PM Prayut voices concern over water shortages for farming

[webfact]

Prayut voices concern over water shortages for farming



BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday voiced concern over the current water shortages which has become a national crisis for the country's farmers.

The water shortage for farming has reached a point which water rationing is necessary, particularly along the Chao Phraya river basin, under which, upstream, midstream and downstream farmers were allocated time slots to pump water released from reservoir into irrigation canals at certain amount.

But despite of the pleas, water poaching continued, prompting the Royal Irrigation Department to seek the intervention of the military to tackle the problem.

In referring to military intervention in solving the water poaching problem in some areas in the river basin, Prime Minister Gen Prayut said this stems from the lack of faith in local administrative bodies which has necessitated the intervention of military personnel.

He stated that this must be viewed as only a temporary measure as no one can realistically expect the military to oversee every area in the country and effective measures must be found to address the issue.

The prime minister stressed that local administrative bodies make sure that they must assume a bigger role in the matter.

He ordered all relevant cabinet ministers to come up with measures to aid farmers who are suffering badly from the affects of severe water shortage.

Accordingly, he ordered the cabinet to take steps to handle the matter to and hasten aid to stricken farming community.

At yesterday’s cabinet meeting, it came out with a national water management plan that will extend to the year 2026 which will encompass extensive dredging of canal systems, expanding the Royally initiated ‘Kaem Ling’ or ‘Monkey Cheeks’ which provides for intermediate-term water storage and programs to drill for artesian wells to provide alternate water supply in the event of low rainfall.

Traditionally, farming in the country – especially rice farming; is dictated almost entirely by seasonal rains which during years of low rainfall dramatically affect the livelihood of farmers, the cabinet also came out with a plan to encourage farmers to shift crop dependency to other types of plants less dependent on rainfall.

This will be dictated by long-term national plans that will encompass every aspect of the country’s economy.

Meanwhile deputy government spokesman Maj. Gen. Sansern Kaewkamnerd revealed that water shortage was placed as the primary agenda for the council of economic ministers meeting scheduled for today.

Urgent step must be found to tackle the national water shortage crisis and all departments have been urged to recommend measures so that a systematic approach can be formulated before the problem overtakes the nation’s ability to resolve it, he said.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/prayut-voices-concern-over-water-shortages-for-farming

-- Thai PBS 2015-06-24

[webfact]

Artesian water to be drilled to help suffering farmers



BANGKOK: -- The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Gen. Dapong Rattanasuwan said that artesian wells will be drilled as a temporary solution to assist farmers affected bare the current severe drought.

He said the drilling of artesian water was raised at the cabinet meeting yesterday when it discussed how to resolve the situation promptly as seasonal rain will come late until next month.

Representatives from relevant departments suggested that the artesian water could be drilled immediately by employing the budget from the Department of Groundwater Resources.

But the method needed to be forwarded to the prime minister today for final consent.

With regards to the problem of water poaching in many areas, Interior Minister Gen Anupong Paochinda said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has advised that village headmen must make sure that farmer understands the necessity of water rationing and that there was no need to clandestinely pump water.

Gen Prayut however warns that if the problem persists then he will send in Army personnel to handle the matter, he said.

The water shortage has deteriorated so badly in Udon Thani province that farmers and villagers have resorted to the ‘Hae Nang Meaw’ a folk rite to ask spirits to bring rains to their farms.

If this did not work then they were preparing to under evoke the ‘Pla Chon’ incantation overseen by five monks which will last for 3 days to plead for rains as a last resort.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/artesian-water-to-be-drilled-to-help-suffering-farmers


-- Thai PBS 2015-06-24

[halloween]

If ‘Hae Nang Meaw’ doesn't work they are going to 'Pla Chon' - that'll give them rain spirits a wake-up call. The problem is that eventually it WILL rain, which re-inforces belief in the aforementioned idiocy.

[RustBucket]

If ‘Hae Nang Meaw’ doesn't work they are going to 'Pla Chon' - that'll give them rain spirits a wake-up call. The problem is that eventually it WILL rain, which re-inforces belief in the aforementioned idiocy.

It WILL rain, is not the problem, the problem is that because of El Nino, there is predicted to be hardly any storms this season in the Western Pacific region and that is basically Thailand's monsoon season.

If they are correct, Thailand is going to enter the next dry season with hardly any water supplies to see them through to the 2016 monsoon season.

This is the major concern, but has yet to be mentioned by the government because theyu tend to wait to the eleventh hour and then start worrying instead of getting proactive.

Wait till October in the north, it will not be rice farmers suffering alone, there may not be water for washing, cooking, sanitation or drinking. Then they will be up shitcreek without the paddle or the water to float on.

They should not even be growing rice this year, they need to conserve water for other human needs as above.

Edited June 24, 2015 by RustBucket

[Thaddeus]

Give it another 4 months and Bangkok will be one big floating market, again.

[RustBucket]

Give it another 4 months and Bangkok will be one big floating market, again.

What difference is that going to make for the rest of Thailand?

That water will simply flow away into the sea.

[Tatsujin]

They need to talk to Korea and copy their system ... or does that require too much thinking and planning ahead?

[pisico]

Oh, the ever reacting Thai mentality!

Can they take a clue from history and/or their despised neighbors?

In the 12th. century Angkor Wat was built to honor the Goddess Vishnu. It housed approximately 500,000 to 1 million people by accounts of a Portuguese monk and a Chinese emissary named Zhou Daguan who lived in Angkor for one year between 1296 and 1297. century..

The Khmer built a sophisticated water catchment-irrigation-flood prevention system still extant.

