A Grade 1 Classroom in Phanom Dong Rak on the First Morning After the Water Went Down

A typical scenario based on situations that commonly happen. It is used to explain the problem and does not describe a real person.

Kru Somjai teaches Grade 1 at a small subdistrict school in Phanom Dong Rak. The whole school has fewer than a hundred pupils, most of them children of rice-farming families who speak Northern Khmer at home. During the days of heavy rain, water from the paddies and streams flowed across the playground and into the ground-floor classrooms, and the school had to close for a while.

When the water receded, teachers and volunteer parents shovelled mud out of the rooms, washed desks and chairs, carried soaked books out to dry and scrubbed the toilets. But when Kru Somjai opened the cupboard of teaching materials, a musty smell rushed out. Word cards and wooden toys had white and green spots, and the lower walls still showed a clear damp line. In the parents' LINE group, the same question came up every day: "Is the classroom safe yet? Will my child catch hand-foot-and-mouth disease?"

Kru Somjai did not lack commitment. She simply did not have the tools or time to disinfect every desk, every chair leg and every toy while also planning make-up lessons. The same picture can be found in a temple hall that served as a kitchen, a weekly subdistrict market, a community shop, or the open ground floor of a stilt house where the family sits, weaves and stores its tools.

Flooded Areas in Surin According to the DDPM Report of 2 October 2026

The data below comes from the DDPM report as published in the media. Figures and status change daily, so check the latest with the district office, the subdistrict administrative organisation or the Surin provincial DDPM office.

Phanom Dong Rak lies at the far south of the province along the Dangrek range, which forms the border between Thailand and Cambodia. Most communities are farming villages with homes scattered among the rice fields. Prasat lies south of Surin town and has a commercial centre, markets and government offices, and it is a through route for travel in the south of the province. The two districts are therefore different: Phanom Dong Rak is mostly rural homes, small schools and village temples, while Prasat combines homes with shops, markets and buildings used by many people.

Nationally, DDPM reported on 2 October 2026 that 31 provinces plus Bangkok were flooded, with 1,245,581 households and 3,535,206 people affected, caused by heavy to very heavy rain and runoff from the North. Surin is one of the Northeastern provinces in that report. Even though the water is going down, the recovery work has only just begun.

What the Surin Flood Left Behind: The Many Germs You Should Know

Floodwater in farming areas like Phanom Dong Rak and Prasat is not clean. It flows through paddies, cattle and buffalo pens, chicken coops, septic tanks and rubbish heaps before reaching homes and buildings. It carries mud, fertiliser, animal manure, sewage and several groups of microbes that cause different illnesses.

Bacteria From Animal Manure and Sewage

E. coli and other bacteria from human and animal faeces show that the water was contaminated with sewage. When they sit on classroom floors, dining tables, cooking pots or toys and reach the mouth through hands, they can cause diarrhoea and vomiting. Salmonella is found in poultry and livestock droppings, so it is a risk for homes that keep chickens or ducks under or beside the house, and for kitchens that cook for many people.

Leptospirosis and Melioidosis: Risks for Rice Farmers

Most people in Surin are farmers who must go back into the fields after the water drops. Leptospirosis, called "rat urine disease" in Thai, is caused by Leptospira bacteria in the urine of rats and other animals mixed into water and mud. It enters through cuts or skin soaked for a long time. Warning signs are sudden high fever, headache, severe calf pain and red eyes. Melioidosis is caused by a bacterium in soil and water and is common in the Northeast; people with diabetes or kidney disease are at higher risk. Both are prevented by wearing boots and gloves, not wading barefoot, and seeing a doctor promptly for fever after wading. Spraying a building reduces germs on indoor surfaces, but it does not prevent infection from working in the fields.

Viruses That Spread Where People Gather

During the flood many villagers gathered in temple halls, schools and aid points, and afterwards children all returned to school together. That suits norovirus and rotavirus, which cause severe diarrhoea in small children and older people. Hand-foot-and-mouth disease viruses spread through toys, tables and hands, while RSV and influenza spread through droplets and shared surfaces such as stair rails, door handles, cups and mats.

