Elephants drown and tourists evacuated in Chiang Mai

Two elephants drowned during flash flooding in popular Thai tourist hotspot Chiang Mai, their sanctuary said yesterday, as local authorities evacuated visitors from their hotels and shops closed in the city center.

More than 100 pachyderms at the Elephant Nature Park in the province were moved to higher ground to escape rapidly rising flood waters, said an employee Dada.

The two elephants - 16-year-old Fahsai and 40-year-old Ploython, who was blind - were found dead on Saturday.

"My worst nightmare came true when I saw my elephants floating in the water," said park director Saengduean Chailert.

"I will not let this happen again," she said, vowing to move them to higher ground ahead of next year's monsoon.

In the city center, people waded through muddy water close to knee height in the night bazaar, and water flowed into the central train station, which has now been closed.

Tourists were forced to evacuate hotels and a monk had to carry a coffin through floodwaters to a cremation site.

Parts of northern Thailand have been hit as heavy downpours caused the Ping River to reach "critical" levels. It peaked on Saturday but had receded slightly by yesterday.

Northern provinces have been hit by floods since Typhoon Yagi struck the region early last month, with one district seeing its worst in 80 years. Twenty provinces are currently flooded.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE