Private firms pitch in relief efforts
Companies are going all out to help flood victims with both financial and non-financial assistance.
PTT, which has extended cash assistance worth Bt60 million, yesterday opened six relief centres in Ayutthaya, Angthong, Saraburi, Nakhon Sawan and Phitsanulok.
The company will hand out 15,000 meals per day per centre, 20,000 bottles of water and 1,000 life-support bags. At the Rangsit and Samut Prakan centres, 6,000 filled sandbags and 20,000 empty ones will be distributed.
TOT, meanwhile, will waive monthly home telephone and broadband Internet charges for customers in government-declared disaster areas. They can request the waiver at TOT’s customer service centres nationwide.
Thailand Post Co has sent its mailmen to guide state and private teams that want to deliver relief goods in the flooded provinces, as the postal carriers know the locations of houses in the areas well from their daily routes.
Toyota Motor Thailand, which has suspended production at all three of its plants until Saturday because of supply disruptions, has mobilised support from its dealers and others to donate Bt6 million, besides distributing survivor kits in 21 provinces and donating Bt500,000 to the Senate. A task force has been formed to help evacuate flood victims.
Among financial institutions, Krungthai Card will cancel all debt obligations to customers who lose their lives or are crippled by the floods. Other customers can contact KTC at (02) 665 5000 to ask for reduced monthly instalments until next June.
CIMB Thai Bank unveiled a package to assist its SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) customers, covering the suspension of principal repayment and an interest-rate cut for the severely affected. About 34 SME customers were hit by the severe flooding, and eight have asked for the assistance.
For personal-loan customers, CIMB Thai will consider reducing and extending instalment payments and rescheduling debt.
Omron Corp expects to donate 5 million yen (Bt2 million) to provide relief to flood victims and help with recovery efforts in affected areas.
The Kyoto, Japan-based company had to suspend production of electronic components for automobiles at its plant in the Rojana Industrial Park.
Western Digital Corp said that although its hard-drive manufacturing facilities in Thailand were operational, production had been suspended temporarily to protect its employees and its facilities and equipment against water ingress.
The California-based company said flooding was causing problems with the region’s infrastructure, including transport and utilities, and had resulted in the inundation of some supplier facilities and employees’ homes. It reported that its approximately 37,000 Thailand-based employees were deemed safe at this time.
Microsemi Corp, another California company, which provides semiconductor solutions, said one of its subcontracted manufacturing facilities in the Rojana Industrial Park had suspended operations because of flood damage.
“We are working on a recovery plan to identify solutions that ensure our customers’ needs are met in an appropriate fashion, and are evaluating a variety of options including shifting production to other facilities,” said James Peterson, president and chief executive officer.
