Thai humanitarian aid to arrive Haiti soon : Thai FM

Kasit said that the Cabinet earlier approved a US$100,000 grant to Haiti, and will also send 20,000 tonnes of rice to help victims following estimates that two million people urgently need food aid.

The Thai ambassador to Mexico had presented the donation from Thailand to the Mexican government Thursday which acted as a mediator to shift the necessities including food, medical supplies and basic tools for living such as flashlights, to Haiti.

The Thai commerce ministry will soon ship 20,000 tonnes of rice to Haiti, which costs less than transporting the grain via United Nations World Food Programme which cost around US$10 million.

Kasit added that three million baht has been donated by Thai people through the ministry's bank account, Bt12 million given to an account set up by the government, Bt8 million to the Thai Red Cross, Bt65 million donated to TV Channel 3 and Bt30 million to the Nation Group.

The foreign ministry is also discussing with the Defence Ministry to send Thai soldiers to Haiti as peacekeepers, while the Thai army engineers will help rebuild schools and hospitals, said Kasit.

Humanitarian aid from Thailand will not end only in the first or second phrase as it will take many years in restoring the devastated country, said the Thai foreign minister.