B60.7bn flood budget endorsed

The meeting of an extraordinary meeting of the cabinet on Tuesday approved 60.7 billion baht budget for rehabilitating inundated industrial plants, provinces and the people in flood-hit areas, reports said.

Industry Minister Wannarat Channnukul said the cabinet agreed to allocate a total of 47 billion baht initial budget for the rehabilitation of the flooded manufacturers both inside and outside industrial estates.

The cabinet also agreed to set priority on plans to provide assistance for the manufacturers in inundated areas because related ministries had asked for more than the currently available and usable 47 billion baht budget, said Mr Wannarat.

In addition, the cabinet also approved 20.11 billion baht budget for financing nine urgent projects to rehabilitate and heal the people whose homes were flooded, according to director of the Budget Bureau Worawit Champeerat.

The nine projects are;

1) The project to offer 5,000 baht compensation for each flood affected household in Bangkok and other 62 provinces, with a total cost of 13.17 billion baht.

2) The project to rehabilitate people’s living quality proposed by the flood-hit provinces (314.54 million baht).

3) The project to prepare readiness for 2,006 flooded schools and students (456.03 million baht).

4) The project to provide healthcare services for severely flood affected people in nine provinces (121.92 million baht).

5) The project for delaying plans to lay off 100,000 workers by flooded manufacturers (606 million baht).

6) The project to set up a “Fix It Centre” (17.85 million baht).

7) The project to renovate 296 ancient sites (1.38 billion baht).

8) The project to repair and reconstruct the damaged 708 roads (1.81 billion baht, and

9) The project to reconstruct 11 flooded rural roads (139.81 million baht.

Flood death toll now 693

A total of 693 people were confirmed dead and three people were missing in the floods that have inundated the upper part of the country since July 25 and hit southern provinces recently, the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department said on Monday.

The flood still prevails in 82 districts of 10 provinces, including Bangkok, affecting, 4,407,192 people, according to the Department.

The provinces are Angthong, Ayutthaya, Lopburi, Saraburi, Suphanburi, Nakhon Pathom, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Samut Sakhon and Bangkok.

The department on Saturday, Dec 10, reported the toll at 689.

Claims assessors to help SCB corporates

Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) has contracted claims assessors to help its flood-hit corporate clients to expedite their insurance claims.

Business experts will also advise on future flood-risk protection, but insurance claims are seen as the most troublesome issue.

Complicated and lengthy filing procedures are extending the suffering of many clients.

Arthid Nanthawithaya, a senior executive vice-president, said small companies in particular are finding the claims process difficult due to a lack of experience in this area.

SCB itself is not a business expert and so has employed consultants to advise business clients in the post-crisis period, he said.

Roadshows will travel to all seven affected industrial estates to present the bank's financial and non-financial assistance measures including insurance claim assistance.

"The question of insurance claims after the floodwater subsides is a big problem for several of our clients. Helping them to clear up this issue speedily will benefit both clients and the bank _ a win-win situation," he said.

Most corporate clients have insurance protection to cover all risks including floods, said Mr Arthid.

Combined losses of the seven affected industrial estates is estimated at 300 billion baht, 60-70% of which is covered by insurance.

Some 800 of SCB's corporate clients have been affected, one-fourth of them directly such as Japanese automotive and electronics concerns.

However, SCB has suffered only marginal exposure from those two sectors, as for them it generally provides fee-based income services and working capital rather than term loans.

SCB's automotive and electronics clients are generally small and medium-sized enterprises, and the credit lines for the two sectors together represent less than 10% of its corporate loan portfolio.

At this critical time, financial assistance for large businesses will comprise grace periods and expansion of loan maturity rather than additional loans.

This is because most of them have a solid financial status and already enjoy sufficient liquidity support from their parent companies.

"With their financial and operational strength, our affected corporate clients will resume operating in 3-6 months, with full production expected in the first half of next year," Mr Arthid added.

Furniture market set to contract

Thai furniture exports are likely to contract both this year and next, but the domestic market should grow by 15% as flood victims renovate their homes.

Jirawat Tangkijngamwong, president of the Thai Timber Association and secretary-general of the Thai Furniture Industries Association, expects a 10% decline in exports this year from 37.1 billion baht last year, failing to meet the earlier projection of 10% growth.

