Govt pledges aid for quake-hit Turkey, Syria

The government is offering to send assistance and a rescue team to help with search and rescue efforts after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey and its neighbour Syria.

The death toll from the devastating earthquake has risen past 5,000 but the number is expected to rise further as rescue workers continue to dig through the rubble in search of survivors.

The massive earthquake, one of the largest to strike the vulnerable area in the past century, is raising fears of a new humanitarian crisis in a region strained by years of war, displacement and economic hardship.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has offered his condolences to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai has also spoken to his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, said Kanchana Patarachoke, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Gen Prayut said he is ready to provide aid based on humanitarian principles and urged the Foreign Ministry to cooperate with Turkey to send a rescue team should Ankara needs one.

Ms Kanchana said that as of Tuesday, authorities had yet to receive any reports of deaths or injuries among Thai citizens in the area.

Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said the Thai Embassy in Ankara had received a report about damage to a property owned by a Thai citizen, while three other people had been safely located at a shelter away from the capital.

He urged Thais who were affected by the disaster to to seek the embassy’s assistance.

According to the Ministry of Labour, 83 Thai workers are currently working in Turkey.

Most Thais in the region work as masseurs and chefs, Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin said.