Mold, Spores and the Musty Smell Under the House

The raised Isan stilt house is designed to let water pass beneath, but the ground floor is still where the family lives day to day, with bamboo platforms, silk looms, rice stores, farm tools and mats. Once the water drops, wood and fabric that absorbed water can grow mold within one to two days. WHO and the US CDC advise cleaning and drying within 24 to 48 hours. Growing mold releases spores into the air, worsening allergies and asthma, and grandparents who sit under the house all day breathe in more of them. A musty odour drifting up to the living floor is a sign that mold or moisture remains.

In concrete buildings such as classrooms, shops and offices, mold starts on lower walls, behind cupboards, under laminate floors and in paper. Wet textbooks and files should be dried separately or thrown away rather than shut back in closed cupboards.

Shared Places in Phanom Dong Rak and Prasat to Restore First

In rural Surin, a handful of shared places serve an entire subdistrict. If they still carry germs, the effect spreads to every household. Setting priorities helps communities use their labour and budget where it counts most.

1. Schools and Child Development Centres

Young children are the most vulnerable to diarrhoea and hand-foot-and-mouth disease. Ground-floor classrooms, nap rooms, canteens, toilets and toy corners should be cleaned and disinfected before reopening. Children's mattresses and pillows that took on floodwater should be thrown away, because the inside is hard to clean.

2. Temples, Preaching Halls and Community Kitchens

Many temples in Prasat and Phanom Dong Rak are the gathering point for merit-making and village meetings and served as kitchens during the flood. Hall floors, mats, big curry pots, food-prep tables and shared toilets were touched by many people. Planning with the abbot and temple committee to pick a day without ceremonies, and moving Buddha images and scriptures out first, keeps the work orderly.

3. Markets and Shops in Prasat's Commercial Area

Grocery stores, hardware shops, made-to-order food stalls and market vendors all have shelves, storage crates and cash counters that customers touch every day. Food stock that touched floodwater must be thrown away, and shelves and floors must be washed and disinfected before new stock goes up.

4. Community Rice Mills and Granaries

Surin is well known for jasmine rice. Mills and granaries that took on water need careful handling. Paddy or milled rice soaked by floodwater should not be eaten, and disinfectant must never be sprayed onto rice or any food. Move good rice out, discard damaged rice, wash and dry the floor and walls, and only then disinfect the building structure, following the technicians' advice, before new rice comes in.

5. District Offices, Subdistrict Offices and Community Halls

After the flood, villagers come to file paperwork for assistance. Counters, waiting chairs, shared pens and office toilets become touch points used by people from many villages, while damp document rooms risk mold that damages official records.

The Price Surin Families and Communities Pay When Recovery Is Incomplete

Health. A whole class with diarrhoea, grandparents coughing from spores under the house, and farmers with fever after wading mean trips to hospital, which for some Phanom Dong Rak villages is a fair distance away.

Income. The weeks after the flood are when the rice crop needs urgent attention. If someone falls ill, the family loses working days or must hire labour. Prasat shops lose sales while customers stay away, and moldy silk sells for less.

Children's learning. Every extra day a school stays closed, or a child is too sick to attend, means lost lessons, make-up teaching, and parents with no one to mind the children while they work the fields.

Community trust. When rumours spread that pupils are ill or the temple kitchen was not clean, villagers avoid the very places that hold the community together. A clear recovery process answers those worries.

Five Common Misunderstandings After the Water Recedes in Surin

1. "It is a stilt house, the water just passed through." It did, but it left mud, manure and moisture on posts, platforms and everything stored underneath.
2. "Sunlight kills all the germs." Sun helps drying and reduces germs on surfaces it hits directly, but the undersides of tables, gaps in cupboards and shaded rooms stay the same.
3. "Stronger bleach is better." The wrong concentration stings eyes and noses and damages materials, and it must never be mixed with other toilet cleaners because dangerous gases can form.
4. "The smell is gone, so it is clean." Noses get used to odours quickly; visitors often smell what residents no longer notice, and many germs have no smell at all.
5. "Just paint over the mold." Mold under paint keeps growing while the wall is damp and returns as black spots or blistering within months.

