Thailand and Myanmar Floods 2026: 80 Dead in Thailand, Over 40 in Myanmar’s Dawei District

International case study. These floods happened in Thailand and Myanmar, not India. We cover them because the pattern, days of rain over a low-lying city followed by rivers rising for weeks downstream, and night-time landslides on hill villages, is the same one Indian families face every monsoon.

What happened

In the last week of September 2026, a slow-moving low-pressure system sat over the Gulf of Thailand and the land around it for several days. Rain began falling on Bangkok on the afternoon of Thursday, 24 September. By Saturday, 26 September, some parts of the city had received more than 300 mm, according to officials quoted by the Associated Press (AP), and Bangkok declared all 50 of its districts a flood disaster area. The Irrawaddy, quoting Myanmar’s Department of Meteorology, reported that the low-pressure area combined with strong monsoon winds, later deepened into a depression and crossed the coast near Kyaikto in Mon State. We did not find any storm name for this system.

Across the border in southern Myanmar, the same rain hit Dawei District in Tanintharyi Region. Eleven Media, via Asia News Network, reported that Dawei recorded 11.02 inches (about 280 mm) of rain on 27 September, its highest single-day total in 80 years. Landslides came down on villages in Launglon and Thayetchaung townships at night.

In Thailand the water did not go away when the rain eased. Water flowing south from the North, and releases from the Chao Phraya Dam, kept rivers high in the Central Plains for weeks. Prachin Buri, east of Bangkok, became the worst-hit province by deaths.

Thailand: the toll

Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) counts flood deaths from 16 September. Its figures rose sharply over three weeks:

• 29 September: 23 deaths, 2,602,309 people affected (DDPM report, via The Nation).
• 7 October: 60 deaths, announced by the government (AFP, via France 24).
• 8 October: 44 deaths and more than 3.13 million people affected, in a DDPM statement by Director-General Nirat Pongsitthaworn (Bernama, via Malay Mail). This is lower than the government figure of the day before; the reports do not explain the gap.
• 15 October: 76 deaths, including 25 in Prachin Buri, in DDPM’s daily update reported by the Bangkok Post. About 2.43 million people were still affected in Bangkok and 20 provinces, but water levels were falling.

After Prachin Buri, the DDPM list of 15 October showed nine deaths each in Samut Prakan and Suphan Buri, seven in Chachoengsao, six in Sa Kaeo, and four each in Bangkok and Nakhon Nayok. Khaosod English separately reported 25 deaths in Prachin Buri on 14 October, also citing DDPM.

Myanmar: the toll

Myanmar’s military authorities have not announced an overall death toll. Control of Tanintharyi is split between the military and resistance groups, and phone and internet lines were cut, so the counts come mostly from local rescue groups.

• On 28 September a Social Welfare Ministry spokesperson reported one death in Launglon and 24,089 people affected in Dawei District (Xinhua, as listed by the Asian Disaster Reduction Center).
• By 30 September, AFP reported that rescuers had pulled nine bodies from a landslide that buried Ka Det Nge Htein village in Launglon township as people slept, with eight still missing.
• On 2 October The Irrawaddy, citing local rescue groups, put the toll at over 40: 29 in Launglon, nine in Thayetchaung and two in Dawei, with 20 missing in Launglon. UCA News, citing the Tavoyan National Federation (TNF) and local sources, reported at least 41 dead the same day.

A later IFRC document, published on 12 October (see the update of 21 October below), said 49,371 people and 7,629 houses were affected in four townships, and that 9,032 people had been temporarily displaced to 24 evacuation centres. Mekong Eye later reported at least 42 deaths in Dawei District as of 4 October; see the update at the end of this page.

Evacuation and relief

In Bangkok, Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said more than 200 shelters had opened and about 4,200 people had moved into them by 26 September (AP). Schools closed, and AFP reported that more than 80,000 people in the capital could not leave their homes at one stage. In Prachin Buri, Thai PBS World reported that a hospital moved several in-patients to a field hospital, and Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul visited on 4 October. By 15 October, DDPM said it had paid 4.12 billion baht in aid to 540,277 families in Bangkok and 58 provinces (Bangkok Post).

