The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology has repeated calls for the public to take precautions as cooler temperatures are forecast to roll across the Kingdom from Thursday to Sunday.

The ministry’s weather forecast on Monday projected temperatures in five provinces, including Preah Vihear, Steung Treng, Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri and Pailin, to drop to 17C to 19C from Wednesday until Sunday.

Temperatures in the capital and coastal provinces are also forecast to dip to between 20C and 24C during the same period.

“The drop in temperature to between 17C and 19C in the affected areas is due to a weak high-pressure system coupled with Typhoon Phanfone, which recently struck the Philippines,” the ministry said in a letter.

The letter urged troops stationed in the Kingdom’s eastern provinces and the northern Dangrek area, near the Thai border, to take precautions against the cold snap.

Last week, the government issued a separate warning that temperatures in the Dangrek area would dip to 20C between December 17 and 23.

Border Protection Unit 623 commander Buon Seng Sopiseth told The Post on Monday that his soldiers had already braced for the cold with coats, food and medical supplies amid the cooler 20C temperatures and strong winds.

“On Monday morning, the temperature was 20C. The temperature dipped slowly, but it has not affected the health of people or soldiers,” he said from Ratanakiri province.

Pailin provincial director of Water Resources and Meteorology Department Nga Lyhong said temperatures along the Thai border as well as mountainous and forested areas in the province dropped to 20C on Monday but did not dip below temperatures during the cold snap that rolled through the Kingdom earlier this month.

“Even though the temperature is dropping, it is not colder than that in early December when temperatures dropped below 15C,” Lyhong said.