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HAT YAI has been left eerily quiet in the wake of severe flooding that swept through the southern Thai city, coating homes and businesses in thick mud and leaving streets littered with stranded and damaged vehicles.
For Ahmad Qushairy Ahmad Zaini, a Malaysian resident of Hat Yai, the scale of destruction only became clear when he returned home yesterday after being away since the floods began on 22 November.
He said he was shocked to find his house inundated with mud, with belongings on the ground floor submerged.
“When the incident happened, I was back in Malaysia but my wife was in Hat Yai and had to take shelter upstairs. The lower floor was completely flooded and the water had risen to just two steps below entering the upper floor. At that point, my wife could only pray that the water would recede,” he said.
He described scenes of devastation along his route home. Many vehicles, including those belonging to Malaysians, remained stranded after being engulfed by floodwaters, while some had been swept nearly a kilometre by strong currents.
“Words cannot fully describe the situation now because it looks as if it were the aftermath of a tsunami,” he said. His own car was destroyed and his motorcycle caked in mud. “I have to finish cleaning the house first, then go to my restaurant nearby to start cleaning there as well.”
He said Malaysian volunteers were still present in Hat Yai as of yesterday, distributing food and medical supplies to stranded Malaysians staying in hotels. He has yet to estimate the full extent of losses to his home, vehicles and business.
“Hat Yai is accessible, but for now there is nothing to visit — everything has been destroyed by the floods.”
Among those affected were owners of Proton X50 vehicles caught in the deluge. Ten such motorists found some relief after fellow members of the X50 community rallied financial support to help tow their vehicles back to Malaysia.
Muhammad Aliff Ikhwan Ahmad of the X50 Kedah Crew said their group had travelled to Hat Yai several times but typically relied only on basic insurance.
“Usually, we do not take an extension for overseas coverage, but this time luck was not on our side because the massive floods were completely unexpected,” he said.
The group spent 21–27 November stranded before they managed to arrange tow trucks using funds raised by X50 Kedah Crew and X50 clubs nationwide.
He expressed gratitude to members who contributed to boat rentals, food deliveries and transport back to the border.
“They collected money to hire boats, pay people to send food, rent vans to take us from Hat Yai to the border. We are very thankful.”
Insurance agent Ammar Wafiy Johari clarified that compulsory, voluntary and travel insurance purchased for driving into Thailand does not cover disaster-related vehicle damage. Only those who had extended their Malaysian motor policies with Extension 101 — which includes disaster protection — would have been insured. He urged travellers to treat the floods as a reminder to upgrade their policies before driving abroad.
The devastation was felt far beyond property losses. More than 6,000 Malaysians were stranded, among them Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) lecturer Dr Mohd Hadzrami Harun Rasit, who accompanied 36 students on a cultural exchange trip. He recalled the fear that set in when flooding began on 22 November.
“Initially, we were frightened as we did not know what would happen next. But they (Thais) helped us and made sure we had food, and that gave us a sense of calm,” he said.
He and another lecturer, Dr Muhammad Harith Zahrullail, were trapped with students at Wangburapa Grand Hotel, while two colleagues, Dr Khairina Rosli and Dr Raudah Danila, were stranded two kilometres away at Paradise Hotel.
Both hotels sit close to the U-Tapao River, and Hat Yai’s bowl-shaped topography funnelled torrents of water into the central districts, worsening the disaster. The real scale of destruction, Hadzrami said, only became apparent when Malaysians were transported out by trailer on 28 November.
“There were times we were told rescue was coming, only for our hopes to be dashed. Some of us grew frustrated. But when we finally left and saw the destruction, I understood that it was unprecedented, and no one was to blame,” he said.
Harith said around 200 people sheltered at Wangburapa at the height of the floods.
“People brought pots, stoves and rice from their submerged homes. They had very little themselves, yet they chose to share everything. They kept reassuring us, ‘No pork, halal’. Even in that chaos, they were thinking about us.”
At Paradise Hotel, Khairina witnessed similar unity. Malaysians and Thais cooked, cleaned and assisted one another despite language barriers. She said they bonded over shared routines and recipes. More than 100 people were stranded there.
Raudah described the ordeal as profoundly humbling. “There was no electricity and barely any Internet reception. All we had were each other. We went for a cultural exchange programme and, in the end, we truly experienced one. Surviving together with the Thais is perhaps the most meaningful exchange of all.”- December 2, 2025
