US secretary of state visits Thai flood victims

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US secretary of state visits Thai flood victims


Story : Deutsche Presse Agentur by the nation

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday visited victims of Thailand's floods at a shelter in Bangkok before flying on to Indonesia to attend an Asian summit.

Clinton spent about an hour at the Rajamangala National Stadium flood relief centre, where she pressed her hands together to give the traditional Thai greeting to victims of the floods, the worst to hit the kingdom in decades, and hear their stories.


"I’m 80 years old and have never seen Hillary Clinton before," said Joy Klongkamwan, whose house in Rangsit district has been under a metre of water for the past month.


"Staying here is nice," Joy said of the flood relief centre. "I have a place to sleep and there is plenty to eat."

The secretary of state conducted a 10-minute interview with the Phuying tung Phuying (Women to Women), a popular TV programme, but otherwise did not talk to the media Thursday.


At the press conference Wednesday night Clinton pledged an additional 10 million dollars in aid to assist Thailand in its flood relief and rehabilitation efforts.


"In the weeks ahead, the US will identify ways we can provide both civilian and military assistance to help save and restore lives, and to support Thailand’s long-term recovery," Clinton said.


Much of the aid will go to draining and refurbishing Don Mueang Airport, Bangkok’s old airport, that has been closed for more than a month because of floodwaters.


The US previously contributed 1.1 million dollars, primarily to the Thai Red Cross.


The US relief assistance is still considerably below the 600 million baht (20 million dollars) that China has provided over the past two months in cash and equipment to deal with the floods, according to Thai government sources.


Thailand has not officially requested international assistance to cope with this year’s floods, which have claimed 567 lives and caused billions of dollars of damage.


Thai governments have been reluctant to request international relief aid since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which forced the country to appeal to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout.


The IMF-imposed tight fiscal policies and forced sell-offs of indebted companies left a bitter after taste among many countries in Asia, where the IMF is still shunned for borrowings.


"There are many Thais already helping Thailand, and foreign countries have also come to help, so there is no need for us to appeal for international assistance," said Thai Tourism Minister Chumpol Silapa-archa, who escorted Clinton to the flood relief centre Thursday morning.


Clinton was scheduled to travel on to Bali, Indonesia, Thursday where she and US President Barack Obama will attend the East Asia Summit and a host of regional and bilateral meetings.


The high-level attendance comes at a time when the US is trying to reassert its presence in the East Asia region, especially vis-a-vis China.