With the dry season starting early in Thailand, farmers and residents brace for what could be one of the country’s worst drought cases in years. According to reports from the Bangkok Post and the Malay Mail, the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) said that this year’s drought season is one of the worst in more than a decade.
The Bangkok Post also reported that the drought is already affecting more than 2,000 villages in eight provinces particularly in the North and Northeast parts of the country. These include Nakhon Ratchasima, Chaiyaphum, Lop Buri, Maha Sarakham, Nakhon Sawan, Sukhothai, Sakhon Nakhon, and Buri Ram. However, around 30 other provinces are still expected to be affected including Chon Buri in Central Thailand, Khon Kaen in the Northeast, and Chiang Rai in the North.
The drought will impact not just the residents’ daily activities requiring water but also the provinces’ rice production. With the drought starting early last year, the RID has already asked farmers to cut back on off-season farming to ease up on the water demand. Wimol Janthararothai, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry for Agriculture and Cooperatives, said that there is only about 6.5 million rai being used for rice growing from the usual 12.16 million rai.
Residents have also been asked to grow crops that are not water-intensive. Efforts also continue to respond to and minimize the social and economic impacts of the water shortage in the affected villages. The government has started setting up mobile water tanks and water pumps for storing water for the long, dry days ahead. In the Central region, farmers are being offered livelihood projects to make up for income losses due to the restriction on off-season farming. In the North, plans are in place for a rainmaking activity to control smog and wildfires in the region.
The crisis has also spurred on calls for more long-term water management plans of the government that will address the issues on irrigation and water supply.
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