US asks for extended use of Thailand's U-Tapao Airport for relief mission in Nepal

BANGKOK, May 11 (TNA) - The United States has asked for an extended use of Thailand's U-Tapao Aiport as a stopover base and the Thai-US Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Combined Coordination Center for Nepal under a United Nations operational framework. Thai Navy Chief Admiral Kraisorn Chansuvanich told journalists of the information on Monday, noting that 16 US planes have, thus, used the U-Tapao Airport in the Thai East to transport relief and medical supplies to quake-ravaged Nepal from May 8-31, 2015. Admiral Kraisorn said the Thai Cabinet last week approved the extended use of the U-Tapao Airport by US planes, as requested by the US Pentagon. Meanwhile, Rear Admiral Kraisri Kesorn, Deputy Chief of the Royal Thai Navy's Directorate of Operations, in his capacity as the head of the Thai-US HADR Combined Coordination Center for Nepal, told reporters that currently, Thai and US soldiers, 10 from each side, are working together at the U-Tapao Airport to help facilitate the Thai-US mission under a supervision of authorized coordinators. Rear Admiral Kraisri revealed that the 16 US planes, including large and medium-sized transport ones, as well as tankers for aerial refueling, were from US forefront airbases in Asia and the Pacific, including the Okinawa, the Guam and the Philippine Airbases. (TNA)