Anutin to hold disaster management board meeting on Monday

Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul will chair a meeting of the national committee responsible for assisting disaster victims on Monday.

Anutin has called a meeting of the Committee for the Direction and Management of Natural Disasters (the Disaster Management Board) at Government House at 2pm.

He established the board and the Natural Disaster Relief Operations Centre (NDROC) after visiting flood victims in Ayutthaya’s Bang Ban district on September 27.

The prime minister realised that residents of Bang Ban suffered from flooding every year and that assistance often arrived too late. He therefore ordered the creation of new mechanisms to accelerate aid to flood victims.

The Disaster Management Board, chaired by the prime minister, will oversee the management and response to natural disasters through comprehensive measures covering prevention, relief, and post-disaster rehabilitation.

The board has the authority to issue directives to government agencies, state enterprises and other relevant bodies to coordinate efforts in aiding disaster victims. It also has the power to appoint committees of specialists to support disaster relief operations.

The NDROC, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Sophon Sarum, will direct all relevant agencies — including local administrations — to assist disaster victims, oversee evacuations, and ensure the delivery of relief supplies.

Earlier, Anutin assigned the NDROC to draft measures to compensate farmers who allow their farmlands to be used as floodwater retention areas, making them automatically eligible for compensation without the need to submit annual requests.

Anutin also instructed the NDROC to ensure that aid for disaster victims is provided transparently, swiftly and fairly to all affected individuals.