Monsoon storm clouds over Patong Bay and the hills behind the town (file photo).
Three days after Patong cleaned up from Monday's flash flood, the rain came back — and this time the town is evacuating. After more than 15 hours of rain on Wednesday, October 28, water poured into the Nanai neighbourhood for the second time this week, and on Thursday morning Patong Municipality ordered residents in landslide-risk areas to leave their homes after a fresh landslide and falling rocks blocked the road at Soi Nanai 3. Phuket's flooding has now run for three consecutive days and spread across the island. Here is what has happened since our Monday report, where to avoid, and what officials are asking people to do.
Wednesday: The Rain Came Back
The rain that fell on Phuket through Wednesday, October 28 lasted more than 15 hours, and by the afternoon it was running off hillsides that had never had a chance to dry out after Monday. From about 3 PM, muddy red water poured down from the hills onto the road near Kata Noi Beach in Karon, where the drainage channel — only about 80 centimetres wide and hemmed in by buildings — could not carry the volume. Small cars, motorbikes and electric vehicles turned back, and businesses along the road put up metal barriers and sandbags to keep the water out.
By early evening the same thing was happening in Patong. At around 5:30 PM, flash flooding was reported across the Nanai Road neighbourhood — the road up to Khao 50 Pi hill, outside Kasem Sap Village, Soi 5 and Soi 8 — right in the middle of the evening rush, on the same streets that took the worst of Monday's mudslide.
For Nanai residents, the hardest part is the timing. Anong, 48, who lives in Soi Phoem Sap in the Nanai area, told reporters her family had only finished cleaning the mud out of their shop that morning. When the rain returned, the water poured back into the premises in less than five minutes, leaving them almost no time to respond. That story — clean up, dry out, get flooded again within 48 hours — is the story of this whole week on the inland side of Patong.
Thursday: Evacuations Ordered in Patong
On Thursday, October 29, Patong Municipality ordered residents in landslide-risk areas to evacuate to shelters, after continuous rain triggered a landslide and falling rocks that blocked the road at Soi Nanai 3. The municipality said the situation at Soi Nanai 8 "remained serious" — the same soi that was hit hardest on Monday.
Sheltering from the monsoon rain in Patong (file photo).
Mayor Lalita Maneesri ordered officials to assist residents, shuttle vehicles were arranged at both Soi Nanai 3 and Soi Nanai 8 to support the evacuations, and officials, volunteers and forestry staff were deployed to Soi Nanai 8 to help people and keep the area safe. The municipality also prepared parking areas for small and large vehicles so residents could move their cars and motorbikes onto safer ground before the water or the hillside reached them.
Patong Municipality's disaster teams, Patong rescue workers, volunteers and the Kusoldharm Phuket Foundation are monitoring the danger zones around the clock and working to speed up drainage wherever water is standing. If you are in the Nanai area, the official instruction is simple: leave the at-risk streets when asked, and follow the directions of the officials on the ground — they are watching slopes that have already moved twice this week.
The Rest of the Island: Day Three
Patong is not alone in this. On Thursday morning the flooding entered its third consecutive day and had spread well beyond Kathu district. In Chalong, the Five-Way Intersection Underpass was inundated, and small vehicles were advised not to use it because of the water level. Flooding was also reported in Rawai, Kata, Karon and Phuket Town, with several major traffic routes affected, and Phuket City issued a red flood alert along the Bang Yai Canal, warning residents and businesses to move belongings to higher ground as the water rose. In Karon, Khok Tanot Road was temporarily closed.
Karon has its own evacuation order. The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) and Karon Municipality have told residents at specified high-risk addresses near Soi Patak 2, Soi Patak 4 and Soi Patak 6 by Wat Kata to evacuate temporarily, with shelters at Baan Kata School and Wat Suwan Khiri Khet. This is the hillside below the Big Buddha where the landslide of August 2024 killed 13 people — and officials are clear that this order is a precaution because of the landslide risk in continued heavy rain. No new landslide has been reported there. Residents were advised to take essential documents and medicines, and to give particular attention to children, older people and anyone who needs help moving.
