Flood victims to get subsidies from Friday: Interior Ministry
Affected families will receive between 5,000 and 9,000 baht, while additional aid will be considered for those who suffered severe losses and deaths
The disbursement of subsidies for flood victims across Thailand will start from Friday, the Interior Ministry said.
The subsidies will range from 5,000 to 9,000 baht per family, depending on the severity of the situation and the amount of time they have spent stranded.
Deputy Interior Minister Theerarat Samrejvanich said on Thursday that the ministry has earmarked more than 3 billion baht from the central budget for 57 provinces that have been inundated since the start of the rainy season on May 20.
The subsidy will be granted according to the following criteria:
- 5,000 baht for families stranded in heavy flooding from seven to 30 days or stranded for less than seven days but suffered heavy property damage
- 7,000 baht for families stranded in floods for 30 to 60 days
- 9,000 baht for families stranded in floods for more than 60 days
Theerarat said the ministry is aware that more than these amounts is needed to help them, but added that once the first batch has been paid, the Cabinet will consider raising the minimum amount to 9,000 baht per family.
She added that each province's Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office will survey the affected families and report to the Comptroller General's Department, who will disburse the money to eligible flood victims via the Government Savings Bank.
Theerarat said the government is preparing the second portion of the subsidy, targeting families whose residences were destroyed and whose members have died from floods.
Eligible candidates can receive up to 230,000 baht for each destroyed house, and 50,000 baht per death in the family. The latter subsidy also covers foreigners, she added.
The deputy minister said the government has approved 100 million baht each for Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces, which have suffered extensively from floods. This money is on top of the 20 million baht granted to each province as emergency expenses.
Phayao, Lampang and Sukhothai will be next to receive an additional 100 million baht each for flood relief, she said.
Theerarat added that the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry is also studying the option of boosting flood subsidies for farmers to reflect the cost of production per rai. For example, the subsidy for affected rice farmers would increase from 1,340 baht per rai to 2,200 baht per rai.