Mud removal, discarding damaged items and drying remain the main work and always come first. Disinfection spraying is the final step that makes sure every surface in the area is treated.

Disinfection Spraying for Surin: How the Fine Mist Reaches Surfaces After Cleaning

World Health Disinfection (WHD) provides a disinfection spraying service carried out by trained technicians. According to the service information, technicians use direct spraying for surfaces that need a clear wet coat, such as toilet floors, counters and tables, and ULV (Ultra Low Volume) fogging, which turns the disinfectant into a very fine mist, for large areas or rooms full of objects.

Fine droplets do not drop straight to the floor. They hang briefly in the air and then settle on surfaces all around: the tops and undersides of school desks, chair legs, bookshelves, the gap between a cupboard and the wall, woven mats, baskets and oddly shaped toys, which are the spots cloths usually miss. For open temple halls and stilt-house ground floors, technicians adjust the method to suit the wind and space.

The disinfectant is CHEMGENE HLD4H, a medical-grade disinfectant from the United Kingdom whose key ingredients are Benzalkonium Chloride and Didecyldimethylammonium Chloride. According to the service information it covers viruses, bacteria and fungi, including COVID-19, RSV, H1N1, H5N1 and hand-foot-and-mouth virus, with a stated efficacy of 99.99%. The service page also cites approvals and endorsements from Thailand's Department of Medical Sciences, Mahidol University, NHS England and the EN 14476:2013+A2:2019 standard, and lists customers including hospitals, schools, malls, airports, offices, airlines, banks and residential buildings.

The Right Order: Wash First, Dry First, Then Spray

Disinfectant has to touch germs directly to work. If mud still coats the floor, germs underneath are shielded. Spraying therefore comes after shovelling mud, washing with water and detergent, discarding soaked items and drying the space as much as possible. On clean surfaces the mist coats evenly and gets the contact time it needs.

How to Book Service in Surin

1. Contact the team on 065-556-6294 or LINE @whd268. Say whether you are in Phanom Dong Rak or Prasat, which subdistrict, the type of premises and its size, and send photos. WHD is based in Bang Khae, Bangkok, with no branch in Surin. The team plans and confirms travel by phone or LINE, and same-day arrival cannot be guaranteed. Booking several sites in the same subdistrict together makes travel easier to plan.
2. Prepare the area. Finish mud removal. Move out or fully cover food, rice, food containers, Buddha images, documents and silk. Move pets and poultry away.
3. Technicians spray. Everyone leaves the zone being treated while technicians work zone by zone.
4. Wait about 30 minutes, or as the technicians advise, then re-enter and ventilate.
5. Return to use. Wipe or rinse food-contact surfaces, children's dining tables and toys that go in mouths as advised before use.

According to the service information, customers receive a free CHEMGENE spray bottle and WELLGIENIC wet tissues for ongoing care of touch points, and a tax invoice is available, which matters for schools, subdistrict administrations and agencies that need documents for reimbursement.

10 Reasons Surin Schools, Temples and Homes Should Disinfect After the Flood

1. Reopen with confidence. Teachers can tell parents the classrooms were washed and professionally disinfected.
2. Many germ groups at once: bacteria, viruses and fungi, according to the CHEMGENE HLD4H information.
3. Mist reaches what hands cannot: under desks, inside teaching-material cupboards and around platform legs under the house.
4. Less burden on teachers and volunteers who have already spent days shovelling mud.
5. Helps reduce mold when combined with fully drying walls and timber.
6. Suits temple kitchens and restaurants that cook for many people, after utensils and surfaces are washed.
7. Short wait: about 30 minutes, or as advised, before use.
8. Tax invoices available for schools, subdistrict offices and shops.
9. Tools to keep going: a spray bottle and wet tissues for daily touch points.
10. Protects the vulnerable: young children, older people and the chronically ill in the community. See the spraying service.

Before and After: A Small School in Phanom Dong Rak

Example Case: A Temple Hall in Prasat That Became a Flood Kitchen

An example case to explain the process. It is not a verified customer review.

A village temple in Prasat opened its preaching hall as a kitchen throughout the flood. Villagers took turns making rice porridge and curry for families who could not leave home, and some children and older people slept in the hall on the nights the water rose highest. When the water receded, Khun Prayoon, the temple's lay steward, and villagers washed the pots and floor, laundered mats and stored leftover donations.

