Flood devastation in northern Thailand

The rain is showing no sign of stopping

Interior ministry officials in Thailand now say at least 39 people have been killed and more than half a million affected by the flooding in north-eastern regions.

We have had to black out towns to prevent electrocution and evacuate people from the area because they have no food or water

Relief worker in Loei province

They say more than 5,000 people have been evacuated and nearly 3,000 homes damaged by the floods, caused by rivers and lakes swollen with monsoon rain bursting their banks.

According to the Interior Ministry more than 150,000 homes have been damaged right across the country in the last month.

In the worst incident since the flooding began, 16 refugees were killed on Monday when flash floods swept through the Ban Sala camp on the Thai-Burmese border.

Twelve people remain unaccounted for and the camp still remains under a metre of water.

In the north-east the flooding is the worst seen in decades and the rains are showing no signs of abating, officials said.

In some towns and villages the water is as high as three metres (three yards) above the street level.

Thousands have been trapped inside their homes and power and fresh water supplies have been cut.

No fresh water

"We have had to black out towns to prevent electrocution and evacuate people from the area because they have no food or water," said a relief worker in Loei province on the Laos border, 560 kilometres (350 miles) north-east of Bangkok.

Thousands have been left homeless

"Most of the main town in Loei is under more than two metres of water and there are no signs the situation is getting any better soon," the official told Reuters.

The refugees killed were from the Karen ethnic minority living in a camp in northern Mae Hong Son near the Burmese border.

The camp, home to about 14,000 people, was situated in a steep valley.

It was hit by a flash flood which swept away many of the makeshift buildings, leaving about 1,000 homeless.

The refugees had fled fighting between Karen rebels and government forces in Burma.