Hat Yai Flood Relief: Royal Grants, State Compensation and Revival Loans

Hat Yai, December 1, 2024 — Floodwaters have begun to slide back from Hat Yai’s historic business district, yet the scale of destruction remains staggering. As an emergency decree takes hold and the monarch’s personal aid reaches grieving families, residents are asking the practical question that matters most: how quickly will help turn into cash, repairs and peace of mind?

Snapshot of the crisis

According to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, the deluge that began in late November submerged Hat Yai, neighbouring Songkhla City, and stretches of seven other southern provinces. More than 686,000 households—roughly 1.7 M people—found their streets under water at the peak. In Hat Yai alone, 226,000 families felt the impact as electricity, running water and mobile networks collapsed.

Though levels are receding, officials still list 140 confirmed deaths in Hat Yai and 170 across the region, figures that could grow as crews reach isolated lanes. Engineers are patching road links and removing piles of water-logged garbage before disease can spread.

Royal intervention and emotional relief

On 29 November, His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn dispatched a message to the flood zone and released ฿100 M in personal funds to Hat Yai Hospital for new equipment. The palace also donated drones, rescue boats and night-vision gear to responders.

Every fatality has been placed under royal patronage. Buddhist families will receive state-organized cremations, while Muslim relatives receive royal burial soil. Each bereaved household receives ฿20,000 in direct cash once the Royal Household Bureau confirms the paperwork.

Emergency decree and command chain

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has invoked an Emergency Decree granting special powers more commonly used in national-security crises. Chief of Defence Forces Gen Ukris Boontanondha now acts as incident commander, empowered to requisition private machinery and override procurement rules, deploying joint military-civilian task forces as needed.

A Forward Flood Operations Center at Wing 56 airbase anchors the response, connected to 20 district command posts via a digital dashboard. The system replaces the confusion of past disasters when 30 agencies issued overlapping orders. Patrols run 24 hours, and engineers aim for full utility restoration by 3 December.

Money on the table: what residents and businesses can expect

The Department of Disaster Prevention is transferring ฿9,000 flat-rate compensation to households flooded for over a week. A sliding-scale top-up can lift the figure to ฿29,000. So far 26,571 families have seen deposits land in their state-bank accounts.

For entrepreneurs, state lenders are offering zero-interest revival loans up to ฿1 M, backed by a one-year principal-and-interest moratorium. The Revenue Department has extended tax deadlines and allows deductions of ฿100,000 for home repairs.

Additional relief includes ฿2 M funeral insurance for deaths inside the emergency zone and a ฿530 M allocation to clear sewers, roads and canals vital to the city’s commerce.

SEA Games shuffle: sport amid the deluge

The floods forced organisers of the 33rd SEA Games to drop Hat Yai as a co-host, relocating competitions to Bangkok and Chon Buri. Ten sports—ranging from Muay Thai to men’s football qualifiers—now share new venues, and the opening and closing ceremonies will light up Rajamangala Stadium.

The organising committee THAISOC insists the 9-20 December timetable stands and promises to cover extra travel and lodging costs. Tour operators fear Hat Yai will miss the expected visitor surge associated with such regional multi-sport carnivals.

Voices from Hat Yai’s streets

Across the downtown core, small-business owners estimate losses beyond ฿20 B. Many argue that a single-digit grant barely scratches the surface of ruined stock; some restaurateurs are unsure how to keep staff on payroll until revenue returns.

Community advocates say poorer neighbourhoods near drainage canals suffered the most and now wrestle with paperwork hurdles after documents washed away. While military patrols deter looters, residents press for a simpler online claims portal.

Looking beyond the waters: rebuilding for tomorrow

Provincial leaders and the cabinet agree that cash must be coupled with a long-term flood-mitigation plan: deeper canal dredging, city-wide early-warning sirens and a unified single command agency to prevent the overlapping jurisdictions exposed this year. Analysts link the urgency to climate change, urban sprawl and the need for robust adaptation infrastructure.

Repair crews expect main roads and power lines functional within two weeks and aim for a city-wide clean-up in fourteen days. Tourism officials are drafting a “Hat Yai Ready” marketing push to reassure travellers ahead of the New Year peak.