BANGKOK, 14 November 2014 – The Prime Minister is concerned with the drought situation in Thailand, while urging related agencies to handle the situation and prohibiting off-season farming.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office Spokesperson Capt. Yongyut Maiyalap, the Prime Minister is worried about the drought situation and has ordered related ministries to set up counter measures to solve the situation and prevent any crises, especially providing assistance to farmers and careful irrigation management.
The agencies responsible to the handling of this situation are the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.
The Director-General of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Chatchai Promlert said that the government has issued counter measures to cope with the current drought situation.
According to the DDPM Director-General, approximately 9,535 villages are expected to be affected by the drought due to lower precipitation, a decreased water reserve in the reservoirs, and the lack of water supply in some areas.
He said that about 300,000 agricultural households would be affected from the drought. Therefore, the department proposed several counter measures including providing employment in other areas for the farmers living in affected areas, promoting the vocational training and the support of plants and livestocks, and the planting of soil-conditioning plants.
The department will be holding vocational training for farmers, starting on 21 November 2014 in Suphan Buri and Ayutthaya province.
Meanwhile, the delegate of the Ministry of Defence Khongchai Tanwanich has said that the ministry had called upon all related agencies to assist by providing personnel and equipment support.
He said that the Ministry of Defence had already planned for drought preventing measures, including forest planting, canal excavation, reservoir creation, substitute tap water production, the elimination of Water Hyacinths, and the construction of new water storages in many areas.
