NASA images show extensive flooding in Thailand as farmland damage mounts

NASA Earth Observatory reported on October 9 that satellite images taken on October 2 show extensive flooding along the Bang Pakong River and nearby farms and aquaculture areas in Thailand’s Prachin Buri province. The images document a local part of a wider flooding episode that, according to figures NASA cited from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, has affected more than 4 million people across the country since mid-September.

The new images add a view of inundated land to accounts of damage and disruption reported over the past two weeks. They show where water stood on October 2, but cannot establish current water levels or the final cost of the floods. Reports from Bangkok residents and agricultural officials describe consequences that a satellite image alone cannot measure.

What the Landsat images show in Prachin Buri

NASA compared an October 2, 2026 image with one of the same area from October 7, 2025. In the newer image, floodwater covers a broad area beside the river, including agricultural and aquaculture land. The images use false colour to distinguish water from vegetation, developed land and other surfaces. NASA identified the bright red shapes visible in the scene as floating solar arrays.

The imagery came from NASA and US Geological Survey Landsat satellites. NASA credited Lauren Dauphin for the images and Lindsey Doermann for the accompanying account. The comparison gives readers a clear view of the flooded area at the time of the October 2 pass; it is a record of that date rather than a live flood map.

How many people and farms have been affected?

Citing the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, NASA said flooding had occurred in 50 provinces since mid-September, affected more than 4 million people and caused dozens of deaths. NASA also reported government estimates that about 270,000 hectares of farmland, including rice fields and fruit orchards, had been damaged. Those are attributed estimates, not a final accounting of losses.

A separate report published October 7 by The Nation Thailand gave a more detailed agricultural breakdown. Citing Department of Agricultural Extension deputy director-general Rapeetat Unchittaphan, it said flooding across 49 provinces had damaged more than 1.7 million rai of farmland and affected more than 150,000 farmers. The newspaper put the damaged area at roughly 1.3 million rai of rice fields, 290,000 rai of field crops and 120,000 rai of fruit orchards.

The Nation said more than 26,000 rai of fruit orchards in eastern Thailand were affected. Its account described the orchard figures as preliminary and said the economic impact was still being assessed. The province counts in its October 7 report and NASA’s October 9 account come from different reporting dates and should not be read as a single synchronized tally.

What earlier reporting found in Bangkok

ABC News reported on September 28 that Bangkok had been declared a disaster-affected zone after nearly 300 millimetres of rain fell in about 48 hours. At that point, ABC reported at least eight deaths nationally, 580,000 homes affected and more than 80,000 people unable to leave their homes. It also reported emergency food deliveries by boat and thousands of people sheltering in evacuation centres.

Bangkok resident Chris Kenneth told ABC he walked through floodwater to find food after his local convenience store was almost empty. He said water had begun to recede and he was less worried about supplies. His account describes conditions around his neighbourhood at the time of the September 28 report; it does not establish conditions throughout the city now.

NASA also cited reports of nearly 300 millimetres of rain in Bangkok over 48 hours, close to the 344-millimetre average it gave for the whole of September. Its later national account reported dozens of deaths, compared with the at least eight reported by ABC on September 28. The available accounts do not reconcile the death figures, so each needs its own date and attribution.

How growers are responding to orchard damage

The Nation reported that the Department of Agricultural Extension and plant-pathology specialists at Kasetsart University were sending teams to affected orchards to demonstrate methods for recovering durian trees that might survive. Rapeetat said replacement trees would take at least five years to bear fruit, making the fate of existing trees consequential for growers. The reported work is an attempt to limit losses; its eventual results are not yet established.

The newspaper also reported Agriculture Ministry plans to distribute vegetable seeds, planting stock and seedlings to farmers in affected provinces once floodwaters recede, alongside compensation under existing finance rules. Those were plans at the time of the report, not completed distributions. Damage surveys and the economic assessment were still under way, leaving the final scale of agricultural loss and recovery unresolved.