Bangkok (VNA)🎐 – Thai Prime Minister (PM) Paetongtarn Shinawatra has ordered the establishment of a national centre to monitor the flood situation across the country, as well as two new agencies to coordinate the flood response and post-flood recovery efforts.

In a post on her X account, Paetongtarn said she will convene a meeting to establish a national flood victim rescue centre, a committee to direct official flood response efforts, and another committee to monitor the flood and landslide situation, the Bangkok Post reported. A source in Government House said the PM will ask state agencies to take part in the meeting, during which she plans to discuss ways to better handle the situation. The source said the PM herself will serve as the chairwoman of the flood victim rescue centre. Since August16, about 130,000 people have been affected by floods in the North, Northeast and parts of the Central Plains, according to Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. Affected provinces include Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son, Nan, Tak, Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, Phetchabun, Nong Khai, Loei, Ang Thong, Ayutthaya, and Prachin Buri. According to the Meteorological Department, Hydro-Informatics Institute and Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency, the situation is expected to deteriorate further, with more rain set to come over the next two weeks, worsening the inundation and risk of landslides in affected areas. In another development, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on September 15 chaired a meeting of the National Disaster Management Command, in which he was briefed on the latest flooding situation in 76 provinces across the country. Speaking after the meeting, which was also attended virtually by the governors of the 76 provinces, Anutin said several provinces in the North, Northeast and Central Plains were still dealing with significant flooding. Anutin also said he urged provinces which have run out of funds to cover their disaster response not to hesitate to divert other funds where possible to finance their rescue operations. The government will instruct local administrative organisations to speed up surveys in affected areas to calculate the damage and financial assistance that will need to be prepared for distribution for the flood victims, he said./.