Rescue workers in Hat Yai district say the number of flood-related deaths is higher than official Public Health Ministry reports.
Hat Yai had recorded 138 deaths as of 4pm on Sunday, the ministry's Sakda Alapach said on Monday. He said 73 drowned and 65 died at Songklanagarind Hospital.
All bodies found in Hat Yai district are being sent to Songklanagarind Hospital for official recording and autopsy.
The expected final death toll has become a matter of heated debate. Rescue workers who evacuated stranded residents and recovered bodies from flooded areas believe the true number could be more than 500, with some fearing it may reach at least 1,000.
Their suspicions are fuelled by the relatively small number of evacuees in official shelters — only a few thousand—compared with the district’s much larger population. Hat Yai municipality alone registered 160,000 residents in 2018.
Concerns grew after Anyawuth Phoamphai of the Ruamkatanyu Foundation wrote on Facebook that authorities had blocked teams from removing bodies from affected areas.
“They don’t want to tell the truth,” said Mr Anyawuth. “They don’t want us to take the bodies out to add more [to the official count].”
His comments were widely shared by news outlets and social media users over the weekend.
The Pheu Thai Party and former deputy police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn on Monday accused the government of hiding the real number of victims amid heavy criticism of its flood response.
