Bangkok, solidarity in the emergency: flood unites the Thai people
Fr Mazza, PIME missionary, confirms the “exceptional” nature of the disaster. However, a spirit of “unity and cooperation” among ordinary Thais has developed, transcending political and social divisions. The Church is contributing by collecting and distributing aid. Priests provide psychological support to people in great distress.
Bangkok (AsiaNews) – The flood situation is one of “absolute emergency”, but the natural disaster “has pushed people to come and work together”, putting aside years of “political and social divisions”, said Fr Daniele Massa, a priest with the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME), who has spent many years in Thailand. Speaking to AsiaNews, he said that never before has the country encountered “a similar situation, a calamity of such magnitude.”
The close cooperation between former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his successor, Yingluck Shinawatra, has strengthened the cohesion among people. However, the event is “exceptional” and the country remains in full alert. It will take “several weeks” to get over the peak moment of the crisis. It will take however “four or five months” before things get back to normal.
For the first time, the government has opened ministries and other government buildings, including the Foreign Ministry, to take in evacuees.
The government did an “efficient job”, Fr Mazza said. In a “few hours”, levees were raised and flood ways were built, thanks “to the full cooperation of ordinary people.”
Various districts and province spared by the floods have “sent aid and helped in building levees.” Private individuals and organisations are providing food but “almost the entire population” is working with the authorities to implement the latter’s plans. Still, “many areas of the capital remain under water.”
“The government chose to sacrifice some areas, now under water, in order to save downtown Bangkok, the capital’s commercial and economic heart,” the Italian missionary said.
Inevitably, the decision to flood some areas to save others was met with criticism. However, people reacted trying to save as many homes and business as possible. “Some people used sandbags. Others put up a brick wall to defend their property,” the priest said.
Through the Bishops’ Conference and PIME missionaries, the Catholic Church is doing its part, contributing basic items, ranging from material to build levees to hold back the waters to psychological support for victims.
The bishops have also launched a fund-raising drive. PIME missionaries have opened Church-run facilities and parish churches to evacuees. The Church has not limited itself to material aid but is also addressing their psychological and human needs.
“Fr Adriano Pelosin,” Fr Mazza said, “has frequently visited government evacuee centres to provide psychological support. Many people in great distress have shown suicidal tendencies after losing all their possessions. Helping and supporting their rehabilitation is fundamental.” (DS)
The close cooperation between former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his successor, Yingluck Shinawatra, has strengthened the cohesion among people. However, the event is “exceptional” and the country remains in full alert. It will take “several weeks” to get over the peak moment of the crisis. It will take however “four or five months” before things get back to normal.
For the first time, the government has opened ministries and other government buildings, including the Foreign Ministry, to take in evacuees.
The government did an “efficient job”, Fr Mazza said. In a “few hours”, levees were raised and flood ways were built, thanks “to the full cooperation of ordinary people.”
Various districts and province spared by the floods have “sent aid and helped in building levees.” Private individuals and organisations are providing food but “almost the entire population” is working with the authorities to implement the latter’s plans. Still, “many areas of the capital remain under water.”
“The government chose to sacrifice some areas, now under water, in order to save downtown Bangkok, the capital’s commercial and economic heart,” the Italian missionary said.
Inevitably, the decision to flood some areas to save others was met with criticism. However, people reacted trying to save as many homes and business as possible. “Some people used sandbags. Others put up a brick wall to defend their property,” the priest said.
Through the Bishops’ Conference and PIME missionaries, the Catholic Church is doing its part, contributing basic items, ranging from material to build levees to hold back the waters to psychological support for victims.
The bishops have also launched a fund-raising drive. PIME missionaries have opened Church-run facilities and parish churches to evacuees. The Church has not limited itself to material aid but is also addressing their psychological and human needs.
“Fr Adriano Pelosin,” Fr Mazza said, “has frequently visited government evacuee centres to provide psychological support. Many people in great distress have shown suicidal tendencies after losing all their possessions. Helping and supporting their rehabilitation is fundamental.” (DS)
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