10 Worst Natural Disasters in Thailand: Why to Avoid Monsoon Season

If you travel to Thailand during the monsoon season (July-October), be prepared for heavy rain along with the possibility of natural disasters. Excluding the 2004 tsunami, every item on the list below occurred during monsoon season.

2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami (4,812 deaths)
1962 Tropical Storm Harriet (935 deaths)
1989 Typhoon Gay (833 deaths)
2011 Tropical Storm Nock-ten (815 deaths)
2010 Cyclone Jal (232 deaths)
1997 Tropical Storm Linda (164 deaths)
2001 Landslide in Phetchabun Province (136 deaths)
2006 Flooding in North Central Thailand (87 deaths)
1997 Tropical Storm Zita (48 deaths)
2006 Typhoon Xangsane (47 deaths)

Stranded without food or electricity, electrocuted by power lines… Wild events were caused by mother nature’s wrath along with some massive economic costs.

1. 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami

December 26th, 2004, the third most powerful earthquake ever recorded sent waves over 100 feet high towards Thailand’s western coastline at a speed of around 500 mph.

Without a warning system in place, residents and tourists were caught unaware by the catastrophe and serious casualties were inflicted.

In Thailand there were 4,812 deaths confirmed, 8,458 injured, and 4,499 missing.

Phang Nga Province was most heavily impacted due to ill-equipped infrastructure and terrain and accounting for over 4,000 deaths.

Infrastructure has greatly improved to withstand catastrophic events and the tsunami warning system was setup as a result of the incident.

It is considered the best warning system in Southeast Asia and I wrote additional information related to the warning system and Thailand tsunamis in this article.

2. 1962 Tropical Storm Harriet

In October of 1962, Tropical Storm Harriet ravaged the Nakhon Si Thammarat Province of Thailand’s southern peninsula.

Entire villages were destroyed and over 10,000 were left homeless. While not as strong as Typhoon Gay, it caused more damage.

935 deaths in Thailand were recorded along with an estimated $34.5 million USD in damages.

3. 1989 Typhoon Gay

A densely powerful storm formed in the Gulf of Thailand in November of 1989 and passed over the southern peninsula.

As the most powerful storm to hit the peninsula in decades, it produced swells of 20-36 feet that decimated ships, most of which did not receive warnings.

833 deaths were recorded in Thailand and $450+ million USD in damages were incurred. Many villages and towns in southern Thailand were completely destroyed due to infrastructure built mostly by wood.

4. 2011 Tropical Storm Nock-ten

Monsoon season 2011 brought on disastrous flooding as 65 of the 76 Thai Provinces were not only impacted but declared flood disaster zones.

7,700 square miles of farmland was damaged as the two central rivers, Mekong and Chao Phraya, overflowed from excess rainfall.

The impact was felt globally as industrial sites were inundated with up to 10 feet of water which caused a major shortage of hard disk drives and other exports to the world.

To make matters worse, the most populous city of Bangkok experienced failures with flood walls erected around the city.

Several districts simply became inaccessible and parts of the Phahonyothin highway exiting the city were shut down.

Traffic jams were severe. Bangkok has severe traffic to begin with.

I remember traveling to a snake show in Bangkok and it took us the entire day to get a few miles and back. Imagine how terrible traffic must have been during flooding.

815 deaths in Thailand were recorded along with $46.5 billion USD in damages making this the most expensive natural disaster in the history of Thailand.

5. 2010 Cyclone Jal

Leading up to the nightmare that occurred in the 2011 monsoon season, 2010 put on a show as many were stranded throughout central and southern Thailand following heavy rains and Cyclone Jal.

Blackouts, flooding, and continuous rain wreaked havoc throughout the country and worsened in the southern peninsula as the season wore on.

Reports of mothers birthing children in homes were common and people were sometimes electrocuted by downed power lines.

232 deaths were recorded in Thailand along with $1.676 billion USD in damages.

6. 1997 Tropical Storm Linda

Tropical storm season in 1997 wracked Vietnam and sent shock-waves throughout Southeast Asia.

152 fishermen were killed at sea from Thailand and flash flooding wreaked havoc throughout the northern half of the peninsula.

88 square miles were impacted and twelve homes were destroyed.

Estimates place Thailand at 164 deaths from this disaster.

7. 2001 Landslide in Phetchabun

Heavy rainfall induced multiple landslides in Central Thailand during the 2001 monsoon season.

*Ninjastrikers, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons*

As a popular topic for academic research, the landslides were not solely a result of heavy rainfall but rather a combination of sediment built up within a relatively short time-frame.

136 were killed and another 109 were injured.

8. 2006 Flooding in Uttaradit, Sukhothai, Phrae, Lampang, and Nan

Monsoon season 2006 caused heavy flooding and landslides in five northern provinces from August-October.

Bangkok was surrounded by water by the end of October and over three million people were impacted by the disaster.

87 deaths were caused and 357 villages were impacted by the 2006 flooding.

9. 1997 Tropical Storm Zita

A quick but deadly tropical storm hit China in 1997.

Heavy rains were felt by nearby countries and Thailand experienced severe flooding in the north.

49 deaths were caused from flooding along with over $75 million USD in damages.

10. 2006 Typhoon Xangsane

Typhoon Xangsane shredded islands in the Philippines before battering Vietnam.

Thailand was greatly impacted with flooding and landslides as the torrential rain made its way inland.

47 deaths were reported in Thailand along with 520,000 acres of farmland and local infrastructure impacted. Flooding was reported up to 10 feet in certain areas.