Hundreds evacuated after high tide breaks embankment flooding homes in Thailand

Hundreds of residents had to be evacuated last night (July 4) after flash floods battered homes on the outskirts of Bangkok.

Torrential downpours from Tropical Storm Mun and a high tide caused the sea in the Gulf of Thailand to breach a four-metre-high embankment.

Torrents of water gushed into dozens of nearby homes swamping the Khlongdan village in Samut Prakan province.

Locals had to be rescued in boats with chest-high water submerging living rooms and shops.

Resident Prasit Boonyon, 52, said: ''I was on my own sitting in the house when suddenly the water spilled in. Within five minutes it was as high as my waist. I had to store valuables at a high level and hurry out of the house because I was worried about the electricity mixing with the leaked water.''

A depression in the upper South China Sea which intensified into Tropical Storm Mun caused rainstorms throughout Thailand on Wednesday and Thursday.

The heavy rain and high tide are believed to have contributed to the flood.

Rescue worker Bandit Chalawa from the Ruamkatanyu Foundation said: ''The water was about one metre high in some places. It was caused by an overflow at an embankment.''

Samut Prakan governor Chatchai Uthaipan said the tide was nearly four metres high before it broke the banks.

He added: ''Government officials responded quickly to evacuate people. We will now check the damage and find solutions to prevent it happening again.''