The Department of Export Promotion reported furniture exports from January to October this year totalled 29.3 billion baht, down by 5.46% year-on-year.

The flood cut exports in October by about 20% and the situation is unlikely to improve this month because exporters still face logistics problems, causing buyers to source from other countries.

The associations predict an inactive export market in the first quarter next year, as most Thai exporters are small and medium-sized companies that will still be renovating.

They predicts the market will resume by the second quarter.

Costs may rise 10-20% next year due to an increase in minimum daily wages and possibly raw material costs, which could reduce exports by 20% from 2011.

Mr Jirawat said Thai furniture exporters should look to high-potential new markets such as Asean, China, India, Brazil, Mexico and Russia, as traditional markets such as the United States, Europe and Japan face economic problems.

Mr Jirawat estimated the domestic furniture market would reach 40-50 billion baht this year, growing well into next year on the strength of low to mid-priced pieces.

He believes consumers will shift from buying build-in pieces to knock-down furniture.

"Consumers will pay more attention to material that can withstand water damage such as wood, buying less pieces made from plywood or medium-density fibreboard," he said.

Thai Rath Columnistlikit Jongsakul

Now that the flood situation has eased, PM Yingluck Shinawatra must reassert her leadership and improve the performance of her cabinet ministers, in order to regain public confidence.

People are eager to see the details of her post-flood rehabilitation plan and the blueprint of a national water resources management strategy, now being drafted by two high-level committees. 

If she moves fast on these two issues, PM Yingluck will be able to draw more support from the public.

Among her 36 cabinet ministers, there are four or five who have not performed effectively during the past four months. 

These ministers are likely to be removed in a cabinet reshuffle expected after the New Year. If the new cabinet ministers are honest and capable, and can deliver on their promises, the opposition will not be able to launch new attacks on the prime minister.

The danger is that some people in government may again try to enact an amnesty decree and quicken the pace of a police investigation into the UDD deaths last year. 

Ex-premier Abhisit Vejjajiva and his deputy Suthep Thaugsuban have already been summoned by the Metropolitan Police Bureau to testify in the cases of 13 protesters shot dead during the unrest in April-May 2010.

With the two opposing sides still at each other's throats, I don't think our country will see real peace any time soon.

Pheu Thai resolute on amnesty Party wants bill tabled at next House session

The Pheu Thai Party has vowed to push an amnesty bill through parliament when the House convenes its next session later this month.

Pheu Thai MP for Nakhon Phanom and government deputy chief whip Phaijit Sriworakhan yesterday said the party will work with other coalition parties to push for the amnesty bill to be tabled during the next parliamentary session.

Mr Phaijit said the party will call a meeting today to prepare for the next House session which will primarily focus on deliberating and passing legislation drafts.

He said Pheu Thai needs to make sure party members have reached a common position on these issues before the House meeting begins on Dec 21.

Mr Phaijit confirmed the party will press ahead with the constitutional amendments and with an amnesty bill bid, which were part of the party's election campaign pledges this year and most party MPs from all regions have agreed to this.

It is now up to the prime minister and the party executives to clarify when and how the party will set out to act on the issues, Mr Phaijit said.

He said the party will hold public hearings to listen to public opinion on proposed amendments on some controversial laws, such as the Defence Ministry Administration Act or the amnesty bill. 

Bills to amend the constitution and to amend other laws such as the Defence Ministry Administration Act and other legislation bills, notably the amnesty bill, are expected to be tabled for consideration at the next House meeting.

Mr Phaijit said the content of the amnesty bill will be modelled on the recommendation of a special parliamentary committee on national reconciliation chaired by Matubhum Party leader Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin. 

The committee has asked King Prajadhipok's Institute to draw up a road map for national reconciliation.

Mr Phaijit admitted some members of the committee have opposed the amnesty bill. He said it was best for its critics to try to find a common ground acceptable to all sides.

Anti-Thaksin groups fear the Pheu Thai Party-led government will try to use the report to create a new amnesty law that would pave the way for the return of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup led by Gen Sonthi.

Mr Phaijit believed the amnesty bill should at least pass the first reading during the four-month House session.

Pheu Thai MP for Nong Bua Lamphu Chaiya Promma, the committee's spokesman, insisted the committee has nothing to do with proposing any legislation or legal amendments. It is up to the King Prajadhipok's Institute to come up with any recommendations, Mr Chaiya said.

