Thread: Thailand facing worst water shortage in two decades: government

Thailand is facing its worst water shortage in two decades, government officials said on Wednesday, with water rationing being imposed in some provinces and hotels told to minimise their laundry loads.

As Thailand enters its dry season, water levels in the country's biggest dams are at their lowest since 1994, said Suthep Noipairoj, director-general of the Royal Irrigation Department. "This year sees the lowest irrigation water level since 1994," Suthep told Reuters.

Thailand is also facing drought in 14 of 77 provinces, while 31 other provinces are at risk, according to the Interior Ministry.

Since October, the government has rolled out measures worth 23 billion baht (US$651.56 million) to help farmers cope with drought, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

The water crisis has led to some officials warning citizens not to consume too much water during the Songkran festival, also known as the water festival, which is celebrated in April and marks the start of Thailand's traditional New Year.

It has also put a strain on local administrations in drought-hit provinces who have had to ration their water supplies until at least June, when the country's rainy or monsoon season is expected to begin.

In Chanthaburi, 250 km (155 miles) southeast of the Thai capital Bangkok, the waterworks authority is releasing water for public use in the morning and evening only, said Wisoot Prakorbkwamdee, chief of the province's disaster prevention and mitigation office.

The water shortage has hit some hotels in a country where tourism accounts for around 10 per cent of GDP.

The Thai Hotel Association has asked 700 hotels to save water by giving out fewer towels to hotel guests to minimise their wash load, among other measures, said Supawan Tanomkieatipume, the association's vice president.

Thailand facing worst water shortage in two decades: government, Government & Economy - THE BUSINESS TIMES

Hmmmm....they'll start rationing when there no water left to ration.

Originally Posted by spliff

Hmmmm....they'll start rationing when there no water left to ration.

The so-called drought resistant crops are becoming increasingly popular amongst the smaller plots in the last couple of years.

The issues of too much water and shortages, and the subsequent cycles, tend to be missed on most. There wouldn't be water shortages during the off season if the over abundance of water [6-7 months] was stored and directed accordingly.

Originally Posted by thaimeme

Originally Posted by spliff

Hmmmm....they'll start rationing when there no water left to ration.

The so-called drought resistant crops are becoming increasingly popular amongst the smaller plots in the last couple of years.

The issues of too much water and shortages, and the subsequent cycles, tend to be missed on most. There wouldn't be water shortages during the off season if the over abundance of water [6-7 months] was stored and directed accordingly.

The problem is that there has not been an "over abundance" in the right places.

Cities have had floods while the dam catchment areas have had very little rain since 2011 when the dams were lowered to less than 40%.

Originally Posted by thaimeme

Originally Posted by spliff

Hmmmm....they'll start rationing when there no water left to ration.

The so-called drought resistant crops are becoming increasingly popular amongst the smaller plots in the last couple of years.

The issues of too much water and shortages, and the subsequent cycles, tend to be missed on most. There wouldn't be water shortages during the off season if the over abundance of water [6-7 months] was stored and directed accordingly.

And that is the true crux of the issue.

Originally Posted by thaimeme

There wouldn't be water shortages during the off season if the over abundance of water [6-7 months] was stored and directed accordingly.

I think it is. It's just the greed of people trying to get more produce out of their farms. Typical Thai in being selfish.

Prag, no it's not. Water management in Thailand is feeble, at best. To have drought in a country that has as much rainfall as Thailand is shameful. There are more dams needed and more storage strategies desperately required to curb drought and that must be done by the government.

To ask the public to be mindful of water use is something that should never come up. If we were in the middle of the Sahara desert, I could understand it, but we are not.

Yes, past history of water management has been very good and I applaud all efforts up to a few years ago. It happens in other countries where it should not. I remember water rationing when I lived in Washington State when they receive a very large yearly rainfall. The issue was the same there in that everyone sat back on their laurels and when rainfall diminished, they were caught in a draught.

