SOLDIERS and volunteer reinforcements were moving to a remote area of Krabi this afternoon as officials assessed the scale of a natural disaster than has left at least 13 people dead, scores injured, and hundreds still missing.

At least 1100 people have been evacuated as hillside torrents and mudslides turn valley villages around mountainous Khao Phanom into death traps.

Witnesses told Phuketwan reporters of seeing homes, vehicles and whole plantations swept away or destroyed beneath raging waters.

We met survivors from two villages who said there were 13 dead, 40 missing and 76 injured from Moo 7 and Moo 2 alone. At least six other villages are believed to have been ravaged by what is an unprecedented natural disaster for this region.

With rain still tumbling, hundreds were fleeing hillsides where run-offs had become raging torrents. At least 600 villagers from around Khao Phanom had been evacuated to Wat Tam Kobe, with another 200 seeking shelter at Wat Kao and 300 more at Huay Nam Kaew.

Troops and volunteer charity and emergency workers from Phuket, Phang Nga and other parts of the region were heading to the rugged area as fast as possible, with heavy rain hampering progress this evening as darkness closed in.

With cellphones useless and the terrain steep and rugged, it is expected to be some time before the full toll and extent of the damage can be assessed.

The day began with Phuket emergency services reporting that as many as 1000 people from eight villages were missing.

It ended with a full assessment of the deaths and damages impossible to make until the torrents and the mudslides stop.

The region where lives remain at risk is inland, well away from the Krabi coast that is popular with Thai and expat tourists at this time of year.

-Additional reporting by Pathomporn Kaenkrachang