Chaiyaphat Prapassawat, director the Institute for Community Rights, disagreed with Pheu Thai's amnesty bill move.

He said the primary aim of the move is to clear the name of Thaksin and bring him back to Thailand.

Pheu Thai poised to launch agenda ANALYSIS: As the floods end, the focus shifts back to Thaksin

After the floods receded in many areas and the King's birthday on Dec 5 passed, the weather cooled down, but politics did not given the number of recent flare-ups.

According to Pheu Thai Party spokesman Prompong Nopparit, the ruling party will hold its MPs meeting today to push forward several controversial issues. 

They include the 2007 Charter amendment, an amnesty bill, and amending the Defence Ministry administrative act.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra made her government's intentions clear on her weekly radio programme on Saturday. 

She said that the "constitution is an assurance of people's freedom and the country's constitutional monarchy administration. So having a good constitution is an important factor in bringing about peace and reconciliation in the nation."

On the same day, the red shirts held a rally calling for replacing the 2007 charter with the 1997 charter.

Critics say the Yingluck administration's planned amendments to the charter, particularly that of Section 309 which insulates the 2006 coup maker from prosecution and legitimizes all of their actions, 

would nullify the results of investigations into any alleged corrupt practices during the Thaksin Shinawatra regime _ clearing the path for him to return home.

Also, some consider the planned amnesty bill merely a tool to help ousted prime minister Thaksin. And the planned changes to the Defence Ministry administrative act would pave the way for the government to intervene in military reshuffles to ensure stability, pundits say.

This three-pronged drive reflects Pheu Thai's gearing up in pursuit of its ultimate goal _ which critics say is to help get Thaksin back as it promised voters during the election campaign. 

They are going for the prize at a time that society remains exhausted from the severe floods. Such rapid moves come with a high risk, but the prospect of high return.

"If the government can asses the situation well and know what issues will ignite conflict, it can stay longer in office," academic Somchai Srisuthiyakorn said. 

"But if it is just using its advantage from winning a majority of votes and financial power, it will face problems eventually."

Mr Somchai, also secretary-general of the People's Network for Elections in Thailand (P-Net), said the ruling party's internal management lacks unity. 

Despite having the same objectives, some groups are impatient and move in their own direction. Meanwhile, leading members of the party cannot control them. This type of internal disarray can cause conflicts in society.

Pongthep Thepkanchana, one of the 111 former Thai Rak Thai executives suspended for five years, echoed the academic's sentiments, saying that the government's priority seems to be to restore its popularity, 

which was affected by its handling of the flood crisis. The government should accelerate implementation of its urgent policies.

"If your popularity declines, it's easy to be attacked by opponents and it even opens opportunities for them to do it again," he said, referring to the 2006 coup.

"Anything connected to Thaksin instantly touches off resistance. The government should be wary about trivial issues like trying to return Thaksin his passport," he said.

Pheu Thai is seemingly relying on three strategic pillars to reach its goal _ pushing efforts for post-flood rehabilitation to restore its popularity, driving its efforts via controllable bureaucratic mechanisms, and utilising its majority votes in parliament.

"We still need at least 300 seats in the House so coalition partners will be kept despite a cabinet reshuffle," party spokesman Mr Prompong said.

Several recent political incidents tell us Pheu Thai seems to be following the strategy.

On Dec 7, fugitive red shirt leader Arisman Pongruangrong surprisingly surrendered to Pattaya police _ after 18 months on the run _ and then to the Department of Special Investigation the following day to hear terrorism charges.

Then the Corrections Department announced that it would relocate a large number of red shirts currently detained at Khlong Prem Prison to the old Bang Khen police private school, seen as more comfortable.

In a related move, the Metropolitan Police Bureau summoned former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban for questioning.

On Dec 6, police found a home-made bomb planted near the Government Lottery Office and then Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung came up with a conspiracy theory that the plot was masterminded by an old power clique linked to the 2006 coup maker. The separate incidents seem to lead in the same destination social conflict.

"If it were a boxing match, the government would be opening its face too much to its rivals, because it believes in its advantages. Now it can be patient, but if it fails to change tactics, it may be knocked out one day," Mr Somchai said.