Why Nanai Keeps Taking the Hit
As we wrote on Monday, Patong sits in a bowl: the sea on one side, steep hills rising on every other side, and Nanai built close to the slope of Khao 50 Pi. By late October, after months of monsoon, the soil on those slopes is saturated, and saturated soil cannot absorb more rain. The water sheets off, concentrates in gullies, picks up mud and rock, and arrives at the bottom streets — Nanai's sois — with force.
This week has turned that pattern into a sequence. The October 26 slide and flood affected more than 100 households and left provisional damage estimated around ฿100 million across the area. The ground then had barely a day to drain before Wednesday's 15 hours of rain arrived on top of it, and by Thursday the same hillside was moving again at Soi Nanai 3. It is also the third flood spell to hit the municipality this month, after the October 6 event. None of this is a freak occurrence; it is the end of the monsoon acting on a town whose geography concentrates the runoff in the same few streets, again and again.
Clearing mud and rocks from a hillside road after the rain.
What to Do If You're in a Risk Area
Whether you live here or you're visiting this week, the official advice is consistent — and after three days of this, it is worth following to the letter:
- If officials ask you to evacuate, go. Patong's order covers the landslide-risk streets around Nanai; Karon's covers the Patak sois near Wat Kata. Shuttle vehicles and shelters are in place. Do not return until officials confirm the area is safe.
- Stay away from foothills, waterways and steep slopes during heavy rain. Runoff and slides have arrived at the base of Khao 50 Pi repeatedly this week, and slopes that have moved once can move again.
- Never drive or ride through flooded roads, especially the Chalong underpass and other spots flagged for small vehicles. Floodwater hides open drains and damaged road surfaces, and moving water can take a motorbike off balance in seconds.
- Move vehicles and belongings to higher ground now, not when the water arrives. Patong Municipality has prepared parking areas for exactly this; use them while the streets are still passable.
- Keep your phone on and charged. DDPM warnings have been going out by Cell Broadcast to phones in affected areas — if one arrives, act on it.
- Know the numbers. DDPM emergency hotline: 1784. Phuket City Municipality's disaster unit: 076-211111, municipal hotline 1132. Patong Municipality's disaster division: 076-342600.
The Response — and What Happens Next
The Thai Meteorological Department is warning of further heavy rain, with the risk of more flash flooding, runoff and landslides while the ground stays saturated. So the next day or two call for the same caution: avoid the foothill streets in heavy rain, give the underpasses and the Nanai sois a wide berth, and let the crews work.
And the crews are working — municipal teams, rescue workers, forestry staff and foundation volunteers have been out in the rain for three days now, clearing mud and rock, running shuttles, pumping water and watching the hillsides through the night. Neighbours have been helping neighbours clean out the same shops twice in a week. That is the other half of this story: the weather has been relentless, and so has the response to it. Our thoughts are with the families in Nanai and Karon who are away from their homes tonight — and with everyone still standing in the rain to get them back.
Sources: Rawai / Phuket News — Patong evacuation order, October 29, 2026; Rawai — overnight rain causes further flooding across Phuket, October 29, 2026; Thai FYI — Phuket flooding enters third day, October 29, 2026; Rawai — Karon evacuation order, October 29, 2026; ASEAN NOW / Daily News — Phuket floods hit Kata Noi and Patong, October 28, 2026. The situation may change as conditions develop; follow official announcements for the latest.
About Jay & Scott — Jay and Scott are travelers and writers living in Thailand. We enjoy traveling around Thailand — the food, the beaches, the small towns — and writing about it as we go. Back home in Phuket we run Patong Harbor View Condominium, our long-stay condo rentals in Patong. Have a look at the video tours, then come stay a while: phvcondo.com.
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