The government plans to spend at least 23 billion baht to help those affected by recent flooding.
According to deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek, at yesterday's cabinet meeting Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha ordered all related agencies to speed up efforts to take care of victims of ongoing floods around the country.
Gen Prayut insisted that relief measures must be rolled out as soon as the flood situation eases.
"The government has prepared a flood relief budget initially estimated at 23 billion baht, which will be withdrawn from the central budget for fiscal 2023," he said.
"The government is also ready to procure additional budget from other sources if needed."
Gen Prayut said overall spending on a flood relief budget could not be determined until details of flood damage are supplied by all related agencies.
According to the government's expenditure framework for fiscal 2023, which started this month, the government has set aside a total of 92.4 billion baht for emergency responses.
In a related development, deputy government spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul said the cabinet approved 5.12 billion baht for the Andaman international health centre project.
The Phuket development has a construction period spanning from 2023 to 2027.
The planned health centre aims to train workers in health science, such as physicians, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, medical technologists, and staff knowledgeable in alternative medicines, among other areas. The project is slated to have an R&D centre for healthcare, especially at the tertiary level and for medical specialities.
The project is expected to make locals and tourists who visit provinces along the Andaman Coast more confident in healthcare, said Ms Traisuree.
The government is attempting to turn Thailand into the medical hub of Asean.
She said the project includes an excellence centre with 300 beds, expected to provide treatment for complicated chronic diseases for at least 12,500 Thais per year. Capacity is projected for 300,000 outpatients per year.
The centre is expected to generate annual income of at least 1.6 billion baht from treating foreigners, said Ms Traisuree. The facility is projected to be the first state-of-the-art dental centre in the South, generating roughly 300 million baht from the treatment of foreigners.
