Thai PM releases caravans to assist flood victims

BANGKOK, November 10 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has released several caravans to deliver assistance to flood victims in Bangkok's 23 districts, confirming that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is speeding up the drainage of floodwater from the flooded areas in the capital. When presiding over a ceremony at the Royal Plaza to release the relief caravans, mobilized from government agencies and other provinces to help flood victims in Bangkok, with people in a province supplying the assistance to flood victims in a district in the capital, Yingluck said that her government has been aware of hardships of the flood victims in the city and has mobilized the assistance. Yingluck acknowledged that several people have not left their flooded houses; so the government will be delivering all forms of help to them to ensure that they have food to consume, sleep well and are able to commute. The caravans consist of mobile caterings from 18 provinces, 32 trucks carrying clean drinking water, 80 garbage trucks, vehicles carrying 300 water filters, 100 trucks delivering floating toilets, vehicles carrying 1,000 mobile toilets, 180 trucks for serving commuters and 800 passenger buses for free transport services of the flood victims, as well as 60 trucks carrying doctors, food examination teams and health officials from the Ministry of Public Health and 18 fix-it-centre vehicles from the Ministry of Education. The Pheu Thai premier also handed out packs of necessities to representatives of the flooded communities in the capital and delivered 905 boats to the Royal Thai Police to assist the flood victims. The prime minister later visited flood victims at a temporary shelter at Prachaniwet School in Chatuchak District and cooked lunch for them. (TNA)