Water storage is the answer as Prag said along with others.

And the army are still spraying liberal amounts of water on their golf course in Loei, bloody hypocrites?

what's the situation in bordering countries, or are they a bit more responsible?

Piwanoi, thanks for your message. I've left things with the wife and neighbour to sort out. Cheers mate. All things good.

Originally Posted by Dragonfly94

what's the situation in bordering countries, or are they a bit more responsible?

"Dry or drought conditions will continue in Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore and the southern portions of Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines,"

Asia Winter Forecast 2015-16: Drought to Continue From India to Singapore; Typhoon Numbers May Challenge Record - AccuWeather.com

better start panic buying then before the panic sets in

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

Prag, no it's not. Water management in Thailand is feeble, at best. To have drought in a country that has as much rainfall as Thailand is shameful. There are more dams needed and more storage strategies desperately required to curb drought and that must be done by the government.

To ask the public to be mindful of water use is something that should never come up. If we were in the middle of the Sahara desert, I could understand it, but we are not.

WOW. More dams are not the answer for any they want to build are in forest areas and will destroy large areas of forest which can never be regained.
Not only do they destroy valuable forest but they open up the areas around the dams inundation to poachers and illegal loggers.

The answer is to harness water that falls on built up areas such as BKK which floods regularly with the flood water going to waste.
Most of the water that floods the streets falls on buildings not the roads themselves so every building should have spouting or guttering (whatever you want to call it) which directs water into a tank storage area which can be used by each building, the overflow from these should go into a dedicated stormwater drain system where the water is directed to reservoirs for domestic use.

Also His Majesties idea of monkey cheeks should be expanded on with permanent lakes in each province along all the major rivers connected to the rivers by canals where in times of flood water will flow along the canals into the lakes then in times of drought or low rainfall water can flow out of the lakes back into the rivers, this can be regulated by gates. (The Tonle Sap effect which controlled the Mekong River before they started building dams on it.)

These lakes can have many uses such as local irrigation, fish farming, conservation or recreational use when close to populated areas.

There also needs to be well thought out water management not knee-jerk reactions like we saw in 2011 and 2012.

Originally Posted by birding

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

Prag, no it's not. Water management in Thailand is feeble, at best. To have drought in a country that has as much rainfall as Thailand is shameful. There are more dams needed and more storage strategies desperately required to curb drought and that must be done by the government.

To ask the public to be mindful of water use is something that should never come up. If we were in the middle of the Sahara desert, I could understand it, but we are not.

WOW. More dams are not the answer for any they want to build are in forest areas and will destroy large areas of forest which can never be regained.
Not only do they destroy valuable forest but they open up the areas around the dams inundation to poachers and illegal loggers.

The answer is to harness water that falls on built up areas such as BKK which floods regularly with the flood water going to waste.
Most of the water that floods the streets falls on buildings not the roads themselves so every building should have spouting or guttering (whatever you want to call it) which directs water into a tank storage area which can be used by each building, the overflow from these should go into a dedicated stormwater drain system where the water is directed to reservoirs for domestic use.

Also His Majesties idea of monkey cheeks should be expanded on with permanent lakes in each province along all the major rivers connected to the rivers by canals where in times of flood water will flow along the canals into the lakes then in times of drought or low rainfall water can flow out of the lakes back into the rivers, this can be regulated by gates. (The Tonle Sap effect which controlled the Mekong River before they started building dams on it.)

These lakes can have many uses such as local irrigation, fish farming, conservation or recreational use when close to populated areas.

There also needs to be well thought out water management not knee-jerk reactions like we saw in 2011 and 2012.

Well said and directed, Birdy.
I've been harping on the same issues and solutions forever.
And yes - building more dams [convenient royal projects] is not a solution.

It all comes back to the excess flooding water in particular regions.
One needs to ask, simply, what becomes of the great quantity of annual flood waters?

