BANGKOK, Oct 19 (Bernama) -- The Thai government has allocated US$100,000 to neighbouring Cambodia and Vietnam each for humanitarian aid for flood-stricken areas, according to China's Xinhua news agency, citing local media reports Wednesday.
Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul handed the cash donations together with letters of condolence from Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to Cambodian ambassador You Aye and Vietnamese ambassador Ngo Duc Thang on Tuesday evening.
In the letters, Yingluck said that the disaster was an unprecedented challenge that had caused immense damage.
On behalf of Thai government and people, the premier vowed to stand side by side with the two countries in the battle against the catastrophe and called for collective cooperation from ASEAN nations and its alliances in solving the problem.
The disaster in Cambodia has so far claimed 247 lives and affected 1.2 million others.
In Vietnam, 43 people have been killed and over 70,000 houses submerged.
This year's flood is regarded as the most severe catastrophe Southeast Asian region has ever witnessed in decades.
In all, more than 700 lives have been claimed while some eight millions were affected in flood-stricken Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines, according to the Oct 13 estimation of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
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