In Dawei District, volunteer teams such as the Dawei Zabuthiri rescue group did most of the search work, using boats where roads were buried. UCA News and The Irrawaddy reported airstrikes by the military near flood-hit villages in Thayetchaung and Dawei townships on 30 September and 1 October, with no casualties reported; The Irrawaddy said it could not independently verify some related claims.

Why this matters for India

Two lessons travel straight to India. The first is that a flood is not over when the rain stops. In Thailand most deaths were counted in the weeks after the Bangkok downpour, as river water moved downstream into Prachin Buri and other provinces. Indian river floods in Bihar, Assam and Uttar Pradesh follow the same pattern. The second is that night-time landslides kill people in their sleep. Most of the Myanmar deaths were in villages buried while people were asleep, the same way hill villages in Kerala, Uttarakhand and the North-East are hit.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2024 report, floods killed 361 people in India in 2024, landslides 351 and torrential rain 39. Kerala alone reported 155 landslide deaths.

Lessons for Indian families

• Keep watching after the rain stops. If you live downstream of a dam or a big river, follow the district administration’s release warnings for days after the downpour. Water can rise in your area long after the sky clears.
• Do not sleep below a hill slope during a red alert. If your house is at the foot of a slope or beside a hill stream, move to a relative’s home or a relief camp before dark.
• Watch for landslide warning signs. New cracks in walls or the ground, tilting trees or poles, muddy water suddenly appearing in a stream and rumbling from the slope mean leave now.
• Never walk or drive through moving floodwater. Even knee-deep flowing water can knock an adult down, and open drains and manholes are hidden under it.
• Keep a go-bag ready. Documents in a plastic pouch, medicines for a week, a torch, a charged phone and power bank, drinking water and dry food.
• Switch off the main power before water enters the house, and do not touch switches or wires while standing in water.
• In an emergency in India, call 112. For fire call 101, and for an ambulance call 108.

What is still not known

Myanmar has no official death toll, and the number still missing in Launglon after early October is not known. Thailand’s figures changed from day to day and the government and DDPM gave different totals on 7 and 8 October; the figure of 80 was still DDPM’s count on 20 October, but it may change. Total damage, crop losses and any official review of the warnings and dam releases have not been published. We will update this page when official figures come out.

Update, 19 October 2026

Thailand’s flood toll has gone up again. On Sunday, 18 October, DDPM said 80 people had died since 16 September, the Bangkok Post reported. That is four more than the 76 on 15 October. Prachin Buri now has 26 deaths, Samut Prakan nine, Chachoengsao seven, Sa Kaeo and Nakhon Nayok six each, Suphan Buri five and Bangkok four. Some provincial numbers are different from the 15 October list (Suphan Buri was then shown with nine), and the reports do not explain why. A Thai PBS report on 16 October gave a figure of 67, also without explanation. We have used the latest DDPM figure.

The water is going down. About 2.18 million people in 715,756 families were still affected in Bangkok and 21 provinces on the morning of 18 October, compared with about 2.43 million on 15 October, and DDPM said levels were falling.

Myanmar still has no official toll. A Mekong Eye report published on 5 October said at least 42 deaths had been reported in Dawei District as of 4 October. This is a local count, and we keep it separate from Thailand’s official figure. We found no later number up to 20 October 2026.

Update, 20 October 2026

Thailand’s toll has not moved. The Bangkok Post reported on 19 October that DDPM still counted 80 flood deaths since mid-September. Water is falling in every affected area. DDPM’s figures for 6 am on 19 October showed 1,830,946 people in 604,265 households still affected, in 22 provinces and three eastern Bangkok districts (Lat Krabang, Nong Chok and Min Buri). That is down from about 2.18 million the day before. Prachin Buri stays at 26 deaths (The Nation). Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul inspected a water gate at Song Phi Nong in Suphan Buri on 18 October and said long-term drainage works are a more sustainable answer than repeated pumping and relief payments, which he put at 40 to 50 billion baht a year (NNT, via Pattaya Mail).