Dams, lakes, whichever stores enough water to get everyone through a dry spell. If lakes have a minimal ecological effect, then let it be lakes. I agree with your idea of water storage for every building and would support that.

I would think capturing the large amounts of rainfall in this country would not be too hard. All I have heard is that the population should cut back on water use and grow crops that need less water. That is only a bandaid and will not solve the problem.

Our village just ran out of government water, so something needs to be done quickly.

There is no shortage of water, it's just in the wrong places, pipes and pumps, Mekong, Mun river and others never get dry.
Farmers can dig dams, it's free, the diggers sell the soil,. have a big dam near me, populate the border idea, no one turned up.
If you want to farm, move to where the water is, complaining is like saying the factory in your home town has closed down and you can't move to a city for work.
Thais just don't think about tomorrow, full rice bowl today is all they care about and everything else is the governments fault.

Try living in the west on 10 acres, 4 hectares and see how you go, new world out there.

Drought to damage almost half a million rice fields in Central Plain

Drought which is affecting several parts of Thailand will ruin almost half a million rai of rice fields in the central region.
This was disclosed by Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister General Chatchai Sarikulya at a meeting yesterday to discuss the drought situation.

Gen Chatchai said rice fields likely to be affected by the water shortage are those grown off-season, while farmers who grew their seasonal crops won’t be affected as they were all harvested.

They are rice fields grown along the Chao Phraya river in the Central region, and more than 400,000 rai are expected to be damaged by drought.

According to the minister, off-season rice covered a total of 3.05 million rai along the Chao Phraya River, 1.98 million rai of which was grown within the irrigation zone and the remaining planted outside the zone.

Rice harvest is finished only for 940,000 rai of off-season rice fields,he said.

He said he has ordered the deputy permanent secretary for Agriculture and Cooperatives to work out long term water use and farming areas in all provinces by this month.

Drought to damage almost half a million rice fields in Central Plain - Thai PBS English News

If the rice fields are along the Chao Phraya river, there should be water available unless the river runs
dry.

"He said he has ordered the deputy permanent secretary for Agriculture and Cooperatives to work out long term water use and farming areas in all provinces by this month."

A day late and a dollar (or baht) short.

Originally Posted by misskit

Gen Chatchai said rice fields likely to be affected by the water shortage are those grown off-season, while farmers who grew their seasonal crops won’t be affected as they were all harvested.

สมน้ำหน้า

Where I'm located no irrigation is available so folks plant once per year. They know there will be comparably dry and wet seasons as there have been for hundreds of years. Crop yields vary but total loss of a crop is rare. Not one of the old folks here recall one.

No doubt more could be done to catch and store water in reservoirs but, as Birding points out, this initiates a new set of problems. Should irrigation become available in my area no doubt many farmers would plant off season crops and run the real risk of crop loss in very dry seasons. Greed on the farmers part? Perhaps but only human nature to take advantage of it. Especially given government pressure to increase national production.

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

Our village just ran out of government water

I think there should be some centralized water management programs but more important is water management at the local level partcularly non agricultural water management. Villages need an independent water supply that is sufficient to ensure they have running water year around. Funding from government to this end is imperative. Not going to have happy folks when they are without water for weeks.

It is the villagers fault in this instance. They use the village government water to water their fields. That is why I have a well which could also run dry since many neighbors have bored wells and also use that water to water their flowers and crops. They only think in the now.

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

They use the village government water to water their fields

Ya need a no nonsense Phu Yai Ban like we have. She'd have the idiots watering the fields water turned off.

^
Fat chance of that around here.

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

It is the villagers fault in this instance. They use the village government water to water their fields. That is why I have a well which could also run dry since many neighbors have bored wells and also use that water to water their flowers and crops. They only think in the now.

What happened to the sense of the community and collective?

Yet songkran rolls on.

I was talking to local today and he said they are only doing it this year because the Tourists come a long way to play water.