On 1 July 2010, Mr. Thinakorn Kanasuta, Thai Ambassador to Sri Lanka, handed over 6 centric water pumps to Maj. Gen. G.A. Chandrasiri, Governor of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka, at the latter’s office in Colombo. The pumps, to be used for agricultural purpose, will be distributed to the internally displaced persons (IDPs), affected by the internal armed conflicts between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), during their resettlement in the North and Northeast of Sri Lanka.
The pumps were purchased by the donation of Thai people through the “Help Sri Lankan IDPs campaign” starting in August 2009. Also, the Thai Foreign Ministry contributed additional budget to top-up the total amount of the donation.
This donation reflected the goodwill and long-lasting bond between the two countries and their peoples. In addition, the donation campaign was also an initiative of the Thai Foreign Ministry to promote people-to-people participation in the foreign relations.
Prior to this in October 2009, the Thai Foreign Ministry had contributed various kinds of medicine, medical equipments, and hospital beds (worth 1.3 million baht) to the Sri Lankan Government to mitigate the island’s humanitarian crisis caused by the internal conflict.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th