Surayud, along with related agencies' executives, boarded a helicopter Saturday to inspect a school in Nakhon Pathom and Suphan Buri, where floodwater receded by up to 40cm. With the current drainage rate of 30 million cubic metres a day into the Tha Chin and Chao Phraya rivers, the situation should be back to normal in 20 days, he said.

Surayud said the Interior Ministry's proposal to financially assist flood victims is to be submitted to the next Cabinet meeting.

It was initially estimated the government, through the Interior and Agriculture ministries, would need Bt10 billion to assist flood-hit residents in lower-northern and central Thailand, Surayud said. A damage assessment for compensation in many areas should be carried out in two weeks or up to 20 days and should yield a clearer picture, he added.

The Transport Ministry is also waiting for floodwater to subside so officials could inspect road damage for restoration.

Government Spokesman Yongyuth Mayalarp on a new television programme, "Direct Line to Government House" on Channel 11, Saturday confirmed that flood-affected farmers should receive the compensation by the end of December as farmland damage assessment was nearly complete, except for some areas that remain flooded.

The severely-hit agriculture land in ten provinces would receive compensation of 50 per cent of the farmers' expected earnings - say Bt1,321 per rai for rice fields, Bt1,520 per rai for dry crops such as corn or sugar cane, Bt2,429 per rai for garden plants such as fruit - while the less severely-hit would get Bt414 per rai for rice fields, Bt579 per rai for dry crops, and Bt786 per rai for garden plants, he said.

The Social Development and Human Security Ministry has also set a Bt1.19billion budget to find permanent shelters or to repair homes for flood victims, and Bt440 million to rehabilitate the flood-hit communities' livelihood and lifestyles. The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives has waived all debts for 12 dead farmers and launched measures to help flood-hit farmers such as extending a debt-paying period to three years, during which time interest would not be charged, he added.

In Angthong, Muang Angthong mayor Chai Suwaphan said the city's three markets are back to normal and in some submerged areas officials had distributed EM packets to residents to treat stagnant water sources.

The Nation