Debris Cleared, Hat Yai Bustles Amid Delayed Relief and Monsoon Risk

Hat Yai’s streets are bustling again, but the scars of the record-breaking flood still shape daily life for residents across the lower South. Bulldozers have pushed the last mud piles to the kerb, electricity is humming, and mobile kitchens have folded away. Yet mountains of debris on the city’s edge, unfinished cash transfers and talk of a fresh monsoon surge are reminders that the emergency is not quite over.

Quick glance before you scroll

• All flood zones downgraded to Level 2, with Songkhla province back in charge of operations.

• More than 118,000 t of debris and 394 km of roads cleaned so far, meeting the “14-day spotless” pledge.

• 9,000 baht relief transferred to 1.56 M households, but glitches still block nearly 20,000 claimants.

• 95,000 t of waste now waiting at interim dump sites; final disposal relies on the Ko Taeo waste-to-energy plant.

• Engineers accelerate a long-delayed flood-mitigation canal network aimed at shielding Hat Yai from repeat disasters.

Clean-up crews race the clock

Soldiers, municipal workers and volunteers worked round-the-clock shifts to restore the city’s core shopping and transport corridors. By the second weekend after waters receded, teams had carted away 118,670 t of soaked mattresses, ruined appliances and fallen trees. Pressure-washing units scoured 394 km of asphalt, allowing private cars back on the road network that links Hat Yai to Bangkok and neighbouring Malaysia. Local vendors, many of whom rely on cross-border shoppers, reopened within a fortnight—crucial for a municipality whose annual retail turnover tops ฿200 B.

Where does the rubbish go?

Turning a flooded metropolis into a livable space produces a paradox: mountains of garbage appear overnight. Four temporary transfer yards ring the city—at Sa‐phan Dam intersection, Sakorn Mongkhon canal market, Ban Hak community and a newly fenced plot near the old dump. Drone footage shows stacks several storeys high. All refuse is trucked 15 km to the Ko Taeo landfill and waste-to-energy complex, where TPIPP’s incinerator can burn 600 t per day. Provincial officials adopted a “no need to sort” rule for households; trained crews pull batteries, e-waste and animal carcasses before burning or landfilling. Odour-control drones spray enzyme solution twice daily to limit respiratory complaints in nearby villages.

Cash relief: the 9,000-baht bridge

Most households have already received the flat ฿9,000 payout wired through Government Savings Bank. The programme covers nine southern provinces, and Hat Yai tops the chart with 185,650 recipient families. Total disbursement has surpassed ฿14 B. Yet 19,294 accounts failed during automatic transfers—usually because the owner never linked PromptPay to their ID card or the account lay dormant. District clerks urge claimants to visit municipal halls or call the hotline listed on flood68.disaster.go.th to resubmit details. Officials say a mop-up payment run is planned before New Year.

Eyes on the next rain band

Meteorologists warn a second wave of monsoon storms could drench the Lower South within days. Temporary shelters in Bang Klam and Khlong Hae have been left standing, stocked with rice, clean water and 500 field cots. A colour-coded flag system—green for safe, yellow for watch, red for evacuate—now hangs at 35 intersections. Residents can also check live flood cams on the crowdsourced portal hatyaicityclimate.org.

Building a flood-proof future

Long-term fixes date back to a royal initiative launched after the 1988 deluge, but fresh urgency (and public anger) have sped them up. The current blueprint includes:• Deepening 47 km of Khlong U‐Taphao and digging seven new bypass canals to raise discharge capacity to 1,075 m³/s.• Ring dykes and high-capacity pumps encircling industrial estates.• A single-command emergency law to streamline decision-making across ministries.Urban planners also urge rezoning low-lying neighbourhoods into water corridors—a politically thorny measure that would relocate homes but create space for overflow ponds.

What residents should keep on hand

PromptPay-linked bank account – essential for future relief transfers.

Two-week medicine and water stock – pharmacies report sporadic shortages after disasters.

QR code for flood cameras – scan at district offices to monitor canal levels in real time.

Updated evacuation map – the city now lists 42 safe zones, doubled from a decade ago.

Local businesses, from halal restaurateurs in Kim Yong market to tech exporters in Southern Region Industrial Estate, agree on one point: Hat Yai’s recovery feels faster than ever. The challenge is ensuring the next big storm is a headline, not a catastrophe. In the meantime, the city’s night markets glow again—proof that southern resilience is as much a cultural asset as any concrete floodwall.