Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Friday barred his cabinet members from going on leave, after the displacement this week of more than 90,000 people in a growing flood disaster that officials fear could be country's worst in a decade.

Floods are common on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia during the monsoon period between October and March, but this week's torrential rain has led to the mass evacuations, mostly in the northeastern state of Kelantan that borders Thailand.

Flooding in northern Malaysia and southern Thailand has killed at least eight people and forced tens of thousands from their homes, officials in both countries said on Friday.