Thailand on Sunday airlifted medicine and other humanitarian assistance to tsunami victims in Indonesia's province of Aceh - the area hardest hit by the December 26 quake-tsunami disaster that killed more than 156,000 people in south Asia. Some 7.5 tons of medicines, rice, canned fish, instant noodles, water, clothing and medical equipment, were sent aboard a Thai Airforce Hercules 130 transport plane, said the Thai News Agency (TNA). Thai Supreme Commander General Chaiyasit Shinawatra, who presided over the humanitarian shipment, said further aid would be provided if Indonesia requested more assistance. He said the Royal Thai Air Force also planned to airlift donations to India and Sri Lanka as both countries had already requested assistance from Thailand. Thailand was one of 11 countries to fall victim to tidal waves caused by an earthquake on December 26 off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, measuring 9 on the Richter scale. Official statistics released by Thailand's disaster prevention department on Sunday put Thailand's death toll from the tsunamis at 5,305, of whom 1,792 were Thais, 1,329 foreigners and the remaining 2,184 remain unidentified. Indonesia's tsunami death toll exceeded 104,000 while Sri Lanka and India lost more than 30,000 and 15,000, respectively. Thousands of victims remain missing.
