Thais asked to shower less as drought worsens

 

FILE PHOTO: A family prays near the ruins of a headless Buddha statue, which has resurfaced in a dried-up dam due to drought, in Lopburi, Thailand August 1, 2019. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Tuesday urged people to turn off taps and shower less to cope with a drought afflicting northern and central Thailand.

 

Last week, Bangkok’s water authority said the capital’s tap water was becoming saline as seawater pushed up the depleted Chao Phraya river, a source of much of central Thailand’s water.

 

The cabinet agreed on Tuesday to spend 3 billion baht ($100 million) on boreholes and pipes to extract ground water to relieve a drought that is expected to worsen in the next few months, a government spokeswoman told reporters.

 

Thailand’s dry season started in November and usually lasts through April, although this year authorities say it could go on through June. A drought has been declared in 14 provinces in the central, northern and northeastern farming regions.

 

“Please all help save water. Turn off all the taps. Use less water,” Prayuth said. “Reduce tooth-brushing and shower time by one minute.”

 

With reservoir levels low, the government has also asked farmers in some provinces near the Chao Phraya River basin not to grow off-season rice.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-01-07

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Prayuth said. “Reduce tooth-brushing and shower time by one minute.”

 

And thai government will THEY USE LESS water (reducing tooth brushing may not help very much 555 and still useful)????

????

I'll sacrifice showering alone and shower with a sexy Thai lady if it will help in the drought relief effort

I will refrain from throwing water at other people during Songkran. 

What an incredibly stupid posting. Every single Thai knows that the only solution to drought is to use shorter joss sticks.

18 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

I'll sacrifice showering alone and shower with a sexy Thai lady if it will help in the drought relief effort

My thoughts exactly, his popularity among Thai males would have rocketed if he'd thought about it and announced it. It just wouldn't be the missus.

 

Does this mean a reduction in costs in the soapies?

I'd give up rice first.  Or just cut back.  Takes 2500 liters to grow 1Kg.  That's about 10 showers worth of water for a small bowl of rice.

4 minutes ago, Traubert said:

Does this mean a reduction in costs in the soapies?

When they shut them down we will know it is getting serious, they have done it before, probably 15 years ago.

Why don't Thailand import more water from neighboring countries where there're lots of water?

48 minutes ago, thooktong said:

Prayuth said. “Reduce tooth-brushing and shower time by one minute.”

 

And thai government will THEY USE LESS water (reducing tooth brushing may not help very much 555 and still useful)????

 

This is a ridiculous statement, showering is essential for everyday life.

 

What is wasteful is the Songkran festival where people throw water at others just for 'fun'.

 

They should ban water throwing during Songkran instead.

 

 

1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

“Please all help save water. Turn off all the taps. Use less water,” Prayuth said. “Reduce tooth-brushing and shower time by one minute.”

 

Yes, but....

 

--Soapy massage parlors and their profligate water use will remain untouched.

 

--rice farmers can continue to drown their fields in as much water as they can find.

 

--and the Thai beer industry can continue to siphon off millions (billions?) of gallons of water to make their lousy brews.

 

--ya, add national Song Kran water wasting into the list also...

 

Other than that, everything is in CRISIS!!!

 

3 minutes ago, EricTh said:

Why don't Thailand import more water from neighboring countries where there're lots of water?

Might need a pipeline & a good few billion investment and many years to build the pipeline might be one limiting factor?

4 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Yes, but....

 

--Soapy massage parlors and their profligate water use will remain untouched.

 

--rice farmers can continue to drown their fields in as much water as they can find.

 

--and the Thai beer industry can continue to siphon off millions (billions?) of gallons of water to make their lousy brews.

 

--ya, add national Song Kran water wasting into the list also...

 

Other than that, everything is in CRISIS!!!

 

Said the teetotal, Western food only eating, celibate, party pooper.

17 minutes ago, EricTh said:

Why don't Thailand import more water from neighboring countries where there're lots of water?

Ah; part of  'Thailand 5' i would imagine !

16 minutes ago, Traubert said:

Said the teetotal, Western food only eating, celibate, party pooper.

 

Perhaps, but I'm also very adept at calling out exceptional HYPOCRISY when it comes to government public statements like the one presented here!

40 minutes ago, impulse said:

I'd give up rice first.  Or just cut back.  Takes 2500 liters to grow 1Kg.  That's about 10 showers worth of water for a small bowl of rice.

Yep.  Up here in the North the Government 'urged' farmers not to plant their next crop of rice.  Guess what, they are all busy flooding their fields this week, after burning them in the daytime next to the large billboards signs saying not to burn (which are all made out of heavy duty PLASTIC.... probably more plastic in them than many supermarket plastic bags).  What a world we live in.  

