Chiang Mai declared cold snap disaster zone

CHIANG MAI, Dec 27 – Thailand’s northern province of Chiang Mai has declared all its 25 districts as a disaster zone due to the cold snap affecting the region, according to to provincial disaster response services director Prajon Pratsakul.

The Chiang Mai Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office head said temperatures dropped below 15 degrees Celcius for over three days, which he said is an indicator that the whole province will become colder. The provincial seat is the warmest spot where the temperature has been 14 degrees Celcius.

Some 2,000 villages with more than 230,000 households, or about 430,000 people, have been affected by the cold due to high pressure coming from China.

MCOT