Pattaya Water Crisis Looms?

PATTAYA: -- On Thursday Afternoon, we made our way to the Maprachan Reservoir located on the Eastern outskirts of Pattaya following an email received from a local resident who informed us that despite the daily rainstorms here in Pattaya, the water level at the Maprachan Reservoir, one of the main sources of water here in Pattaya, is at a critically low level. We were shocked to see that the reservoir is now virtually non-existent. Reports in the National Press suggest that Thailand as a whole is now suffering from a major water supply problem

Full story HERE

-- Pattaya One

2010-06-24

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They could start to desaline Seawater. As the Sea Level is rising anyway there is no problem that the Gulf of Thailand runs dry.

Not to belittle the situation but pick a number and stand in line. All Thailand is in the SHYTS.

Now would be a good time to deepen and widen this reservior.

A bigger buket holds more water.

Now would be a good time to deepen and widen this reservior.

A bigger buket holds more water.

This was done...............Still dry and will be until the money set aside for redirecting the river, appears again out of the pocket it now sits in. ( and the chance of that is about as good as..................)

I heard Pattaya already had severe water shortages in the past.

How long did these last?

What can people do in case of water shortage?

I saw most houses have a water tank in an elevated position near the house - but this wouldn't last long.

Is that tank aimed at bridging short gaps in water supply, like a day or two?

Are pools commonly designed to be able to supply the house with water?

Would that be a clever thing to do?

When I was a kid, we were taught that water catchment areas were pristine areas of forests that act as sponges to soak up rainfall and through the natural contour of the land, streams of water were diverted into the dam. Then later, we had a field trip to a water catchment where it was very green and clean. With that image in mind I went to Mabprachan some time after I relocated to Pattaya. Then, I promptly went out to buy a water filtration system for the entire house.

I am not a water catchment expert, but the sight of a few lonely cows on a dried up old lake surrounded by development and cleared land surely does not make for an optimum water catchment? Just imagining the run- off from the nearby developments and houses is enough to make me puke.

Those tanks are used to bridge the short gaps in water supply...or the poor flow. Our water goes from gushing at some points to not a drop for a long time....sometime days. Most in our village have at least 2 tanks...some 3 or 4. Those that don't have to have water trucked in...and that happens fairly frequently.

Yes, Mabprachan is crazy. Watching them wash trucks in it, etc. Pretty sad. We have a whole house filter but still buy bottled water. Not sure if that is good or not...but I just don't trust the local water. And in our village, the toilets drain into a tank which runs off into the local storm drains...and then down into the sea from there....pretty sad....