Corporations pitch in to do their part

Among the significant contributors were Siam Cement Group, PTT, Thai Airways International and Banpu, which spent millions of baht to protect lives and alleviate the floods’ impact as much as possible. Showing good governance, these companies have provided assistance to their staff and made contributions to the public.
SCG Group has provided many assistance measures and relief items to its staff and sponsored many activities in aid of flood victims. At the beginning of the floods, contributions to staff included between 80 and 100 sand bags, and the services of rescue teams with special skills, including boat operators and electrical technicians..
On October 20, Kan Trakulhoon, president and chief executive officer of SCG, announced that all staff would work from home, as the flood water had damaged the Bangkadi Industrial Estate in Pathum Thani. This was to allow staff to protect their residences and move parents or other family members to safe places if necessary.
The CEO impressed all staff with his brief announcement, demonstrating the group’s belief that all staff are worthy human resources that need to be protected.
SCG Group’s efforts produced some impressive statistics: its rescue team helped 865 staff and their family members, as well as about 10,000 members of the community; its call centre processed 2,240 assistance calls; the firm booked 1,296 hotel rooms and serviced apartments for staff; it arranged safe parking places for 300 cars; provided 100,000 sandbags to staff; and distributed 17,089 relief bags, 6,837 paper toilet sets and 20 boats. In addition, more than 11.5 million sandbags were donated to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to create barriers amid a shortage of raw materials. Hundreds of millions of baht more were spent to help the Kingdom survive the crisis in other ways.
PTT spent more than Bt300 million on all assistance measures and social-responsibility activities for both staff and flood victims. Staff were offered up to Bt2,500 per day to spend on temporary residences, along with a quota of 30 sandbags, a discount on car covers from more than Bt3,000 to Bt800, and relief bags. As the country’s biggest oil distributor, PTT offered fuel support to government agencies, private organisations and non-profit organisations.
Employees formed volunteer teams to help move belongings of flood victims in the community.
Financial support for post-flood rehabilitation of homes has been offered up to Bt100,000, and another Bt100,000 for parents’ homes. Staff will also receive an additional Bt5,000 and special low-interest loans from PTT Cooperatives.
Thai Airways International has announced it will provide financial support to employees of up to Bt100,000. Those directly affected by floods will qualify for financial support of one month’s salary. Accommodation fees will also be compensated by the company at real cost.
For post-flood rehabilitation, staff are helping each other to clean up their homes, and soft loans with relaxed payment periods are also being offered.
Banpu offered employees the option of working from home, as well as extended assistance for them and their families by providing trucks for evacuation purposes 24 hours a day, along with temporary accommodation. Affected employees can apply for reimbursement of expenses incurred during the floods.
Post-flood, the company is providing financial support for employees to repair their homes. Additionally, starting this month, 10 Banpu employees from Coal Thailand stationed in the North who are experts in electrical, mechanical and engine maintenance have been helping repair and restore electricity and pumping systems as well as electrical appliances for their colleagues.