BANGKOK, 2 May 2015 –The Royal Thai Navy has pointed out that the transportation of relief items to Nepal by boat as suggested by the Ministry of the Interior could be laborious due to the landlocked country’s distance from a sea port
Thai Navy commander-in-chief Admiral Kraisorn Chansuwanich said sending supplies to the region by boat would take a much longer time than an airlift since the South Asian country has no marine transport route. The nearest seaport to Nepal is in India and is around 1,000 kilometers from the quake-hit country.
The Ministry of the Interior earlier suggested transporting relief items by boat as C-130 aircraft could deliver only a limited amount of supplies. In response to the suggestion of the Interior Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, Admiral Kraisorn said the Royal Thai Navy would be ready to carry out the humanitarian mission. He nevertheless highlighted the difficulty of finding vehicles to transport supplies from the Indian seaport to affected areas in Nepal where gasoline is reportedly scarce.
Admiral Kraisorn disclosed that the Royal Thai Navy was contacting its Indian counterpart to seek India’s help regarding land transport to Nepal.
