“On behalf of the American people, I offer my sincere condolences and sympathy to the people of Thailand for the loss of life and damage caused by the flooding in southern Thailand,” US Ambassador Glyn Davies said yesterday.

He handed the funds over to Save the Children (Thailand), which will use the money to bolster its relief efforts in the affected provinces.

Unseasonably heavy rains over the past weeks have led to severe flooding in more than 12 provinces in the South, causing more than 20 deaths and affecting over a million people.

The Thai Red Cross Society has also been seeking donations to help with its relief efforts in the South.

Sumalin Silpipat, acting chief of the society’s Medicine and Other Medical Supplies Division, said donations of any kind were welcome, though cash was preferable as it can be used to purchase supplies.

Meanwhile, volunteers and members of the Relief and Community Health Bureau helped pack relief packages for flood victims in the South yesterday, before loading them onto trucks bound for the region.

Deputy army spokesperson Colonel Sirichan Nga-thong said the Army had also sent two mobile kitchens to cook for affected residents in Bang Saphan district.

Four teams of soldiers, four boats and Thanarat Camp Hospital medical staff will bring 4,000 meal boxes, 8,000 drinking water bottles, 200 dry food sets and 500 portable toilet sets to 1,500 residents in Tambon Pongprasat of Bang Saphan.