Northern Thailand: Electricity bills scrapped in disaster zones
To ease the burden on flood-ravaged communities, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra announced that electricity bills for this month will be waived for those living in the northern and northeastern regions of Thailand.
After chairing a crucial Cabinet meeting at Government House, the 38 year old PM confirmed, “We are suspending the collection of electricity fees for this month. It’s a necessary step to provide immediate relief to those affected by the severe flooding.”
But the generosity doesn’t stop there. In October, residents can expect a further financial break, with a 30% reduction in their electricity bills as part of a broader relief package proposed by the Interior Ministry.
The Finance Ministry is also stepping in with a debt moratorium for small-scale farmers borrowing from the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), offering them some breathing room amid the crisis.
To improve the government’s emergency response, the Digital Economy and Society Ministry (MDES) has been tasked with exploring the use of the Thang Rath app for sending out emergency alerts during natural disasters, said PM Paetongtarn, signalling the importance of technological innovation in disaster management.
“We need to ensure people get the information they need, fast.”
On top of this, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation is ramping up its development of the Cell Broadcast Service to issue more effective urgent warnings in the future, giving affected regions faster access to life-saving information, reported Thai PBS World.
The meeting, chaired by Major General Anusorn Ourai, Deputy Commander of Army Area 4 and Deputy Director of the Royal Volunteer Command Center Region 4, aimed to improve coordination and ensure systematic disaster relief efforts.
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