September falls in the heart of the monsoon season in Thailand, where cities and towns are accustomed to the afternoon rains and thunderstorms that frequently roll through.
But throughout late September and early October 2026, persistent heavy rains punctuated by intense downpours left low-lying areas across the country in Southeast Asia under sustained flooding.
Prachin Buri province was among the areas where flooding was widespread.
The right image above shows land along the Bang Pakong River and nearby agricultural areas and aquaculture facilities inundated on October 2, 2026.
The left image shows the same area at the same time of year in 2025.
Acquired with NASA-USGSLandsatsatellites, the images arefalse-colorto better distinguish water from vegetation, developed land, and other surfaces.
The bright red shapes are floating solar arrays.
Some of the flooding likely stemmed from alow-pressure systemthat stalled over the area for several days in late September.
Stoked by moisture and energy from the warm Gulf of Thailand nearby, the system delivered especiallyintense rainsto the region.
About 100 kilometers to the west, Bangkok received nearly300 millimeters of rain over a 48-hour period, according to news reports, close to the average monthly rainfall total for September of344 millimeters.
Since mid-September, flooding has occurred in 50 provinces across the country, affecting over 4 million people and causing dozens of deaths, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Government agenciesestimateabout 270,000 hectares of farmland, including rice fields and fruit orchards, have been damaged.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from theU.S. Geological Survey. Story by Lindsey Doermann.
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ABC NewsResidents brave floodwater for supplies after Bangkok inundated. Accessed October 7, 2026.
The ConversationAs the planet warms, cities like Bangkok could be increasingly inundated by deadly floods. Accessed October 7, 2026.
The NationThailand floods hit 1.7m rai including over 26,000 rai of orchards. Accessed October 7, 2026.
ReliefWebTHA: Flood – 09-2026 – Heavy rainfall caused flooding #3. Accessed October 7, 2026.
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