NAKHON SI THAMMARAT: A man drowned while fishing in a flooded rice field near his village in Phra Phrom district of this southern province, police said.
Police and rescue workers were called to the field near Wang Wua, the Moo 6 village in tambon Na Phru, where the man was found dead on Wenesday afternoon.
Pol Capt Somchoke Sarak, a Phra Phrom investigator, said when they arrived there the body of Niwat Khumprasit, 41, had already been taken from the water to dry ground. He was wearing black shorts and a T-shirt and there were no signs of violence on the body.
Niwat's mother, Ampai Chitbanchong, 66, said the rice fields near her house were under about 70 centimetres of water after several days of continuous rain. Niwat went out alone into the flooded fields with a net to catch fish.
About an hour later she noticed Niwat was nowhere to be seen. She called to neighbours and they went out into the rice fields to look for him. Niwat was found floating in the water. They moved him to high ground, but he was already dead and they could do nothing to help him.
Mr Ampai believed her son drowned after suffering cramp.
The body was sent to hospital for an autopsy to establish the actual cause of death.
Provincial governor Kraisorn Wisitwong said on Thursday morning that flooding had hit 312 villages in 12 districts of the province, affecting 18,229 households with 71,564 people. About 19,815 rai of farmland had been flooded.
The rain had finally stopped and water was being drained from flooded areas. Damage to crops, livestock, fish ponds and public utilities was still being assessed.