Relief money is the part that has changed most. Thaiger, quoting DDPM’s director-general, reported on 18 October that 5.2 billion baht had been paid to 683,286 households through the Government Savings Bank, for floods between 15 May and 30 September in 66 provinces and Bangkok. That is up from the 4.12 billion baht to 540,277 families we reported for 15 October. DDPM planned to ask the cabinet on Tuesday, 20 October, for 10.5 billion baht more, to cover 1,481,401 households (Bangkok Post). We had not seen the cabinet’s decision when we checked on the morning of 20 October. The reports do not agree on the amounts per household: Thaiger gave 9,000 or 7,000 baht, while a Bangkok Post item quoted a government spokesperson on payments of 5,000 or 9,000 baht. The Bangkok Post also described long queues at Bangkok district offices on 17 and 18 October, with registration places filling up early and problems with the government’s Thang Rath app.

Myanmar’s local count has not moved since 4 October, but a new document with a lower figure has appeared; see below.

Update, 21 October 2026

Thailand: the toll is still 80 in the reports we could read. DDPM still counted 80 flood deaths since mid-September on the morning of 20 October (Thai PBS World). A Bangkok Post headline of 21 October is shown elsewhere as “82 people killed”. We could not open the Bangkok Post article itself, and The Nation’s DDPM report of 21 October gives province-wise deaths but no total, so we have not changed our figure of 80. If 82 is confirmed, this page will change. The Nation’s list of 21 October shows 26 deaths in Prachin Buri, nine in Samut Prakan, eight in Chachoengsao (seven on 18 October), six in Nakhon Nayok, five in Suphan Buri and four in Bangkok. Sa Kaeo, which had six on 18 October, is no longer in the list of flooded provinces.

The flood is shrinking. DDPM counted 1,367,191 people in 450,944 households still affected on 20 October, in 19 provinces and Bangkok. On 21 October the figure was 1,223,229 people in 402,637 households, in 19 provinces and two Bangkok districts (Lat Krabang and Nong Chok), with water falling in every area (The Nation). That is down from 1.83 million on 19 October. DDPM has warned of heavy to very heavy rain from 20 to 25 October and of flash floods in low-lying areas and near the foothills, so the pumps and boats are still on standby.

The cabinet has approved the money. On 20 October the cabinet approved 10.5 billion baht from the fiscal 2027 central fund for flood compensation, after the 2026 funds ran out (Thai PBS World). Government spokesman Ekkapob Pianpises said the amount covers 1.48 million households, including applicants whose details are still being verified, and that it does not mean the earlier money had run out. As of 14 October, he said, 390,393 households had received 3.05 billion baht, out of 4.7 billion baht approved on 29 September for 66 provinces and Bangkok (Bangkok Post). That is a different date from the Thaiger figure of 5.2 billion baht to 683,286 households, reported on 18 October, so the two should not be compared. The cabinet also approved a Finance Ministry package: pauses and cheaper terms on loans from seven state-owned financial institutions, home-repair loans of up to two million baht, farm loans of up to 500,000 baht, 30 billion baht in soft loans for small and medium businesses, and some tax relief (Bangkok Post).

Myanmar: a lower figure from the Red Cross side. The IFRC’s emergency appeal document for Myanmar (DREF operation MDRMM025, published 12 October) is now open to us. Based on a rapid assessment by the Myanmar Red Cross Society and local authorities, it says about 49,371 people and 7,629 houses were affected in four townships (Dawei, Launglon, Thayetchaung and Tanintharyi), and 9,032 people were temporarily displaced to 24 evacuation centres. In Launglon, the worst-hit township, more than 400 households (about 2,560 people) were affected and over 400 houses destroyed. It says “a total of 25 deaths and 11 injuries” were reported. IFRC allocated 870,047 Swiss francs and aims to help 9,600 people until 30 April 2027. The 25 deaths are well below the 40 to 42 reported by local rescue groups and Mekong Eye on 2 to 4 October. The document does not say where its figure comes from or as of what date, so we cannot explain the gap. Myanmar still has no official toll, and we show both numbers with their sources.

Last checked: 21 October 2026, 10:55 am IST.