French Navy Ship Unloads Burma Relief Supplies In Phuket

[george]

French navy ship unloads relief supplies in Phuket

PHUKET: -- A French navy vessel unloaded relief supplies intended for Myanmar cyclone victims at a port on Thailand's resort island of Phuket after the Myanmar military authorities refused it per mission to offload its humanitarian aid in Yangon, struck by Cyclone Nargis earlier this month.

The Mistral docked at the island's deep sea port and unloaded the relief supplies for storage in a secure warehouse.

The emergency supplies will be reloaded to a commercial vessel and will leave Phuket for Myanmar on May 31, as the junta will only allow commercial vessels to enter the country, said Laurent Bili, French Ambassador to Thailand.

The cargo ship will be used to transport about 1,000 tonnes of aid -- including rice, tents, and mosquito nets sent by the French government to cyclone victims in Myanmar, said the French envoy.

--TNA 2008-05-28

[NBT TV Phuket]

Minivdo: Interview French captain of navy ship with aid for Burmese cyclone victims & French ambassador to Thailand

on http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...php?news_id=138

Our interview is with Gilles Humeau, Captain of FS Mistral, a French Navy ship and Laurent Billi, French Ambassador to Thailand. The ship had hoped to deliver humanitarian supplies direct to Burma cyclone victims by sea. They were mostly rice & survival kits, bought in India, but now returned to Phuket for delivery by World Food Program (WFP). The Ambassador also met the Phuket Governor on 10 May, & appointed a new Honorary Consul in Phuket. But first the Captain describes their previous mercy mission: ……. Contact: www.ambafrance-th.org

Interview for Andaman News NBT (VHF dial) at 8.30am & local Cable TV channel 1 + maybe FM90.5 Radio Thailand 6pm, broadcast to Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket provinces, & possibly FM108 Mazz Radio 7.30pm in Phuket, Thursday 29 May 2008 & http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/ Contact [email protected]