New Zealand has increased its aid package to tsunami-affected countries in southern Asia to 5 million NZ dollars (about US$3.55 million).
A 10-member team will also head to the hard-hit Thai tourist resort of Phuket to help authorities identify bodies, Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff announced in a statement Wednesday.
The death toll from the 8.7 magnitude earthquake and the subsequent tsunamis includes at least one New Zealand woman Leone Corsens. More than 300 New Zealanders are still unaccounted for in Thailand.
The New Zealand government had earlier donated 500,000 NZ dollars (about US$355,000) to the Red Cross for aid, and a Royal New Zealand Air Force transport aircraft left Tuesday to work with the Australian air force on a relief mission.
Goff said the scale of the disaster was now clearly so massive that a greater package was appropriate.
"Millions of people will need to rebuild their lives and their livelihoods and we are conscious of the need for New Zealand to play its full part in assisting in that process."
The aid package includes up to 2 million NZ dollars in dollar- for-dollar matching of donations made to community groups and aid organizations, he said.
These groups include Oxfam, World Vision, Red Cross, Unicef, Save The Children Fund, Caritas, Tear Fund and Christian World Service, as well as groups such as the Sri Lankan community.
"Other parts of the assistance package will involve funding for relief and reconstruction activities carried out by various United Nations agencies."
Goff said the victim identification unit, which will consist of a pathologist, dental expert and eight police experts in body identification, had been requested by Thai authorities.