PATTAYA, Thailand – The ongoing drought in the central provinces, including Chonburi and the Pattaya area, is causing concern according to the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT). The report shows that the three-province Eastern Economic Corridor in 2023 suffered a 60 percent decline in rainfall from normal levels, though current reservoirs still have 52 percent of total capacity.
The hope is, in spite of El Nino, that the current dry season will give way to rainfall from the middle of May. The IEAT governor, Veeris Ammarapala, said there was no immediate crisis as the region’s 6,000 factories had additional water supplies from reservoir transfers, the purchase of raw water from companies and the facility of wastewater retreatment to reuse the resource.
“Authorities are confident sufficient water will be supplied to factories, the agricultural sector as well as to support people’s consumption until the rainy season which will start between May and June.” said Mr Veeris. Although hotels and homes in Pattaya are not currently threatened with rationing, the hope is that the rains are literally round the corner. The Pattaya water authority confirmed that there has not been widespread and significant water supply rationing in the area since an unusually persistent dry spell in 2008.
