Drying up of Yom River marks early arrival of drought

By THE NATION

 

 

Thailand’s yearly drought has arrived earlier than usual, with Yom River in Phichit and Sukhothai completely drying out and water sources in Chanthaburi getting low.

 

Farmers in Phichit have started digging wells to pull up water, so their rice crops can be irrigated. Digging wells is not new for Phichit residents, but they usually do this in March.

 

Farmer Pradit Chimpipop said pulling water up from underground was the only way of irrigating his 30 rais.

 

Yom River runs through Phichit’s districts of Sam Ngam, Pho Prathap Chang, Bung Narang and Pho Thale.

 

This dreaded dryness was also reported in Sukhothai, while authorities in Phrae have built dikes on the Yom River to avoid a shortage of water.

 

Meanwhile, the Khao Soi Dao waterfall in Chanthaburi’s Khao Soi Dao Wildlife Sanctuary is running low, which will affect water sources in the East of the country.

 

An official at the wildlife sanctuary said drought this year has arrived a month earlier.

 

Sutat Weesakul, the Hydro Informatics Institute chief, was quoted by Thairath newspaper as saying that the La Niña phenomenon had in August 2020 brought heavy rain and floods to the South. If this phenomenon were to continue, then there should be regular rainfall in other regions from April onwards.

 

He also said that rain this year should be 9 to 10 per cent more than last year.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30401642

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2021-01-22

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

The situation in Thailand is ridiculous.  Thailand a country so corrupt and backward it cannot sort its infrastructure out. Water management is far more essential than submarines and military hardware. Every year money thrown at these problems just vanishes accomplishing nothing. It's as if you can hear them "Ah! It's raining, where is that money it's time to buy a new Mercedes or Ah! It's stopped raining, where is that money time to buy a new Mercedes ".

Singapore has extremely limited local water supplies yet they manage through investment into self-sufficiency through technology to use what natural resources are around them.

 

If Thailand did 10% of what Singapore did, the flooding and drought could be the thing of the past through effective water management.

Here in Udon Thani we had a reasonable wet season, but no rain now for nearly 3 months. Usually get a couple of days rain during winter, so not looking good.