BANGKOK: The flooding in Northern Thailand has been the most severe in the past 80 years and impacted the economy by as much as 27 billion baht (US$800mil), the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) said on Monday (Sept 16).
“We estimate that the floods have caused 25-27 billion baht in damage to the economy and entrepreneurs in the area,” federation chairman Kriengkrai Thiennukul said, pointing to the devastation of agricultural areas and orchards from heavy rains in Thailand and Myanmar and the additional downpours forecast to hit the country this week.
Kriengkrai went on to say that 60 FTI members in Chiang Rai have been affected by the floods, including damage to factories, machines, cars and office equipment.
The FTI Chiang Rai office has been ordered to evaluate flood damage, so measures to compensate for the damage can be launched this week, he said.
He added that FTI members who produce consumer items have been asked to increase production capacity to meet the demand of people amid the flood crisis.
Kriengkrai affirmed that the federation has prepared urgent measures to rehabilitate business for its members who were directly or passively affected by the flooding.
Most of the members in Chiang Rai province were in the agricultural processing industry, he added. - The Nation/ANN
