Costs mount for Thailand as annual flooding continues

Disaster projected to deal $1.4 billion blow to economy

A resident uses a wheelbarrow to carry supplies through the flood-hit streets of Mae Sai, northern Thailand, on Sept. 15 after the Sai River overflowed its banks six days earlier, triggered by Typhoon Yagi and monsoon rains. (Photo by Adryel Talamantes)

FRANCESCA REGALADO, Nikkei staff writer

September 30, 2024 09:18 JST

BANGKOK -- When the Sai River breached its banks in early September as Typhoon Yagi swept through the region, traffic stopped along the two bridges connecting the Thai town of Mae Sai and Tachileik, its neighbor in Myanmar, halting cross-border trade that last year was valued at $555 million at that crossing alone.

More than 20 hotels in the area near the river were damaged and Chiang Rai province's famous Blue Temple was flooded. Even the illicit flow of narcotics from Myanmar to Thailand was disrupted as drug inventories at factories along the border were damaged, according to a military intelligence officer who requested anonymity.