Enlisted navy men fill sandbags destined to
try and stop the surge of flood waters from the north.
Patcharapol Panrak
Sattahip-based Royal Thai Navy personnel and ships
are working nationwide to aid victims of devastating floods and prevent
new ones.
Various divisions are sending both boats and barges
to hardest-hit Ayutthaya, emergency supplies to Lopburi and sandbags to
Bangkok to prevent the Chao Phraya River from flooding the capital’s
downtown area.
The HTMS Chakri Naruebet took the lead for the
central Thailand mission, using its helicopters to deliver rubber boats
to the deluged region and sending two 12.6 by 3.7-meter barges from
Sattahip’s Juksamet Port to transport evacuees.
In Lopburi, the Navy delivered 2,003 care packages
prepared by HRH Princess Soamsawalee’s Princess Pa Foundation. The bags,
packed Oct. 15 at U-Tapao Pattaya International Airport, consisted of
donations collected by Bangkok and Siam Commercial banks.
Residents of Kongthanoo District received 1,607
relief packages for adults, 45 for monks and 351 for children.
Banks and the Thai Red Cross continue to take
donations on behalf of the royal relief organization.
In addition to helping victims, the navy sought to
prevent another crisis by shipping 40,000 sandbags to surround downtown
Bangkok and block runoff that had raced down three rivers from hard-hit
central Thailand, threatening to submerge the capital.
The Sattahip Naval Base’s Department of Building and
Development used 400 marines to fill the bags that would comprise the
2-meter-tall barrier around the city. It took 25 trucks to carry the
load to Bangkok.
