The government is now working on remedies to rectify the flood situation, with the Interior Ministry expected to pay financial aid to current victims before Oct 31.
Spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul said on Tuesday that Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul had ordered the Department of Disaster Protection and Mitigation (DDPM) to make compensation payments to victims by that date. The financial aid was approved by the cabinet on Sept 17 and Oct 8 and required that 9,000 baht in compensation be paid to each flood victim as soon as possible.
"Mr Anutin will expedite the aid payment, especially to those who registered before Oct 16, so that it can be completed by Oct 31," said Ms Traisuree.
The DDPM reported that the Government Savings Bank (GSB) had transferred financial aid nine times as of Monday. The aid was paid to 48,857 families and cost at least 439 million baht. According to Ms Traisuree, the last two aid payments cost more than 490 million baht and covered 54,531 families this week. The tenth instalment, covering the flood victims in Sukhothai, Loei, Phrae, and Chiang Rai, is expected to be paid on Wednesday, while the last one, covering Ubon Ratchathani, Phetchabun, Ayutthaya, Chiang Rai, Phitsanulok, Nan, Lamphun, and Phayao, will be paid by Thursday.
The aid is expected to be paid twice for a total of 11 occasions, costing 930 million baht, said Ms Traisuree.
"By Oct 24, one-third of the 3.045 billion baht of the remedy budget will have been paid to the public," said Ms Traisuree.
As of Monday, 257,115 of 338,391 families in 57 provinces that were impacted by the inundation in the last couple of months had registered for government aid.
Most were from Chiang Mai, with 2,314 of 58,439 registered families receiving at least 20 million baht. Chiang Rai was next, with 34,994 registered families, followed by Ayutthaya (30,119), Phrae (14,446), and Nong Khai (13,063).
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra announced that the government's operations centre for flood victims is expected to complete its work in certain areas of Chiang Rai affected by landslides by Oct 27.
Deputy Interior Minister Theerarat Samrejvanich and Deputy Defence Minister Gen Nattaphon Narkphanit were expected to represent the government, she added.