 

 

43 minutes ago, EricTh said:

 

This is a ridiculous statement, showering is essential for everyday life.

 

What is wasteful is the Songkran festival where people throw water at others just for 'fun'.

 

They should ban water throwing during Songkran instead.

 

 

Are you mad?!?! It's Thai culture. Must do. Why you thing too mutch?

All joking aside. I plan on building  a garden shed and chicken coop in the coming year. For both projects I've been wondering what is the best and least expensive way to build rainwater storage tanks. Would it not be easier, more efficient and eventually less expensive if the government subsidized such water holding tanks on farmers' lands and maybe even private households? 

If my calculations are correct, both should be able to hold approx. 37 000 l each, giving me about 74,000 l stored water. That's quite a lot for a small holding. Imagine if every home and farm in Thailand stored the equivalent. The bigger the farm, the bigger the water storage tanks. 

I simply can't understand why the people don't store more during times of plenty. 

28 minutes ago, jak2002003 said:

Yep.  Up here in the North the Government 'urged' farmers not to plant their next crop of rice.  Guess what, they are all busy flooding their fields this week, after burning them in the daytime next to the large billboards signs saying not to burn (which are all made out of heavy duty PLASTIC.... probably more plastic in them than many supermarket plastic bags).  What a world we live in.  

 

 

It's all fine and good to urge people, in this case farmers, not to grow this crop or that crop, but, the government must provide an alternative. Otherwise, the farm is faced with a dilema. 

9 minutes ago, djayz said:

It's all fine and good to urge people, in this case farmers, not to grow this crop or that crop, but, the government must provide an alternative.

Good point, its like telling someone not to go to work for months and earn no money, least if they have a crop there is a chance of making some money!

1 minute ago, CGW said:

Good point, its like telling someone not to go to work for months and earn no money, least if they have a crop there is a chance of making some money!

 

But does it have to be rice?

 

1 hour ago, EricTh said:

What is wasteful is the Songkran festival where people throw water at others just for 'fun'.

 

They should ban water throwing during Songkran instead.

 

There's lots of valid reasons to hate Songkran's water throwing. 

 

Wasting water isn't one of them when it takes 2.5 tons of water to grow one kg of rice and 10 tons of water to grow one kg of beef.  I'll forgo one burger and the kids in my neighborhood can have fun throwing all the water they'd throw in a decade.

 

17 minutes ago, CGW said:

Good point, its like telling someone not to go to work for months and earn no money, least if they have a crop there is a chance of making some money!

My point exactly. 

If you take a man's ability to feed himself and his family away from him, then you must provide an alternative - otherwise things could get ugly. 

2 hours ago, Thailand said:

????

save those tears. may come in handy for a wash.

14 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

There's lots of valid reasons to hate Songkran's water throwing. 

 

Wasting water isn't one of them when it takes 2.5 tons of water to grow one kg of rice and 10 tons of water to grow one kg of beef.  I'll forgo one burger and the kids in my neighborhood can have fun throwing all the water they'd throw in a decade.

 

You can't eat / sustain yourself just on water. We need to eat. So, if we forgo eating rice and meat, what do you suggest we eat? Obviously, it'd have to be a food that requires less water. 

34 minutes ago, djayz said:

All joking aside. I plan on building  a garden shed and chicken coop in the coming year. For both projects I've been wondering what is the best and least expensive way to build rainwater storage tanks. Would it not be easier, more efficient and eventually less expensive if the government subsidized such water holding tanks on farmers' lands and maybe even private households? 

If my calculations are correct, both should be able to hold approx. 37 000 l each, giving me about 74,000 l stored water. That's quite a lot for a small holding. Imagine if every home and farm in Thailand stored the equivalent. The bigger the farm, the bigger the water storage tanks. 

I simply can't understand why the people don't store more during times of plenty. 

private households? 

any idea what 74 tonnes of water looks like?

Just now, djayz said:

You can't eat / sustain yourself just on water. We need to eat. So, if we forgo eating rice and meat, what do you suggest we eat? 

 

Honestly, I've never met an expat that couldn't forgo one burger a year.  Some of them, one a day.

any ideas for the indian tourists to use less water?

2 minutes ago, jastheace said:

private households? 

any idea what 74 tonnes of water looks like?

Yes, I have an idead of what those tanks would look like. The neighbour has 3 of 'em at the end of his house. His hold more than 70,000l. 

 

Obviously I wasn't very clear in my comment. I meant households with some garden or yard space which could be used to build tanks on. Ideally, all new houses would be required to bury the tanks underground, thus saving space in the garden and yard.