- Title: THAILAND: Severe drought hits villages along Mekong River in Thailand.
- Date: 3rd April 2010
- Summary: SAND BARS IN RIVER CATTLE WALKING ALONG MEKONG RIVERBANK VILLAGERS WALKING ON SAND BAR VARIOUS OF BOATS ON RIVERBANK
- Embargoed: 18th April 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Thailand
- Country: Thailand
- Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Nature / Environment
- Reuters ID: LVA5234WYO6WD30GBAQERJLSUHGG
- Story Text: The most severe drought in decades puts Thai's northernmost province at risk of a water crisis as the Mekong River level drastically drops.
The dry season arrived much sooner than expected for farmers in Thailand's northernmost province of Chiang Rai.
It is also harsher than they thought. The farmers may be facing the most severe drought in decades, due to the drying up of the Mekong River.
Water levels in the Mekong, Southeast Asia's biggest river flowing 4,350 km (2,700 miles) from the glaciers of Tibet to the rice-rich delta of southern Vietnam has dropped dramatically to a 50-year low.
Thousands of farms growing rice and crops have withered, and crevices have appeared in the parched paddies in Chiangsaen district, where agriculture is the main source of income.
Farmer Prasert Rath-chakom said his second crop of rice is already dying soon after he cultivated it, because there is not enough water to nourish the saplings.
He said farmers usually pump water from the Kam river to irrigate their crops, but water flow has decreased since February, which is considered to be Thailand's cold season.
"Right now, I can't see how the government can help fix the problems because the drought has severely intensified. They have not found an alternative water source for farmers so far," said Prasert, who has been farming for almost three decades.
In the past, farmers could rely on underground water, but costs have multiplied to a fortune.
"We take underground water to use for our second crop but it is not enough. It increases our cost, because fuel is expensive and there are still other miscellaneous costs. The water is really not sufficient," Prasert added. He owns 32 acres of rice paddies.
Digging one meter deep to find underground water can cost at least 800 Thai baht ($24 U.S. dollars) to drill while the farmer can only earn 12,000 Thai baht ($363 U.S. dollars) for about half an acre.
Kam river irrigates more than 40,000 acres of land in four different districts in Chiang Rai province, bordering Laos and Myanmar. Now several sand bars extend across the river.
More than one-third of farm lands are suffering severe drought. Crop fields have been badly damaged in Chiangsaen district which lies along Mekong river.
"This crisis is unusual. When the dry season comes, normally there's still some water left in the pond. But this year, the Mekong river's levels have gone down dramatically, to something I have never seen before. We cannot pump enought water to use for agriculture. This is our main problem," said Wandee In-Thara, the deputy chief of Chiangsaen district.
Wandee said the villagers living along the Mekong river are relying on a small water station for their irrigation needs. The pump station starts taking water from the Mekong from dawn until dusk, but can irrigate only around 80 acres a day.
So far, the district authority has compensated farmers whose crops have been damaged by the drought.
Last Friday (March 26), the Thai Interior Ministry's Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department have declared that 53 provinces in Thailand disaster areas due to the drought.
Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, which comprising the Mekong River Commission (MRC), will send leaders to the April 3-5 summit in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin to discuss the water shortage problem.
The Thai government expects China to provide water level data from two dams already constructed in its southern region and to explain how it is managing the water flow to ensure downstream countries have enough for consumption and farmland. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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