Thailand's flood crisis expected to be resolved by Dec. 5

BANGKOK, November 25 (TNA) - Thai Defence Minister General Yuthasak Sasiprapa said on Friday he agrees with Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit that the country's flood crisis should be resolved by December 5. General Yuthasak told reporters before chairing a meeting of the Council of Defence that he believes if all parties concerned cooperate well in addressing relevant problems, all or most of remaining flooded areas should be dried out within due course. General Yuthasak acknowledged that sea levels will be receding after the next high tide from November 27-29, enabling the acceleration of draining remaining flood water out to the sea, through main rivers, including the Chao Phraya, the Tha Chin and the Bang Pakong Rivers. The defence minister insisted that the government will continue to take care of flood victims, with attempts to access those in deeply-flooded areas more evenly and to start using effective microorganisms (EM) balls or fluid to treat stagnant water effectively, urging people in persistent inundated zones to be patient and to uphold societal and national interests pending official attempts to quickly dry out their neighbourhoods. Regarding fresh flooding in the Thai South, the defence minister revealed that he has assigned authorities at the 4th Army Area Command and the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), southern office, to work together with governors in flood-hit provinces to dispatch immediate assistance to affected villagers. (TNA)