PM Visits Flood-Hit Sai Mai, Distributes Relief Aid

During the visit, the Prime Minister inspected the community kitchen, walked through flood‑waters into the buildings, and spoke with residents collecting food, asking whether they had already received relief packs and telling them to wait a few more days. An elderly resident shook his hand and praised the effort; he responded modestly. Villagers appealed for assistance, to which the Prime Minister replied that relief measures were forthcoming, and they urged him not to abandon them. He laughed and, speaking in a Northern dialect, remarked that abandonment was possible, then gestured to Ekapop Lueangprasert (known as Ek Sai Mai Tong Rod) and said, "This is the hostage here."

The building’s juristic‑person manager said they did not want to experience a repeat of 2011, when they were stranded for two and a half months, and asked the authorities to pump water out. The Prime Minister said equipment was ready but they must wait for external water to recede first, otherwise pumping would simply draw the water back in. The manager noted that the Sai Mai district office had delivered about 600 sandbags that morning and evening, yet it was still insufficient, and expressed fear of another 2011‑scale disaster, noting the community’s low‑to‑middle‑income status and lack of parking for small vehicles while striving to protect residents’ property.

The Prime Minister said surveys were underway and that the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department would conduct inspections and begin relief steps that day. The manager pleaded again for Sai Mai to survive and not become like Bang Baan, asking directly whether the area would avoid that fate. The Prime Minister answered that they would do their best. Someone then inquired whether water levels would drop once the flood receded; the Prime Minister did not respond to that question.