Thai FM to Apec: We'll bounce back

HONOLULU - Thailand will quickly get back on its feet after the catastrophic floods of the past few months and continue to be a responsible player in regional and global affairs, 

Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul has assured a major regional business conference in Hawaii.

He admitted Thailand had been hard hit by the continuing flooding, in a speech to the Asia-Pacific Business Symposium at the East-West Centre on Thursday (Friday, Bangkok time). The symposium is part of the Apec forum meeting.

"The Thai people have always shown resilience in the face of past adversity; this widespread flood is no exception," said Mr Surapong.

He thanked the country's friends in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) grouping and elsewhere for their prompt assistance for Thailand's endeavors to speedily return the country to normalcy.

Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul

He gave an assurance that the Thai economy, given its fundamental strength, would be back on track soon with renewed dynamism.

The cabinet, he said, had recently approved a relief and recovery plan and package which included immediate relief measures to flood victims, 

Social rehabilitation action, post-crisis loans and incentives, and a long-term plan to develop a comprehensive water resources management system to prevent the recurrence of such devastation.

The government was determined to assist investors, both Thai and foreigners, in flood-hit areas to resume operation as soon as possible, he said.

A budget of approximately US$10 billion had been earmarked for post-flood restoration -- of this, $2 billion was for big business and $5.5 billion for small and medium-sized enterprises as well as small vendors and individuals, Mr Surapong said.

The Thai Chamber of Commerce had also set up a special committee to assess the flood situation and propose mitigation measures for entrepreneurs, he said.

While mobilising all resources to overcome the calamity and to restore international confidence in the Thai economy, the government, which was elected only in July, was determined that Thailand would continue to be a responsible regional and global player, Mr Surapong told the business gathering on the sidelines of the Apec summit here.

Yet, he conceded that the real economic impact from the flooding was the disruption in the supply chain in sectors such as the automobile and computer industries.

On a wider front, natural disasters inevitably affected all economies, he said. Thailand, as a major food producer, was committed to strengthen its capabilities to prevent an economic fallout from natural disasters in the international community, he said.

With the Asean Summit in Bali scheduled next week, Thailand was continuing to work towards the integration of the Asean Community in 2015.

Mr Surapong reaffirmed the strategic location of Thailand for regional connectivity through the economic corridors linking Burma in the west to Vietnam in the east and between the Asean nations to the south and China to the north.

At a separate meeting with his Philippine counterparts, Mr Surapong agreed that the fifth Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation to be held next year in the Philippines would include discussion on disaster management with a wide agenda including trade, investment, energy, education, agriculture and drug controls.

Philippines secretary of state Albert del Rosario and Mr Surapong exchanged condolences regarding the flooding in both countries. Mr del Rosario expressed the hope the salaries of Filipino teachers working in Thailand would be raised to the same as other foreign nationals.

Meanwhile, Thailand and Chile expressed hope that they would be able to finalise next year the free trade agreement negotiations that began last year to celebrate the 50 years of diplomatic relations.

Mr Surapong thanked his counterpart Alfredo Charme for Chile's $25,000 donation to the Thai Red Cross for the flood victims.

Next year the two countries plan a series of activities to commemorate diplomatic relations including painting competitions on a Thai-Chilean theme and film festivals, and look forward to growing two-way trade.

Bilateral trade in 2010 was worth $819 million, an increase of more than 170 per cent on the previous year.

Foreign evacuees packed head to toe

Migrants yearn to leave, but want their pay first

A labour officer checks lists of foreign workers who were evacuated to a Ratchaburi shelter. For some, it is the third time they have moved because of flooding—first from Don Mueang airport and then from Wat Rai Khing in Nakhon Pathom.

Up to 432 migrant workers, mainly male, from flooded factories in Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Nakhon Pathom and Bangkok are crammed into the centre.

"They have limited space to sleep. Their heads and feet now almost touch one another while sleeping," said Sgt Maj 1st Class Somphong Kaeowannakhadi, the centre's administration chief.

A Burmese worker, 23, whose name is pronounced in Thai as Phio Phio, cannot stand living with so many people forced to share limited facilities.

She wants to return to her home in Burma and wait there until floods subside before deciding whether to return.

But she wants her employer to pay her 9,000 baht in outstanding wages first.

A soldier enters a flooded drainage shaft and places

 sandbags in it to prevent water from getting to the

 nearby Bangchan Industrial Estate through

the drainage system. 

Phio Phio and 70 workers at a rope-making factory in Phutthamonthon Sai 4 road in Nakhon Pathom recently left a flooded evacuation centre at Wat Rai Khing in Nakhon Pathom for Ratchaburi.

Ratchaburi Institute of Skill Development is running their new home. Phio Phio and her Burmese boyfriend are gripped with fears of the floodwaters.

"We had only five minutes to flee and lost most of our assets when the flood hit," said her boyfriend, 24.

The Burmese workers make up 334 of the evacuees at the centre. The rest comprise 98 Cambodians.

Rueang, a Cambodian man aged 19, wants to go back to his home in Cambodia.

He will decide whether to return to work in Thailand when the situation returns to normal.

Rueang is contacting a van operator to take him back to Cambodia.

The young man said he could leave the evacuation centre immediately because his boss had paid him his outstanding wages.

Other workers at the centre are not so lucky.

They are being forced to stay at the centre even though they might have enough money to get home, as they want their bosses to pay them outstanding wages first.

Though the evacuation centre in Ratchaburi can take up to 500 people, officials say that with money and space restrictions, they have begun to worry they cannot receive more flood victims.

The cost of looking after evacuees is straining the centre's resources, and not enough hep is coming from employers or the community.

"Employers must come to look after them. If they can't find them new places, they should at least help provide food and clear their unpaid wages," said Sgt Maj Somphong.

"I have to admit we don't have enough money and under the state policy, we need to take care of Thais first," Sgt Maj Somphong said.

The centre relies mainly on donations. It is also supported by some employers who give food to the evacuees.

Sgt Maj Somphong said he is looking for other places in Ratchaburi to be used as evacuation centres in case more foreign workers fall victim to the floods.

The number of evacuees at the centre is causing him concern, as the centre lacks space and money to care for them all. If new employers want to hire foreign workers as staff, he would be willing to let them go.