Military supports post-storm rehabilitation in Thai South

BANGKOK, January 8 (TNA) - The Royal Thai Armed Forces are supporting relevant parties in the Thai South to rehabilitate storm-hit areas and to restore the normal life for people in the southern region. Defence Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant General Kongcheep Tantrawanit told journalists on Tuesday that the Royal Thai Armed Forces have sent military personnel to closely work together with other relevant parties, including the Ministry of Interior's Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation and provincial disaster prevention and mitigation offices, as instructed by Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan, to quickly restore the normal ways of life of people and areas recently hit by the Pabuk storm and floods in the Thai South. The spokesman said that as assigned by the Thai deputy premier, who oversees national security, soldiers, in conjunction with all other relevant parties, are urgently surveying the disaster damaged-areas and structures and repairing them, including streets, communication systems and over 5,000 local houses. According to the spokesman, the integrated tasks of the Royal Thai Armed Forces and all other relevant parties are also aimed to avoid redundancy and ensure transparency. Besides, local police forces have been asked to widely take care of local people's life and assets, as well as to facilitate the traffic during the ongoing post-storm rehabilitation processes. "The Thai deputy premier and defence minister has expressed his appreciation to the systematic disaster mitigation services of all parties, which have reduced losses and damages in the storm-stricken southern areas, while also conveying his morale support to all affected people", the spokesman acknowledged. (TNA)