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Thai authorities suspended ferry services and began evacuations Thursday ahead of a powerful tropical storm that is expected to pound the Southeast Asian nation's famed southern beach resorts.

Rain was already falling around the Gulf of Thailand on Thursday morning and officials warned that torrential downpours, strong winds and rough seas were expected in 16 provinces when Tropical Storm Pabuk makes its expected landfall on Friday.

"There will be heavy rainfall and we have to prepared for flooding or an impact on transportation," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said. "We are ready ourselves but if the rainfall is high we will need some time to resolve problems."

Thailand's Meteorological Department said the storm will lash southern Thailand's east coast from Thursday to Saturday, with the two provinces of Surat Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat expected to be hardest hit. Surat Thani is home to the popular tourist islands of Koh Samui, Koh Tao and Koh Phangan.

The department said the storm was moving west into the Gulf of Thailand with maximum winds of 65 kilometers per hour (40 mph). It said waves 3 to 5 meters (yards) high were possible in the Gulf of Thailand and 2 to 3 meters (yards) high in the Andaman Sea on the west coast. It warned of strong winds and storm surges on the gulf side and said all ships should stay berthed on land through Saturday.

Southern Thailand's tourist industry is a huge moneymaker, and authorities have become particularly sensitive to visitors' safety since last July, when 47 Chinese tourists drowned when the boat they were on sank in rough seas near the popular resort of Phuket in the Andaman Sea.

In what was possibly a storm-related death, a Russian tourist in Koh Samui drowned Wednesday as he tried to rescue his daughter, who was struggling in strong surf. Thai PBS television reported that the daughter survived but her father lost consciousness after being tossed against some rocks and couldn't be revived by rescuers.

Fishing is another major industry in the south, and small boat owners were heeding the warning. Many dragged their vessels ashore, attaching ropes to the boats and having friends help tug them on to beaches.

The storm was passing about 300 kilometers (180 miles) south-southwest of Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City at midday Thursday, and was expected to bring heavy rain and strong winds to the Mekong Delta, the country's major area for rice and aquaculture production.

According to Vietnamese state television VTV, authorities ordered people to take precautions and sent radio alerts to thousands of fishing boats to take shelter or return to shore. They had forbidden new boat departures in five southern coastal provinces since Tuesday.