Thai PM orders all concerned agencies to quickly help flood victims

BANGKOK, June 8 (TNA) - Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra held a video conference with provincial governors on Friday, telling them, from Bangkok's Government House, to speed up their assistance to people hit by renewed floods in the Thai South currently, maintaining and ensuring flood warning systems, timely evacuating people from affected areas and quickly paying compensation to victims of the country's flooding crisis late last year. At the video conference, also attended by deputies prime minister, as well as ministers and authorities concerned, Yingluck particularly expressed her concerns over the current flooding situation in Krabi Province, ordering relevant authorities to monitor the updated situation closely and to assist flood victims immediately. The prime minister also instructed all provincial governors to maintain and ensure local warning systems, expand them to all communities and provide local flood victims with sufficient assistance to prevent protests on streets. The prime minister also ordered provincial police chiefs to assist provincial governors in helping local flood victims. Meanwhile, Wibul Sa-nguanpong, Director-General of the Ministry of Interior's Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, said that current inundations should be controllable in Ranong, Phuket and Krabi Provinces in the southern Thai Andaman region unless downpours continued. Wibul acknowledged, however, that his department has prepared evacuation and flood warnings in case that the ongoing flooding in the southern Thai areas becomes critical. (TNA)