Queen offers assistance to flood victims

BANGKOK, January 5 (TNA) - Realising of hardships encountered by villagers whose homes are inundated with deep flood in Thailand’s southern province of Narathiwat, Her Majesty Queen Sirikit on Thursday offered necessities and drinking water to them. Pan Wannamethee, secretary-general of Thai Red Cross Society, acted on behalf of the queen who serves as president of the Thai Red Cross Society presented necessities and drinking water valued about 1.1 million baht to flood victims in Yi-ngo District. Yi-ngo District officer Pairoj Charit-ngarm informed of damages caused by the flood in the district to Pan that 40 villages were hit by the flood which had affected 6,250 families while 21 roads and three schools were damaged. Meanwhile, Chinnapat Bhumirat, secretary-general of Office of the Basic Education Commission, said a survey found that a total of 316 schools in the South were damaged by the flash flood. Combined damages were 23 million baht. Of the total damaged schools, classes at 99 of them were temporarily suspended while there are hopes that classes could be resumed next Monday, Chinnapat said. Initially, the Office would allocate money to help the flood-hit schools so that they could be open, he added. (TNA)