Over 800 Singaporeans affected by Hat Yai floods have returned home: Vivian Balakrishnan

More than 800 Singaporeans affected by the Hat Yai floods in southern Thailand have reached Singapore safely, said Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan.

The 822 Singaporeans had e-registered with or reached out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

In a Facebook post on Monday (Dec 1), Dr Balakrishnan said that MFA's consular response teams have "worked tirelessly" on the ground to reach Singaporeans and help bring them home. 

He thanked the Thai government, the Royal Thai Armed Forces, non-governmental organisations and volunteers — acknowledging that their "swift support" had enabled MFA to assist Singaporeans effectively. 

Dr Balakrishnan also expressed gratitude to the Malaysian government, which helped to receive Singaporeans where possible and provided timely support during evacuation efforts.

In an earlier update on Nov 28, MFA said that 893 Singaporeans had reached out to them. 

At that time, Singapore's embassy in Bangkok had arranged airport transfers for Singaporeans from Fort Senanarong in central Hat Yai to the airport, as ground conditions had begun to improve since Nov 27.

Ending off his post, Dr Balakrishnan said: "As Thailand moves into recovery phase, I hope families and communities affected by the floods will soon be able to rebuild and find stability again."

Restoration efforts underway in Thailand

The death toll in Thailand rose to 176 on Monday from flooding in eight southern provinces that affected about three million people. It also led to a major mobilisation of the military to evacuate critical patients from hospitals and reach people marooned for days by floodwaters.

In the hardest-hit province of Songkhla, where 138 people were killed, the government said 85 per cent of water services had been restored and would be fully operational by Wednesday.

Much of Thailand's recovery effort is focused on the worst-affected city, Hat Yai — a southern trading hub which on November 21 received 335mm of rain, its highest single-day tally in 300 years — followed by days of unrelenting downpours.

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has set a timeline of seven days for residents to return to their homes, a government spokesperson said on Monday.  

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editor@asiaone.com