Two found dead as cold spell moves in

A cold spell is believed to have caused the death of a widow in Chon Buri and a man in Trat yesterday, while Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son have been declared disaster zones as temperatures plunge in the provinces.

Suna Chandadal, 49, was found dead inside a makeshift house at a coconut planation in Chon Buri's Sattahip district yesterday, with her 13-year-old son crying and hugging her body.

The boy, identified only as Ae, told police that his mother woke up early yesterday and had a cough as the weather was very cold. She died later in the morning, Ae said.

The boy and his mother lived on a land plot of a local leader after his father died from a chronic illness last year.

In Trat, Narinsak Khamwisut, 36, was found dead inside his house in tambon Wang Krajae in Muang district about 11.30am. 

He was believed to have died four to five hours before his body was found by his mother Wandee Chana-in. There were no traces of a struggle.

Witnesses said the victim had been drinking with friends in front of his house before he went to bed at 10pm. The victim fell asleep in his shorts without covering up with a blanket.

Police suspected a heart failure or cold weather might caused his death.

The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation yesterday declared Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son provinces disaster zones as residents in more than 400 villages have been affected by cold spells.

The cooler weather has hit a total of 431 villages in seven districts in the two northern provinces. Of the affected districts, six are in Chiang Mai.

The temperature on Doi Inthanon, the country's highest peak, dropped to 4C yesterday, with mae khaning (frost) found in mountainous areas.

Kriangsak Thanomphan, chief of the Doi Inthanon National Park, said thousands of visitors flocked to Doi Inthanon daily to view frost.

Temperatures at the Umphang and Thung Yai Nareusuan wildlife sanctuaries in Tak province plunged to 6C yesterday.

In Nakhon Phanom temperatures dropped to 9C yesterday. A sharp drop in the temperatures caused some 40 dogs out of hundreds recently rescued from dog traders by authorities to fall ill, said Pairat Prathumwan, chief of Nakhon Phanom livestock office.

A fund set up to help rescued dogs has recently provided about 200,000 baht to build a shelter, he said.

Of all the dogs saved from illegal trafficking to date, 721 have survived while 581 have died and 285 have been adopted as pets, an official said.

The Meteorological Department yesterday predicted temperatures in the North, Northeast, East and the Central regions, including Bangkok and surrounding provinces, would fall further by 1-3 degrees Celsius from today.

The department also forecast heavy rainfall in provinces along the southern coast from Nakhon Si Thammarat southwards as the northern monsoon covers the South and the Gulf of Thailand. 

In Chumphon, waves as high as 3m destroyed an embankment in Lang Suan district yesterday, causing seawater to flood about 40 houses at Ban Hua Laem village.

Talks look at the tragedy _ and hope _ sparked by disasters

IWATE, JAPAN : Japan's ability to quickly rise from the devastation of the earthquake and tsunami has provided a good lesson to its people that no technology can be better than a strong society in coping with natural disasters.

On March 11, a magnitude-9.0 earthquake triggered a massive tsunami that hit Japan's eastern region, killing 15,836 people, while 3,652 others were reported missing.

Japan takes pride in its ability to quickly return to normal life. The country recently shared its experiences of how its people coped with natural disasters with prospective young leaders from Asean countries, including Thailand which is now trying to recover from the flood disaster that hit the kingdom over the past few months.

Organised by the Japan Foundation with the support of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, a group of young people from the East Asian region spoke of a long disaster history, learning how to manage natural disasters and how to create a crisis-resilient society.

"We are all in the same boat. No country is spared by disasters," Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Kazuyuki Hamada said.

"After the 3/11 Great East Japan Earthquake, we have learned an important lesson that no prevention plans are perfect as we cannot control the power of nature."

He said nations in disaster areas must share their experiences so they could reduce the impact from the disasters and build a more resilient society because no one knows where the next catastrophe will take place.

He said Japan planned to host a conference to share its lessons from the 3/11 earthquake and a 3rd world conference on disaster reduction to discuss how to cope with natural disasters.

The March earthquake and tsunami severely damaged several cities including Kamaishi city in Iwate prefecture. The disaster left 884 dead, 184 missing and 9,883 homeless in that city alone.

