BANGKOK, 8 May 2013 Thailand and the Republic of Korea on Tuesday jointly hosted the ASEAN Regional Forum Disaster Relief Exercise (ARF DiREx) 2013 in Cha-am, Phetchaburi, Thailand.
Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasob Surassawadee and Korea’s Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs Kim Bong-hyun co-chaired the event.
The ARF DiREx 2013 is organized during 7-10 May in Cha-am, Phetchaburi with an aim to establish concrete regional cooperation on disaster management. More than 2,400 representatives from 27 countries participated in the exercise.
The main organizers for Thailand are the Ministry of Interior, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The exercise comprises 2 main activities, namely Field Training Exercise and Table Top Exercise.
The Field Training Exercise exercise consists of 7 stations: 1) Emergency Operation Center, 2) Rock Slide 3) Building Collapse 4) Maritime rescue operation 5) Evacuation Camp 6) Chemical Leakage and 7) Air Operation.
While the Table Top Exercise focuses on disaster management policy and cooperation frameworks between Thailand’s government agencies and regional organizations.
According to Plodprasob, the exercise helps demonstrate Thailand’s readiness to deal with possible natural disaster and consequently create confidence among expatriates, foreign investors, and tourists.
