More Thais flee Nepal as quake relief efforts continue
THERE WERE 14 Thai nationals expected to arrive in the Kingdom last night aboard Thai Airways International and military transport flights that flew out of earthquake-hit Nepal.
Government Spokesman Yongyuth Maiyalarp said another 83 Thais had previously returned home from Nepal since Saturday’s devastating quake.
Two Air Force C-130s were scheduled to land at Don Mueang International Airport’s military terminal at 7.30pm, said Air Force spokesman Air Chief Marshal Monthol Sutchukorn.
One of the planes carried a family of seven, including a Nepali woman, he said.
The newly established government war room on relief efforts held its first daily meeting via a teleconference yesterday. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was briefed about the situation in Nepal.
Yongyuth said Nepal still needed drinking water, blankets and tents for people whose homes were damaged or destroyed.
The efforts in Nepal have now turned from rescue and recovery to relief, Yongyuth said, quoting the head of the Thai military team dispatched to Nepal, Maj-General Parinya Nakhunsir.
He said Nepalese Prime Minister Sushil Koirala visited international relief workers, including those from Thailand, and expressed thanks to Their Majesties the King and Queen for their Bt10-million donation.
Yongyuth said Prayut had advised Parinya to instruct Thai military personnel to apply the experience gained from rescue and relief efforts in Thailand’s 2011 floods to their work in Nepal.
Culture Minister Veera Rojpojanarat said prayers from five religions were said in a ceremony yesterday at the National Library, with Bt343,000 donated during the event.
The prayers were said by monks, clerics and priests representing the Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, Hindu and Sikh faiths.
Thaicom has sent a team of specialists and satellite equipment to Nepal to help with communications among rescue workers. A team of technicians and engineers was scheduled to fly to Nepal yesterday. They have been assigned to apply satellite technologies in search and rescue missions in affected areas.
Interior Minister Anupong Pao-chinda has advised donors to check the authenticity of bank accounts or the details of the steps required for donations before making money transfers, after reports about scammers opening accounts and making them look like donation accounts for Nepal.
The Royal Thai Police will soon open bank accounts to receive donations, said police spokesman Lt-General Prawut Thawornsiri.
He said donors in Bangkok could give money to the RTP and the Metropolitan Police Bureau, while those living elsewhere could donate at regional police bureau offices and police stations across the country.
