Mae Sai River experiences excessive flow, resulting in the Mae Sai district being inundated.
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The Sai River experienced a massive overflow in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district on Tuesday, drowning local communities and markets. The relentless rain in the region triggered a torrent of water into the Sai River, leading to the river bursting its banks and inundating neighboring areas.
Social media posts displayed footage of the floods in Koh Sai, Mai Lung Khon communities, downtown Mae Sai, the Sai Lom Joy market, and Ta Lor market in Myanmar's Tachilek border township.
Wariyuth Khomboon, the Mae Sai district chief, pinned the flooding on the heavy downpour in nearby Myanmar, particularly in the headwaters of the Sai River.
Earlier, the Highways Department had constructed a riverbank protection line to prevent flooding at the Thai-Myanmar bridge. Carrying out this project necessitated the elimination of old walls and sandbags, resulting in a weaker defense against flooding and allowing the water to flow unimpeded into both countries.
This bank protection line is a cooperative effort between Thailand and Myanmar, aimed at warding off future flooding along the border. It encompasses dredging approximately 20 kilometers of the Sai and Ruak rivers to establish long-lasting flood defenses.
A flood in Mae Sai district, Chiang Rai, occurred on Tuesday. (Photo: Public Relations Office Region 3, Chiang Mai)
While heavy rains in Myanmar and ongoing construction work along the Thai-Myanmar border were significant contributors to the flooding, the collaborative riverbank protection project appears to offer long-term benefits in preventing future disasters such as the 2024 floods. However, in its current transitional phase, the project is proving to be a double-edged sword, presenting challenges in cross-border coordination and weakening defenses in the short term.
As summer storms continue to batter the northern regions, authorities remain vigilant, insisting that they will be prepared to tackle any potential flooding incidents.
- The flood that struck the Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai, Myanmar's Tachilek border township, was largely caused by the unprecedented rainfall in the region.
- The Sai River's recent runoff was so massive that it burst its banks, submerging communities, markets, and parts of downtown Mae Sai.
- The riverbank protection line, a joint Thailand-Myanmar project, is intended to prevent future flooding along the border by dredging approximately 20 kilometers of the Sai and Ruak rivers.
- Despite the long-term benefits of the riverbank protection project in the face of climate change and environmental science, its current transition phase poses challenges in cross-border coordination and temporarily weakens defense systems against flooding.
