Thailand readied as ASEAN center for disaster relief aid

By Tewit Kemtong and Asma Thinkohkaew

BANGKOK — ASEAN countries are faced with natural disasters every year, prompting the community to take protective measures and set up an ASEAN coordinating center for humanitarian and relief aid.

Thailand has been readied as a center of long-distance disaster relief aid for ASEAN member states, with relief items to be provided with 24-hours notice.

Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Director General Chayaphol Thitisak, said today that the world’s climate change has caused critical situations to develop in many regions and has claimed lives and caused damage to property. The 28th ASEAN conference on natural disasters has resolved to pick Thailand as the ASEAN center for long-distance disaster relief aid, given its logistic systems for relief and emergency operations.

The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, of the Ministry of the Interior has coordinated with the ASEAN coordinating center for humanitarian and disaster relief aid and related agencies, in the setting up of the center for relief supplies, at the 16th Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Center in Chai Nat province.

The center can provide emergency items to four ASEAN states including Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam in 24 hours through the ASEAN logistic and transport networks and under the Eastern Economic Corridor project. The center’s relief operations signify the efficient handling of natural disasters and relief aid for Thailand and the other ASEAN states and Thailand’s preparedness to perform as the ASEAN center for long-distance disaster relief aid. The center has equipment readied for relief operations such as large-sized tents and multi-purpose tables, chairs and beds, repair kits for office equipment, relief aid equipment for disaster victims, kitchenware, personal sanitary items, family survival kits, generators, flat-bottomed boats and mobile toilets.