Thai Govt Approves Bt6.1Bn Relief Fund As Flood Toll Hits 51 Dead, 29,000 Ill

Bt6.1bn relief fund as toll hits 51 dead, 29,000 ill

By The Nation

More evacuations as Nakhon Si Thammarat hill threatens to collapse: 41,000 out of their homes

The Cabinet yesterday approved a Bt6.1-billion relief fund for payments to flood victims and affected farmers, which will begin after next week's Songkran holiday break, deputy government spokesman Supachai Jaisamut said.

Around Bt2.89 million will be spent in payments of Bt5,000 to each of 579,062 affected households, while another Bt3.23 billion will go to farmers and rubber planters.

More than two million residents have been affected in flood-hit southern provinces. The number of deaths has reach 51 and more than 29,000 cases of illness have been reported.

Meanwhile, evacuations will soon begin in Nakhon Si Thammarat's Nopphitam district, where one-kilometre-long cracks have been found on a hill located in Khao Luang National Park.

Park chief Charnchai Jornsamer said an unspecified but large number of residents living near the hill and in the vicinity of the national park should leave because San Khao Lek hill was in danger of collapsing if there was more torrential rain amounting to more than 100mm per day.

He said San Khao Lek hill and sites of other possible landslides were under 24-hour surveillance through the Mineral Resources Department's Mr Warning system.

However, flood levels in many provinces are now stable or beginning to subside and the Nakhon Si Thammarat airport reopened yesterday.

Phetkasem Road, or Route 4 - the main thoroughfare in the South - is open to large vehicles such as buses and trucks, hopefully ensuring that there will be no shortages of goods for general consumers and relief supplies will reach badly affected areas.

Train travel remains suspended south of Chumphon, especially in areas from Thung Song to Surat Thani, where railway tracks remain under flood water.

A Public Health Ministry update yesterday gave a death toll of 51 for people drowned or otherwise killed in the two-week flooding crisis. The ministry said 29,414 people had become sick, including 227 suffering from stress or requiring counselling.

Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn visited flooded locations in Tambon Krung Ching, in Nakhon Si Thammarat's Nopphitam district yesterday, according to Army commander General Prayuth Chan-ocha, who said Their Majesties the King and Queen and members of Royal family were concerned about the welfare of residents in the South and flood victims.

PM's Office Minister Satit Wongnongtaey said the heavy flooding had resulted in part from unauthorised rubber farming and illegal encroachment or establishments of resorts in forest areas. However, the main reason was excessive rainfall. His statement contradicted that of Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who dismissed unlawful misuse of land as a reason for the disaster.

"The average rainfall in certain areas is 1,000mm in an entire year, but the daily amount prior to the widespread flooding reached the same figure. The rain was non-stop in the first four days," Satit said.

Special shelters for pregnant women and those with young babies are being set up in affected areas, he said, adding that a donation campaign specifically for powdered milk, diapers, baby clothes and sanitary nakpins would soon be launched.

The number of people affected by the floods, updated yesterday by the government's ad-hoc relief centre, has reached 2,009,134, from 581,085 households. Those evacuated number 40,981, including 35,651 in Surat Thani. Around one million rai of farmland is flooded and 20,000 crew members of fishing trawlers are affected.

-- The Nation 2011-04-05