Thailand to support ASEAN on disaster management

BANGKOK, April 22 (TNA) - The Thai government says it is prepared to cooperate with fellow members in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in tackling every form of natural disasters in the region. Viboon Sa-nguanpong, director-general of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, said on Sunday as Thailand was appointed chair of the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) for 2012, his department would seek to encourage further disaster cooperation in ASEAN. Viboon said other activities would include providing humanitarian assistance to disaster affected countries, developing logistics system and collaborating with UN agencies and other countries on disaster management. In essence, Viboon noted that as chair of ACDM, Thailand would aim to lay down more disaster guidelines for the benefit of ASEAN, according to Thai government policy. (TNA)