5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Due to geographical characteristics, unplanned urbanization
and deforestation in the upland watershed, Hat Yai Municipality
has a high level of flood risk. Flooding has become a regular phenomenon
and continues to threaten the vulnerable social and economic
infrastructure of the municipality. Extreme flood events
have had devastating effects on the standard of living of the population
and on development prospects. In attempts to prevent and
mitigate catastrophic flooding, considerable mitigation works have
been undertaken in Hat Yai Municipality, most of them structural.
The flooding of 10 December 2003, however, demonstrated that
these structural measures undertaken so far are not adequate to