Within a week, several village children had diarrhoea. Some people worried it came from the kitchen, though no one knew the cause. The abbot asked Khun Prayoon to take the sick children to hospital first, then agreed with the committee to restore the hall properly before the next ceremony. Khun Prayoon contacted WHD on LINE with photos of the hall, kitchen, shared toilets and storeroom.

The team advised discarding mats and cushions that still smelled musty, washing all utensils and drying them in the sun, and moving Buddha images, scriptures and food donations out. On a date confirmed in advance around travel from Bangkok, technicians sprayed the kitchen, toilets and storeroom directly and used ULV in the hall with doors and windows closed as far as possible. Everyone waited outside for about 30 minutes as instructed, then ventilated and wiped food-prep tables again with clean water as advised.

Khun Prayoon now uses the spray bottle and wet tissues on stair rails, taps and the donation table before every ceremony. He announced over the village loudspeaker that the hall had been restored, and reminded everyone that anyone with fever or diarrhoea should see a doctor without waiting.

Surin Flood Recovery Checklist for Homes and Shared Places

Before Spraying

• Cut power to flooded sections and have an electrician check, especially pumps and fridges under the house.
• Wear boots, rubber gloves and a mask, and cover cuts before cleaning.
• Shovel mud and wash floors, house posts, platforms and lower walls with detergent.
• Discard flooded food, rice, medicines, mattresses, pillows and soaked cardboard.
• Separate wet silk and woven cloth, then wash and dry thoroughly as soon as possible.
• Photograph damage for assistance claims with the subdistrict or district office.

After Spraying

• Wait as advised, about 30 minutes, before re-entering, then ventilate.
• Wipe or rinse food-contact surfaces and children's toys as instructed.
• Wipe door handles, taps, rails and dining tables daily.
• Check walls and timber weekly for mold, and find the moisture source if it returns.
• Anyone with fever, calf pain or severe diarrhoea should see a doctor.
• For closed rooms where a musty smell lingers, consider the ozone disinfection service as an add-on.

FAQ: Flood Disinfection Spraying in Surin

Can WHD travel to Phanom Dong Rak or Prasat?

Contact the team on 065-556-6294 or LINE @whd268 to plan travel. WHD is based in Bang Khae, Bangkok, with no branch in Surin. The team will confirm feasibility and a date; same-day arrival cannot be guaranteed.

Can an open stilt-house ground floor be sprayed?

Yes. Technicians adapt to the space and wind. Open areas usually get direct spraying onto surfaces such as posts, platforms and floors rather than a mist left to hang in the air.

Can disinfectant be sprayed on rice in the granary?

No. Never spray disinfectant onto rice or any food. Flooded rice should not be eaten. Move the rice out, clean and dry the granary, then disinfect the structure as advised.

Do we need to leave during spraying?

Yes, everyone including children, older people and pets. Return when the technicians say, usually after about 30 minutes.

Will there be no residue?

Do not assume so. Food-contact surfaces and children's toys should be wiped or rinsed as the technicians advise before use.

What if someone gets sick after the flood?

See a doctor first, especially for high fever, calf pain, severe diarrhoea or breathing difficulty, and mention wading or field work. Spraying reduces environmental germs; it is not medical treatment.

Book Surin Flood Disinfection Before School Reopens and the Next Ceremony

Tell us your district, subdistrict and type of premises, such as a school, temple, shop, rice mill or home, with photos and approximate size. The team will assess it and confirm a travel date.

Talk to Us About Surin Spraying

Call 065-556-6294 · LINE @whd268

Related Links

• World Health Disinfection spraying service
• CHEMGENE HLD4H disinfectant
• Residential ozone disinfection service

References

• Bangkokbiznews, flood situation based on DDPM data: bangkokbiznews.com/news/news-update/1254629
• Thai PBS flood report: thaipbs.or.th/news/content/558960
• World Health Organization: who.int/news-room/fact-sheets
• CDC Floods: cdc.gov/floods
• Thailand Department of Disease Control: ddc.moph.go.th