The death toll in flash floods in southern Thailand this week has risen to 11, the country’s Crisis Prevention Centre said today.

Yesterday, officials had put the death toll since Jan 1 at six.

Most of the victims drowned, the centre reported, while persistent heavy rainfall and floodwater have impacted over 744,000 people across 11 submerged provinces as of today.

The flooding prompted the authorities to raise the disaster management level to level three yesterday, transferring authority from the provincial level to national officials.

Level four, reserved for the most severe natural disasters, was put in place for floods in 2011 that killed 815 people and affected 13.6 million others, crisis officials told dpa.

Police rescued five stranded tourists yesterday from a flood-hit resort in Nakhon Si Thammarat province.

Two are Finnish, one is German, and two others are Thai, local newspaper The Nation reported.

Popular tourist destination Koh Samui island was also affected by heavy rain and strong currents.

Swimming and diving were banned at most of Koh Samui’s beaches until further notice, the Tourism Authority of Thailand told dpa.

Rescue efforts are underway for residents stranded and cut off from other communities due to the floods. Police and army officers have been dispatched to distribute relief packages to flood victims, authorities said.

- dpa