Mamoru Yamada, director of Disaster Countermeasures in Kamaishi city, admitted that city disaster preparations were not good enough since its bay-mouth breakwater _ the world's largest tsunami protection measure _ was torn into pieces as the tsunami hit.

"At that time, I was rushing to a building rooftop only to see the city turn into a lake," he said.

Eight months after the tsunami, the city is now going through a recovery process. When asked for suggestions as to what Thailand should do to quickly recover from the flood, Mr Yamada said people had to rely more on themselves and depend less on the government.

The work in rebuilding the community damaged by the disaster should be done by the people as they were the ones who knew the problem best.

The government must listen to the people, support their plans and provide them with funding help, he said.

He said the recovery process for his city would take many years.

The work in removing 820,000 tonnes of rubble and about 3,000 damaged vehicles alone would take until 2014 to complete.

He said, however, it was a miracle that no schoolchildren were killed in the disaster because all of them ran 1.5 kilometres to a hill after they heard an alarm from the tsunami warning system.

To create a disaster-resilient community, disaster lessons and awareness must be taught from children to adults and from adults to community to reduce the damage and losses, Mr Yamada said. 

The earthquake that hit Kobe city in 1995, claiming more than 6,000 lives, also provided lessons to Takatori East District Community, which was razed.

"Earthquakes are scary, but fires are worse," said Tadao Furuichi, head of Takatori East District Community.

"I saw many people stuck in ruins and burnt to death.

"One of them was my best friend."

He said that after the destruction, the residents joined hands to build a disaster-resilient community.

Several disaster prevention measures such as installing fire extinguishers, designating evacuation points and regular evacuation drills among residents were implemented.

More public parks were also built to serve as fire buffers.

He said residents had agreed to accept as their duty protecting their community from fire. Local people have been trained to reach a fire scene with fire extinguishers within four minutes while it takes seven minutes for firemen at the nearest station to reach the community after receiving a phone call.

"The three minutes' difference is enough to save lives. And if you do nothing, of course, the fire will spread," he said.

As a result, the Takatori East District Community has been selected as a model disaster-resilient community in Japan.

The reasons behind their success are the close cooperation among the residents and their thought and care about others, he said.

To promote a disaster-resilient community among young people, a course on environment and disaster mitigation was launched at Maiko High School in Kobe city after the 1995 earthquake.

Picking up the pieces Residents of deluge-hit houses are coming home, but life for them may never be the same

Wake of the flood 

Residents of Chaiyapruek housing estate in Nonthaburi’s Bang Bua Thong district sift through piles of belongings from their damaged houses as they recover from the floods that swamped the district for more than a month. 

Residents returning home after the floods lack the confidence to restore their houses fully to their original states.

Many residents of Chaiyapruek and Cholada housing estates in Bang Bua Thong district of Nonthaburi began the lengthy clean-up process after the floods receded last week.

Bakery instructor Nirawan Sribunmee, 48, and her three sons slowly combed through their belongings sorting out items not damaged by the flood.

She had moved into the new house barely two months before the floods hit. She said she was still somewhat lucky as she had not yet moved all her belongings to the new house and she was able to save much of her furniture, including a 400,000-baht grand piano.

But her newly decorated garden and her prized kitchen were badly hit. The floodwater killed all of her plants and ruined the built-in cabinets, wooden furnishings, stove, oven and electrical goods in the kitchen.

Her worst problem, however, was a mould colony growing on all the walls and many other surfaces.

Faced with extensive repairs and uncertainty over the next potential flood, Ms Nirawan had decided not to install anything but the bare necessities on the ground floor.

"I won't be buying too many things to put there, just the things to get you by and that's it," she said.

Ukos Khongsompong, 45, an an employee at PTT Exploration and Production Plc, said the damage to his home was more severe due to the fact that his family has been in the housing estate for more than 10 years and they did not have a chance to save anything from the flooding.

He said they were caught off-guard because of several factors. First, they had never suffered a flood anywhere near this magnitude. Second, they thought the estate's defences would hold. 

Lastly, they were forced to move closer to work when the main road in front of the estate was flooded, making it inaccessible to smaller vehicles. 

During his absence, mould wreaked havoc on Mr Ukos' house and his belongings to the extent that he had to hire a professional cleaning crew to clean the building. 

He also decided to throw away all his affected belongings, even if they had been cleaned, to ensure the mould threat was completely eradicated.

