Army ready to help flood victims in Thai South

BANGKOK, November 28 (TNA) - Army Commander-in-Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Monday that he had ordered the 4th Army Area Command, tasked with taking care of people in the Thai South, to be prepared for flood relief operations in advance, confirming that the Royal Thai Army has enough resources to help flood victims in the region. General Prayuth told reporters that, as the Thai South has been hit by floods every year, he, therefore, earlier instructed the 4th Army Area Command to prepare relief operations for locals beforehand and to apply lessons from flooding in the central region. The army chief assessed that the flooding in the Thai South will flow into the sea soon, noting that southern floods have their bad and good sides, as they are normally flash floods but they recede quickly to the sea nearby, through several canals. The Thai army commander-in-chief acknowledged that the ongoing flooding has hit 10 districts in four southern provinces, causing troubles to about 30,000 local households, and that the 4th Army Area Command has withdrawn its personnel from the flood receding central region to the South and will also deploy soldiers, military engineers and equipment to the South to cope with possible landslides. Besides, the army chief said he expects an approved state budget of 1.2 billion baht for the maintenance of the Royal Thai Army's equipment damaged by floods. Meanwhile, Apiwat Asamaphorn, Deputy Director of the Office of Industrial Economics, reported that Thailand's manufacturing production index (MPI) last month plunged by 35.8 per cent year-on-year due to flood impacts, as local manufacturers used only 46.4 per cent of their production capacity on average, including those of automobiles, hard disk drives, electronic products, air-conditioners and textiles. (TNA)