Thailand storm latest: Pabuk prompts authorities to call urgent evacuations as Brit claims 'we were given no information'

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Urgent evacuations are under way as Thailand prepares for Tropical Storm Pabuk to pound its southern beach resorts.

Thai authorities have suspended ferry services in the region while evacuation centres have been set up in the areas expected to bear the brunt of the powerful storm.

However Dan Lawson, a Londoner on the island of Koh Samui, told the Standard people had been “given no information”. He added he is now preparing to “wait it out”.

He said: “By the time I heard about the storm all ferries and flights were full or cancelled so I went back to basics, making sure we had food, water and first aid supplies so we could sit in our room and wait it out.

“I’ve also had to help out some other tourists who hadn’t any idea what to do, there were two guys from London, a newlywed couple from New York and a family from France.

People sleep at an evacuation center in the Nakhon Si Thammarat province
Sumeth Panpetch/AP

“I’ve told them to make sure they have water and food as well as minor medical supplies to last three days.”

Rain was already falling around the Gulf of Thailand on Thursday. Officials warned torrential downpours, strong winds and rough seas were expected in 16 provinces when Tropical Storm Pabuk makes its expected landfall on Friday.

Men push a fishing boat off the ocean to a safer location in Songkhla
Sumeth Panpetch/AP

There are fears the storm will be the worst in Thailand since 1989, when Typhoon Gay left more than 400 dead. A tropical storm in 1962 killed more than 900 people in the south.

The two provinces of Surat Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat are expected to be hardest hit. Surat Thani is home to the popular tourist islands of Koh Samui, Koh Tao and Koh Phangan.

People sleep at an evacuation center in the Nakhon Si Thammarat province
Sumeth Panpetch/AP

Army trucks were driving around remote seaside areas in Nakhon Si Thammarat on Thursday, searching for stragglers who had not yet been evacuated.

Local official Kriangsak Raksrithong. "We have prepared three shelters and currently have about 1,000 people in them.”

A police officer warns tourists about a swimming ban at a beach in Koh Samui Island
EPA

Fishing is a major industry in the south, with small boat owners were heeding the warning. Many dragged their vessels ashore, attaching ropes to the boats and having friends help tug them on to beaches.

But Anne Britt Sodefjed, a tourist from Norway, brushed off the threat of the storm, which could cause waves as high as 5m.

"We have bought lights, yes, and some more water. And we know the hotel will look after us.”

Additional reporting by Associated Press.

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