Echoing the thoughts of many flood victims, Mr Ukos has decided not to put anything unnecessary on the ground floor again.

"I am going to leave it empty," he said. "We would like to wait a year to see how it goes. If it does flood again, we would likely knock down the whole house and build a stilt house instead."

He said the flooding makes it hard to restore the house with confidence, and selling is also not an option because the price would be lower now. 

He said to adapt and learn how to live with the water is the best approach and he believes a stilt house would be a worthwhile one-time investment.

He thanked the management of the estate for posting flood updates online as well as guarding abandoned homes.

B20bn emergency flood funds get nod Focus is on rebuilding, recovery, says Yingluck

One extreme to another 

The Yom River has receded, exposing its cracked bed, in Phitsanulok’s Bang Rakam district, as the area suffers a drought. Only last month, the river burst its banks and flooded homes and farmland. CHINNAWAT SINGHA

In a special meeting, the cabinet has given the green light for emergency spending of a massive 20.1 billion baht for post-flood rehabilitation.

The funds are to be used for recovery and rebuilding efforts.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday said the government needed to ensure it had enough money to spend while waiting for the passage of the 2012 budget bill which is expected in February.

'This is part of an emergency plan of the government's flood-relief programme. It is part of a 60 billion baht budget approved earlier," she said.

The government previously gave the nod to spend 60 billion baht for flood-relief and rehabilitation schemes.

The 20 billion baht in urgent spending was reviewed by the Budget Bureau and the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB).

The government estimates the flood damage at 1.3 trillion baht and has a plan to invest in long-term flood defenses to restore investor confidence.

In total, the Pheu Thai-led administration plans to spend 120 billion on flood recovery and flood prevention.

Ms Yingluck said the 20 billion baht would mostly be split into two portions _ rehabilitating damaged farmland and restoring flood-damaged infrastructure.

She said there would also be projects to stimulate the economy and alleviate people's hardship.

Ms Yingluck said the cabinet yesterday also looked into the spending plans of state agencies to avoid spending overlaps.

According to Ms Yingluck, funds had been sought to implement flood relief and rehabilitation projects before the government appointed the committee to formulate strategies to rehabilitate and rebuild the country.

"We have to make sure that every baht is properly disbursed to address the needs," she said.

She noted there were some areas of overlap and agencies have been instructed to resolve these.

She said they may need to coordinate with the government-appointed committee on water resources management strategies to deal with flood problems.

The prime minister said the cabinet has also put in place a mechanism to ensure budget spending transparency.

She said cabinet ministers have been assigned to work closely with governors while ministries must send inspectors-general to scrutinise spending.

The prime minister also held a video conference with provincial governors yesterday and urged them to speed up disbursement of 5,000 baht in compensation to each flood-hit household.

Government spokeswoman Thitima Chaisang said yesterday the emergency 20 billion baht budget could be disbursed within three days after the request is made to the Budget Bureau.

She said the money would be spent to rehabilitate three areas _ the economy, the quality of people's lives and public infrastructure.

A cabinet source said the budget could roughly be broken down into nine schemes: 5,000 baht compensation for each flood-affected households in Bangkok and 62 other provinces 

(13.1 billion baht); rehabilitation of people's quality of life 314.5 million baht); education support for schools and students (456 million baht); healthcare services (121.9 million baht); compensation for laid-off workers (606 million baht); setting up community 

"Fix It" centres (17.8 million baht); restoring historical sites (1.38 billion baht); reconstruction of road networks (1.81 billion baht); and repair of rural roads (139.8 million baht).

The source said there was a dispute between Ms Yingluck and Education Minister Woravat Au-apinyakul about "priority spending".

Mr Woravat was not happy that his ministry's proposed spending of 2.41 billion baht was not included.

Ms Yingluck told him that it was not possible to approve all of his proposed projects and asked him to prioritise the spending, the source said.

The education minister was adamant the ministry's budget request of 2.41 billion baht was all necessary. It had been cut from 5 billion baht.

NESDB representatives clarified that the amount was likely to be included in the next round of disbursement tentatively scheduled for February.

Mr Woravat told the cabinet the approved budget was not adequate to repair 2,600 flood-hit schools.

Transport Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat intervened, insisting revisions were necessary otherwise there would not be enough money for rehabilitation.