Floods in the South are becoming less severe with the number of afflicted provinces reduced from eight to six and Nakhon Si Thammarat airport resuming its services yesterday.
After a three-day closure since Thursday, the airport was back to normal operations, with a Nok Air flight from Don Mueang Airport landing at 7.10am.
Officials had spent a few days pumping water out of the airport compound and finished repairing power systems.
The reopening came as the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department yesterday took Yala and Narathiwat off a list of eight flood-hit provinces, leaving six others under watch.
Department chief Chayaphon Thitisak also tweaked the damage figures, bringing down the number of 1.1 million flood victims, reported on Dec 4, to 762,948.
Now only 44 districts in the six provinces are still struggling against severe floods, he said. Among them is Nakhon Si Thammarat.
Though the airport has reopened, flooding in parts of the province is still a problem as 17 of its 23 districts remain inundated, Mr Chayaphon said.
Another five affected areas are 11 districts in Phatthalung, seven districts in Surat Thani, five districts in Songkhla and two districts each in Trang and Pattani.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who last Friday inspected spots where two sections of embankment along the Trang River collapsed, promised to step up efforts to push ahead the flood diversion project in the province.
Royal Irrigation Department acting chief Thongplew Kongchan insisted yesterday the project is being done in a straightforward manner but admitted it faced delays due to heavy downpours, which forced workers to halt work sporadically.
