Tourists looking to take an extended break in Thailand have been put on alert after wind and wave alerts forced beaches along popular parts of the coast to be closed late last week.
Lifeguards in Phuket closed almost all of the city's main beaches on Friday following the appearance of waves almost two metres high, the Phuket Gazette has reported.
"Tourists were allowed to swim at only some parts of Patong Beach, such as in front of Phuket Graceland Hotel, and at some sections at Bang Tao Beach," provincial government lifeguard project member Siripong Yukhonthorn told the Gazette.
The threat of a tropical depression meant that national parks were also on alert for landslides and flash floods, the paper advised.
Reuters reported last week that the Thai capital Bangkok had been hit by a surprisingly early start to the rainy season, with controversial scientist Smith Dharmasaroja predicting to the news agency that the city would be partially underwater within 20 years' time due to global warming.
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