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Volunteer spirit - Sawang Boriboon Pattaya Foundation members and friends
pack relief supplies.
Manoon Makpol
Volunteers from Pattaya’s Sawang Boriboon Foundation
joined flood-relief efforts in Bangkok and central Thailand, aiming to lend
much needed help to hard-hit Sawang organizations there.
Sawang Boriboon President Prasit Thongthidcharoen and
Vice President Chusri Sirisutwenpan reviewed the organizations efforts in
Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani, and Bangkok’s Nava Nakorn and Rangsit districts at
an Oct. 25 slideshow in Pattaya. The Pattaya volunteers joined Sawang
personnel from Phaisal, Katanuu, Sanphet and Rattanatrai, using boats to
distribute relief packages in inundated areas.
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Sawang Boriboon workers rescue
people from the rooftops in Ayuthaya.
The organization rotated teams of six-to-seven volunteers
to hand out 1,000 packages containing canned food, medicine and drinking
water to flood victims.
Prasit said the 300 volunteers faced arduous,
obstacle-filled conditions getting to victims through standing water and
helping the government’s Flood Relief Center evacuate them to shelters and
hospitals. Dykes on the Rapipat canal breached in three places, causing
water in the Chulalongkorn canal to rise by 7 cm daily. Sandbags have been
piled high and at the time they were there, were still at least 10 cm above
the water level.
Thailand’s floods had claimed over 370 lives and affected
62 provinces, 628 districts, and 2.9 million households and 9.4 million
people.
Chusri said volunteers packed the 1,000 care packages
locally, with Bangkok Hospital Pattaya donating seven large boxes of
medicine for a planned delivery at Rong Klua Market Nov. 1.
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Flood waters up to the
rooftops in Ayuthaya.
While much of the attention has shifted to Bangkok,
Sawang Boriboon personnel continued to work in Ayutthaya, the epicenter of
the flooding crisis. The foundation sent four boats, two of which were
donated by the Pattaya Relief Group headed by Steve Graham, MD of Securitas
Thailand, with five volunteers each into the flood plain Oct. 17-21,
evacuating more than 1,000 patients from Ayutthaya Hospital. They also
distributed 3,000 relief packages per day, as well as medicine and drinking
water.
Prasit said the high water and lack of electricity were
significant obstacles to the evacuation, as several patients required
respirators.
All photos on this page were supplied by Pattaya’s Sawang
Boriboon Foundation.
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People make their way to the
evacuation centre in Ayuthaya, Preedee Bridge, any way they can.
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If the supply routes are
flooded, and transportation under water, there is no way to get supplies to
other places in Thailand, too.
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Escaping from the midday sun
by rafting together under the shade of trees in flood stricken in Ayuthaya
province.
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Sit tight, we’ll be back as
soon as we can.
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It’s no wonder people are
parking their cars up on bridges in Bangkok.
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People evacuate their homes
and businesses in Saraburi, under the u-turn bridge.
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Sandbags didn’t keep the
flood waters out of this factory, but they do supply a somewhat dry spot for
people to use whilst waiting to be rescued.
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Flood waters shut down
everything in Nava Nakorn.
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This old fellow needs a bit of
help, and tells workers he’s never seen anything like this in Nava Nakorn in
all the years of his life.
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Emergency supplies help this
man wait out the flooding in Bangkok.
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People slowly make their way
towards safety in Bangkok.
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Members of the Sawang
Boriboon Foundation evacuate people from upper floors in Nava Nakorn.
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Industrial estates in Nava
Nakorn have shut down due to flooding.
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Small markets in Nava Nakorn
are completely submerged, too. These two vendors are extremely happy to
receive a meal from Pattaya’s Sawang Boriboon Foundation.
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Flood waters rage in the
outskirts of Bangkok.
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Sawang Boriboon Foundation
volunteers evacuate people from rooftops in Nava Nakorn.
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Many have to find creative
ways to receive emergency packages.
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Emergency liquids are
delivered in Ayuthaya.
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Families reach out for rescue
supplies in Ayuthaya.