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Waters rising in Thailand's worst-affected city of Hat Yai

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13 killed in Thailand, 19,000 evacuated in Malaysia's

flood-hit

north

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Thai navy to send aircraft carrier with field kitchens,

medics

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Malaysian PM orders maximum effort to help flood victims

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Hundreds of Thai factories hit, 18 power plants offline,

government says

(Recasts, adds fresh details throughout)

By Chayut Setboonsarng and Ashley Tang

BANGKOK/KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Thailand put

its military in charge of tackling a devastating flood crisis on

Tuesday and readied reinforcements to evacuate thousands of

people, as heavy rain hobbled relief efforts after some of the

worst flooding to hit the south in years.

Floodwaters running as high as 2 metres (6.6 feet) in some

areas have struck nine southern provinces and killed 13 people

in Thailand, while eight states in neighbouring Malaysia were

inundated, across a swathe of hundreds of kilometres hit hard

last year by deadly seasonal monsoon rains.

Thailand's military flew in a C-130 cargo plane with

supplies of medicine, food and water and the navy said a

flotilla of 14 boats and the aircraft carrier Chakri Naruebet

would depart later on Tuesday with two helicopters, doctors and

field kitchens that can supply 3,000 meals a day.

"The fleet is ready to deliver forces and carry out actions

as the Royal Navy orders," the military said in a statement,

adding the carrier could also serve as a floating hospital.

TRUCKS, BOATS AND JET SKIS MOBILISED

Operations have been focused largely on the southern

commercial hub Hat Yai, a centre for Thailand's rubber trade and

its fifth-largest city. Its provincial governor said boats,

high-clearance trucks and even jet skis were being used to

evacuate residents.

Hat Yai received 335 mm (13 inches) of rain on Friday, its

highest in a single day for three centuries.

"I ask people to leave the area 100% because if the floods

are high, there will be problems providing food and

care," Governor Ratthasart Chidchod told Channel 3 TV.

Television images showed brown waters rushing through Hat

Yai's commercial streets, while residents waded through high

waters, clinging to floating polystyrene boxes as rubber boats

evacuated others in orange life vests.

The waters submerged cars and flowed around a stalled fire

truck that was abandoned in a street.

"Calls have been coming in non-stop in the last three days,

in the thousands, asking to be evacuated and others for food,"

said a member of a volunteer group, the Matchima Rescue Center

in Hat Yai.

An estimated 2.1 million people have been affected in

Thailand, with 13,000 moved to shelters and many others cut off

and unable to get help.

"We are five people and a small child without rice and

water," Facebook user The Hong Tep posted in an appeal for help

on the Matchima group's page. "Phone reception has been cut -

water is rising fast."

'DIFFICULT AND CHALLENGING TIME'

In Malaysia, more than 19,000 people have been moved from

flooded areas to 126 evacuation centres set up mainly in

northern border areas.

In the state of Perlis, rescue teams slogged through

knee-high water to enter homes while rescue boats ferried the

elderly and children to safety, images from its fire department

showed.

A team of rescuers sent to the worst-hit state of Kelantan

bordering Thailand could fan out to other states if needed,

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Facebook, urging people to

comply with orders to evacuate.

"In this difficult and challenging time, I pray that all

flood victims are granted strength, resilience, and protected

from any harm."

The floods could wreak disruption in Thailand's rubber

industry, among the world's largest producers and exporters of

the commodity.

Thailand's central bank said 70% of commercial bank branches

were closed in the five worst affected provinces, while Industry

Minister Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said 17 power plants were

offline and authorities were boosting and redirecting output

from other provinces.

Thanakorn said 715 factories in Songkhla had been flooded,

causing 1.28 billion baht ($39.6 million) in damage, and

factories still able to operate were struggling to receive

deliveries of raw materials.

Posts from stranded people desperate for help ran into the

thousands on the Facebook page of Hat Yai's Matchima rescue

group.

"Water is on the second floor now," wrote one of them,

Pingojung Ping. She said she was one of six trapped, two elderly

people among them. "Pray. Please help."

($1 = 32.3000 baht)