Thai PM arrives in Sendai for UN disaster conference

SENDAI, JAPAN, March 14 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha has arrived in Japan's Sendai City to attend the 3rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction. Prior to the opening session of the UN conference on Saturday morning (local time), the Thai prime minister traveled from his hotel in Tokyo to Sendai by the wellknown shinkansen high-speed train. Accompanied by his entourage, including Interior Minister General Anupong Paochinda and Public Health Minister Dr. Rajata Rajatanavin, the Thai prime minister then had an audience with Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. The Thai prime minister is scheduled to deliver a speech at the opening session of the UN conference on Thailand’s past experiences and ability to cope with a deadly tsunami in the southern region in late 2004 and a massive flooding in late 2011. The Thai premier is also scheduled to hold talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the UN conference before attending a luncheon, hosted by Abe to government leaders attending the world conference. The 3rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction is held from March 14-18, in which leaders of over 30 countries participate, and it is a follow-up of last year's UN conference, hosted by Thailand. On March 15, the Thai interior minister will also deliver a speech on Thailand's post-disasters rehabilitation and repair for better development at the UN conference and he will later address the opening of a public discussion on sufficiency-economy measures and sustainable disaster risk reduction, held on the sidelines of the UN conference. (TNA)