Aid Reaches Thai Flood Victims

2010-11-04 62

Air drops are used to deliver vital aid to the victims of Thailand's worst flooding in decades. The aid packages are for remote villages, until land rescue operations can reach these areas.

Aid begins to reach the victims of the worst flooding Thailand has seen in decades.

Over 100 people have died and rescue teams are struggling to reach stranded residents in villages like this one, outside of Hat Yai.

Unable to reach victims by roads that are inundated, Thailand's Royal Air Force began delivering aid packages by air on Wednesday.

Hundreds of bags packed with survival tools and food are being dropped on remote villages until land rescue operations can reach the area.

A Thai Royal Air Force captain describes their mission.

[Ammarith Kanok-Kaew, Air Wing 56's Group Captain]:
"We are assigned to reach those people who live in the far out of Hat Yai as there are enough help for those affected people in the city. The air force are assigned to reach areas in the villages that cannot be reached by land."

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has voiced concerns about the month-long flooding's impact on the country's economic growth.

Still, the government is promising 5,000 baht, approximately 170 U.S. dollars, in cash to each of the families affected by the floods, more than 3.7 million people.