Thai PM pledges government assistance to flood victims

BANGKOK, October 19 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has pledged that her government will provide full assistance to flood victims in the country, insisting that part of her administration's budget, about 120 billion baht, has been spent on assisting the flood victims transparently. Speaking during her weekly TV and radio programme which was broadcast live from Nong Khai province in the Thai Northeast, bordering Laos, on Saturday morning, Yingluck acknowledged this year’s flooding in Thailand is less severe than 2011 and her government’s new investment on flood prevention measures and water management programme is expected to solve the country's flooding problem on a sustainable basis. As flooding in several Thai provinces has eased, the prime minister said she has assigned concerned agencies to help affected people after the flooding situation in their areas has returned to normal. According to the latest report released by the Ministry of Interior's Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Thailand's flood death toll this year has reached 73, after 359 districts in 46 provinces have been hit by floods since September 17. (TNA)