Hat Yai Flood Recovery Begins: Cash Aid and Major Drainage Repairs

A week after Hat Yai endured its fiercest inundation in living memory, water levels are falling, cheques are being prepared and Bangkok is promising an overhaul of the South’s flood-fighting playbook. Yet residents still wade through mud, and officials admit the crisis exposed deep flaws in early warning and drainage planning.

Floodwaters retreat but scars remain

By dawn on 30 November, pumps had pushed most of the runoff back toward Songkhla Lake, ending the city’s nightmare of record-breaking 500 mm downpour that submerged the Hat Yai basin. Authorities now classify the disaster as a recovery phase, but damage reports from 520,000 residents keep growing. Streets that sat under a 2-metre floodline reveal sodden shopfronts; the Health Ministry confirms five confirmed deaths inside the municipality, while provincial records cite 138 fatalities reported province-wide. With the water now receding, the next battle is sanitation and mould.

Emergency money: how and when

Interior officials say the first tranche of the 9,000-baht cash grant begins transferring this week. Applications via the online portal flood68.disaster.go.th surged over the weekend, and provincial halls are accepting paper forms to avoid digital exclusion. For homes swamped beyond seven days, a tiered top-up to 29,000 baht is available once inspectors sign off. Parallel to grants, Finance has lined up interest-free micro loans and a six-month debt holiday through state banks; talks with commercial lenders aim to extend grace periods. The Office of Insurance Commission says an insurance fast-track is waiving red tape so motorists and homeowners receive payouts within thirty days.

Fixing the drainage maze

Hydrologists blame the Khlong U-Taphao bottleneck and unfinished retention canals for turning rain into catastrophe. Engineers are rushing to unclog the R.1 diversion canal, while planners scrutinise road embankments blocking flow. Two stalled gate structures—part of the unfinished water-gate schemes—will be revived. Longer term, the Irrigation Department is pitching a proposed R.7 mega-tunnel to bypass congested channels. Specialists also recommend a single-command disaster centre and real-time warning system to counter future La Niña-era rainbombs.

Businesses and jobs: counting the cost

The Thai Chamber of Commerce pegs losses at ฿1.5 B loss per day during the peak flooding. Tourism bore the brunt: stranded 4,000 tourists disrupted flights and tour schedules, while an airport cargo backlog delayed exports of rubber and seafood. Railway operators shut the closed Hatyai Junction rail hub for track repairs. On the upside, the government’s hotel-as-shelter programme has filled empty rooms, injecting cash into hospitality. Cabinet has flagged SME tax relief and a wage subsidy to keep payrolls intact, and provincial governors coordinate public-private cleanup drives to reopen markets ahead of year-end sales.

Voices from the basin: experts urge systemic overhaul

Academics from Prince of Songkla University say Hat Yai needs to reset the watershed map. Their blueprint calls for carving out mountain ‘monkey cheeks’ to stall runoff, reclaiming natural floodplains sacrificed to real-estate booms and deploying data-driven hydrology models. Without climate-change adaptation, they warn, extreme events will outpace infrastructure. Civic groups push for community drills, stricter urban zoning enforcement and consistent budgets for long-view investment rather than ad-hoc fixes that evaporate after each crisis.

What residents can expect next

Treasury officials promise a December cash drop to every verified household. A volunteer corps 4,000 strong patrols neighbourhoods to deter theft; police say night curfews will be lifted once statistics confirm calm. Municipal teams conduct a house-by-house damage survey before launching free repairs, while the Commerce Ministry distributes free basic goods from mobile trucks. With local election timing approaching, community leaders insist public scrutiny remain high so promises translate into concrete projects—lessons etched since the lessons from 1988 deluge still haunt the southern hub.