordinated a large-scale rescue operation, transferring affected visitors to temporary shelters set up by Hat Yai Municipality.
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Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Capt. Thammanat Prompao ordered the Royal Irrigation Department to deploy ten-wheel trucks to assist in transporting evacuees. The Ministry of Tourism and Sports, led by Minister Atthakorn Sirilatthayakorn, directed provincial tourism offices, the Sports Authority of Thailand (Songkhla branch), and Hat Yai Tourist Police to join forces in supporting stranded travelers.
The operation was further reinforced by the Tourist Police Bureau, which allocated emergency funds and dispatched officers under Pol. Lt. Col. Sakdanan Khamsai to work alongside local tourism officials, the Royal Thai Navy, the Songkhla Irrigation Department, the Tourist Assistance Center (TAC), and hotel and tourism associations in Hat Yai.
Authorities reported that 402 tourists were safely relocated to municipal shelters, where food and drinking water were distributed. Some travelers were assisted in reaching Hat Yai’s bus terminal to continue their journeys, while groups of Malaysian nationals were escorted to the Sadao border checkpoint to return home.
Officials confirmed that updates on the situation and relief efforts were communicated to the embassies and consulates of Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
