Thailand resumed flights on Saturday, January 5, to its southern provinces, after the first tropical storm in thirty years slowed and headed to the Andaman Sea, leaving a trail of damaged homes and disrupted power networks.
Before the tropical storm Pabuk hit in Nakhon Si Thammarat on Friday, January 4, arriving from the Gulf of Thailand, the province's airports had shut and nearby Surat Thani and Koh Samui island, had all flights canceled.
Today, the storm lost speed and it was downgraded to depression when moving off the land, although weather officials maintained warnings of torrential rain and potential flash floods in 9 provinces.
Bangkok Airways, which has a monopoly at Ko Samui Airport, resumed operations early Saturday and added extra flights in order to assist stranded passengers.
Nakhon Si Thammarat and Surat Thani airports resumed operations at noon.
Most ferry services to the southern holiday islands of Thailand resumed after the suspension for the storm.
Over the past days, more than 28,000 people were evacuated into shelters across 7 provinces, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation announced on Saturday.
Authorities recorded one death, after a fishing boat capsized in strong winds close to the coast of Pattani province, leaving another man missing, though 4 more of the crew were safe.
PTT Exploration and Production Pcl unit of state-owned PTT revealed that it expected to resume operations of oil rigs at Erawan and Bongkot, two of Thailand’s largest gas fields in the Gulf, on Sunday, January 6. It had suspended operations since Monday when staff was brought inland.