Thai rice leaves for Haiti
- Published: 1/02/2010 at 04:30 PM
- Online news: Local News
The first 100 tonnes of Thai rice donated to the victims of the Haiti earthquake left Suvarnabhumi airport on a Thai Airways International Airways plane on Monday afternoon.
The 7.0 magnitude earthquake on Jan 12 killed an estimated 150,000 people, about one in 13 residents of the Port-au-Prince area, left countless children orphaned and survivors with little food and water.
PM Abhisit (right) presents Thai rice to be dispatched to Haiti to World Food Programme's Asia regional director Kenro Oshidari.
"This is a humanitarian effort to ease the suffering of the victims and to promote the country's image as the world's major rice producer," Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said.
Thai Airways International (THAI) president Piyasvasti Amranand said the first shipment left on a Boeing 747-300 airfreighter flight 9S-888 about 2pm.
Mr Piyasvasti said the plane would refuel at South Korea's Incheon International Airport, Anchorage in Alaska and Miami before arriving in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Tuesday about 4.30pm local time.
"The flight will take about 36 hours to reach Haiti, which is faster than sea travel by five or six weeks," the new THAI chief said.
The government announced earlier that subsequent shipments will go by sea. Thailand is donating 20,000 tonnes of Jasmine rice.
Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanavisit said an advance medical team left for Port-au-Prince last Friday to collect information on what medical assistance was most urgent.
The team is led by Pairote Boonsirikhamchai, deputy director-general of the National Institute for Emergency Medical Services (Niems). They would report back to the Public Health and Foreign Affairs ministries.
Mr Jurin said the Public Health Ministry is ready and willing to provide medical assistance to people in Haiti.
Three medical teams, including doctors from Saraburi and Khon Kaen hospitals, were now ready to leave for Haiti on Feb 8. The supplies and equipment they take with them would depend on the advance team's report.
Each team will be working in Haiti between for between two weeks and one month, he said.
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