Rescuers search for Thai flood victims

A Thai woman and her son in floodwaters in Sukhothai province. Picture / Reuters.

Rescue workers in northern Thailand have been continuing their search for scores of people missing after widespread flooding.

Relief teams have so far pulled 30 bodies from receding floodwaters, but officials fear over 100 people could have died.

Heavy monsoonal rain has caused massive flooding in five northern provinces, leaving some towns under two metres of water.

Uttaradit, 500km (310 miles) north of Bangkok, was the worst-hit province with 22 known dead and 75 missing in the worst floods in 60 years.

"From what we've seen at the affected sites, we believe the toll will rise to a hundred as many might have still been buried under the mud," Uttaradit's deputy provincial health chief said.

Deforested hills have slipped away, covering dozens of homes in deep mud.

Blocked roads and poor communications have hampered rescue efforts and 12,000 people are said to be short of food and water.

Survivors have complained of a lack of early warnings from the government, but provincial officials said warnings had been issued, but ignored.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej urged the military to speed up rescue work as Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra flew to flood-stricken areas.

"I've made phone calls from Laplae to Army and Air Force chiefs to send helicopters to help distribute food and search for survivors as unretrieved bodies start to smell," Thaksin told reporters, after returning in Bangkok.

- REUTUERS, RADIO AUSTRALIA