MCOT hands 9-million-baht donations to Lao dam victims

BANGKOK, Aug 7 (TNA) – MCOT Plc hands donations worth about 9 million baht it recently raised to the Lao ambassador to Bangkok to help victims of the dam collapse in Laos. MCOT president Kematat Paladesh and Suphatra Srimaitreephithak, director-general of Thailand International Cooperation Agency, met Lao ambassador Seng Soukhathivong to present the donations worth 9.32 million baht for the purpose. Mr Kematat said MCOT was ready to gather and forward assistance for Lao victims, so it host a special program on its TV and radio stations nationwide including the 9 MCOT HD TV station and the FM100.5MHz radio station on July 25 to raise the donations. MCOT opened a bank account to receive donations and the reception was concluded on Aug 6. The Lao ambassador expressed gratitude for the help. He said donations to Lao victims were endless and exceeded the capacities of local storage facilities. The Lao embassy in Bangkok would continue to receive donations except clothing until the end of August. What Lao victim needed were medicine and cash for house repair, Mr Seng said. The collapse of the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy hydroelectric dam in Attapeu province on July 23 affected about 7,000 people in Laos. Donations to victims have amounted to about 35 million baht. (TNA)