Governor of Chiang Rai Seeks Central Fund to Help the Quake Victims

 

CHIANG RAI – Mr. Pongsak Wangsamer, the Governor of Chiang Rai, reports that the earthquake on May 5, 2014, affected seven districts, 50 sub-districts and 609 villages. There were over 900 aftershocks.

Both government and private sectors have continuously provided help to the quake victims. On June 13, 2014, another 3,000 households were reported to have been damaged from aftershocks in Phan District; however, the damage was small. Chiang Rai instructed the local administrative organizations to find out the exact number of damaged households and officially inform the province before paying money to the villagers.

Chiang Rai has requested an additional budget from the Central Fund to help the quake victims and now has to wait for the Central Fund’s Committee to consider a response. The Provincial Electricity Authority was also asked to reduce the cost of electricity use. The province also wants to reduce taxes in order to alleviate the suffering of the people in the area.
The Department of Skill Development is conducting an onsite home repair workshop in quake-hit areas of Chiang Rai province, resulting in 15 homes having been fully renovated so far.

Meanwhile, Director of the Office of Instructor and Training Technology Development Charoen Yinglum chaired the ceremony of returning 15 residences in Chiang Rai to their owners after the repair of earthquake damages had been completed. Mr Charoen stated that the home renovation program was organized in the form of a workshop in cooperation with the provincial office of skill development and related institutes in the northern region.

About 60 people from Mae Lao district of Chiang Rai are participating in the workshop and are being given both technical and practical knowledge in home construction and renovation. Besides skill improvement, each participant also receives an allowance of 120 baht per day.

The workshop began on June 3 and is set to continue until the end of this month while the repair of another 26 homes is underway. The quake-damaged structures selected for renovation under the program mostly belong to low-income residents.

As for the compensation of quake victims, Chiang Rai province has reportedly paid out more than 170 million baht to date, with each household receiving 33,000 baht at maximum.