Phuket sends aid to disaster victims in Burma, China
PHUKET: Local associations with links to Burma and China have been raising money to help cyclone and earthquake victims in those countries.
On May 16, Thai-Nepalese Association of Phuket president Phanuphong Limbuprasertkul passed on to Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit supplies desperately needed by survivors of Cyclone Nargis, which hit the Irrawaddy Delta region of Burma on May 2 and 3 and left at least 133,000 dead or missing, according to official estimates.
The supplies, comprising 47 packages of goods worth more than 600,000 baht, were mostly raised by Phuket’s ethnic Nepali population. They will be shipped to the island of Koh Song, opposite Ranong, by the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command.
Gov Niran said that supplies can be donated by contacting the Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) in Phuket City. In high demand are rice, dry food and drinking water.
On May 20, the Phuket Kusoldham Foundation held a ceremony to mourn the estimated 50,000 victims of the May 12 earthquake in China’s Sichuan province. Five million people are now homeless as a result of the quake, according to some news wires.
Taking part in the event at the Kusoldharm offices on Phun Pol Rd Soi 9 were members of numerous ethnic Chinese associations and other groups on the island, including the Tae-jiw Samakkeedham Phuket Association, Phuket Hokkien Samakkee Association, Hainan Shrine Association Phuket, Cantonese Association Phuket, Phuket Thai Hua Alumni Association, Phuket Merchant’s Association, Phuket Sammakkee Association, Hok-jiw (Fujow) Club, Hakka Phuket Association, and Kusol Songkroh Foundation Phuket.
Almost 1.3 million baht was raised at the event. The funds were scheduled to be donated today to the Chinese Consulate in Songkhla province, where they will be passed on to survivors by the Chinese government.
