Thailand has once again been affected by floods, with heavy rain in the past week inundating tens of thousands of homes in southern Thailand including tourism areas.

Southern provinces located on the western coast of Gulf of Thailand including Yala, Pattani, Songkhla and Narathiwat have been worst hit with flash flooding and mudslide alerts have been issued.

Residents were ordered to evacuate on Sunday night as floodwater reached 2 meters deep and a disaster status was announced.  Tourists celebrating the New Year in the area were stranded in their hotels as roads and railways were cut off.

Torrential rain in the south was caused by the combined effects of the north eastern monsoon in the Gulf of Thailand and a low pressure cell covering northern Malaysia, according to the meteorology station in Yala.

Popular island getaways for tourists in the Gulf of Thailand like Koh Samui experienced large waves and rain over the past two weeks, while the west coast tourist hotspot Krabi also recorded heavy rain with warnings of landslides.