Repairs underway for flood damaged railways in Thai South

SOUTHERN THAI REGION, January 13 (TNA) - The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has geared up to repair flooded railways in the southern region, set to be completed by next week. SRT Governor Wuthichart Kalyanamitr told journalists on Friday that a budget of about 20 million baht will be initially spent on the repair work in the short run, while SRT expects to use another 770 million baht on the repair work in the long term. According to the SRT governor, heavy machines and workers have already been deployed to repair the damaged railways. The SRT governor also released a special train taking relief supplies to flood victims in the Thai South. The train could later reach the last destination at Thung Song Junction Station in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, as railways in the Farther South have been flooded and damaged. The relief supplies were, thus, further delivered to flood-stricken areas by trucks. Meanwhile, Minister Attached to the Prime Minister’s Office Omsin Chiwaphruek told reporters on January 12 that a government committee in charge of the management of the flood relief fund has approved a cash compensation of 50,000 baht for each family of a person killed by floods, noting that the death toll has risen to 25 so far and two others have remained missing. For those whose houses were totally destroyed, the minister revealed, the Thai government will build new houses for them, while those that were partly damaged, the government will repair for them. According to the minister, about 10 million baht have been donated to the flood relief fund and more fund will be raised from public donations at Bangkok's Governement House on January 15. (TNA)