During the rainy season the lake Tonle Sap would overflow and flood the area so, the Khmer, instead of praying and waiting, got to work and built a complex irrigation systems. A highly sophisticated irrigation system allowed the Khmer people to have two rice harvests a year instead of one. Rice was never in short supply, and people had more time to focus on cultural things. It has even been suggested that the Khmer kept slaves to do their work for them.

Fast forward to today's Thailand... Wait for Karma. Pray and summon the wisdom and help of ancestors in the comfort of a cushy coffin or... drill, drill and deplete the underground water table... with the usual consequences...

Sink-holes anyone?

Edited June 24, 2015 by pisico

[Thaddeus]

Give it another 4 months and Bangkok will be one big floating market, again.

What difference is that going to make for the rest of Thailand?

That water will simply flow away into the sea.

'twas simply a prediction of never ending incompetence.

[soalbundy]

I'm so glad he is concerned about the farmers, can you pay us for the 50 tons of rice you bought of us in 2013 but never paid ? Thought not, got to buy a few submarines first.

[Muirton]

"the cabinet also came out with a plan to encourage farmers to shift crop dependency to other types of plants less dependent on rainfall." Well, someone should tell Fearless Leader about welwitschia mirabilis. The problem solved by a plant that grows in the most absolute desert on earth, seeing is believing, will be followed by the problem of what to do with the crop. But, hey, that's for future cabinet meetings to deal with.

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

They need to talk to Korea and copy their system ... or does that require too much thinking and planning ahead?

555 The previous government appointed K water to implement a water management system for the country, but guess what the present government canceled the agreement. At that stage they said they are going to use the B 350 bn that was budgeted for flood prevention tor drought related projects and guess what nothing was done.

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

I'm so glad he is concerned about the farmers, can you pay us for the 50 tons of rice you bought of us in 2013 but never paid ? Thought not, got to buy a few submarines first.

You forgot about the civil servants 3x inflation rate salary increases, multi media system in parliament, army's nearly double digit budget increase, weekly travels to other countries by the great one, double pay for NLA members that are also civil servants etc etc. Sorry to hear about the non-payment its a disgrace.

[halloween]

I'm so glad he is concerned about the farmers, can you pay us for the 50 tons of rice you bought of us in 2013 but never paid ? Thought not, got to buy a few submarines first.

You sold your rice to the RTA?

[Eric Loh]

There is already a Master Plan on Water Resource Management with exactly the same recommendations and more. Don't be embarrassed to copy the 2012 plan. It save lots of time.

[Reigntax]

The general is in good company as the country is concerned about the shortage of intelligence amongst current politicians to deal with any issue however, unlike the general, their voices are kept muffled.

[halloween]

There is already a Master Plan on Water Resource Management with exactly the same recommendations and more. Don't be embarrassed to copy the 2012 plan. It save lots of time.

You don't think any plans drawn up by Yingluk and her 40 Thieves will be viewed with suspicion? Their plan to increase rice exports was a real winner.

[Eric Loh]

There is already a Master Plan on Water Resource Management with exactly the same recommendations and more. Don't be embarrassed to copy the 2012 plan. It save lots of time.

You don't think any plans drawn up by Yingluk and her 40 Thieves will be viewed with suspicion? Their plan to increase rice exports was a real winner.

The junta did copy the infrastructure plan. Didn't they? Village funds and healthcare too. No suspicion on these? OK, rice policy not the smartest and rightly so, she been punished and paid her dues.

[halloween]

There is already a Master Plan on Water Resource Management with exactly the same recommendations and more. Don't be embarrassed to copy the 2012 plan. It save lots of time.

You don't think any plans drawn up by Yingluk and her 40 Thieves will be viewed with suspicion? Their plan to increase rice exports was a real winner.

The junta did copy the infrastructure plan. Didn't they? Village funds and healthcare too. No suspicion on these? OK, rice policy not the smartest and rightly so, she been punished and paid her dues.

Your the one making the claims, how do you know there was no suspicion? Isn't her court case still pending?

[jackanapes]

this problem with water shortages can be solved if money is spent on boreholes and wells .

[soalbundy]

this problem with water shortages can be solved if money is spent on boreholes and wells .

Yeah right, look at California, no problems there. Sooner or later the ground water is used up, no more rain, no more water, climate change isn't just theory it's happening right before our very eyes, i'm glad i'm old but i shudder for the future of my children and grandchildren.

[The Deerhunter]

I'm so glad he is concerned about the farmers, can you pay us for the 50 tons of rice you bought of us in 2013 but never paid ? Thought not, got to buy a few submarines first.

You sold your rice to the RTA?

No. In 2013 it would have been to Yingluck or the one of her cronies. Now, Seriously, Didn't the current government pay out all the Rice scheme people or was this a sale to a totally different body?

[The Deerhunter]

Oh, the ever reacting Thai mentality!

Can they take a clue from history and/or their despised neighbors?

In the 12th. century Angkor Wat was built to honor the Goddess Vishnu. It housed approximately 500,000 to 1 million people by accounts of a Portuguese monk and a Chinese emissary named Zhou Daguan who lived in Angkor for one year between 1296 and 1297. century..

The Khmer built a sophisticated water catchment-irrigation-flood prevention system still extant.

During the rainy season the lake Tonle Sap would overflow and flood the area so, the Khmer, instead of praying and waiting, got to work and built a complex irrigation systems. A highly sophisticated irrigation system allowed the Khmer people to have two rice harvests a year instead of one. Rice was never in short supply, and people had more time to focus on cultural things. It has even been suggested that the Khmer kept slaves to do their work for them.

Fast forward to today's Thailand... Wait for Karma. Pray and summon the wisdom and help of ancestors in the comfort of a cushy coffin or... drill, drill and deplete the underground water table... with the usual consequences...

Sink-holes anyone?

As much as I would love to agree with you, the Tonle Sap is a unique natural feature of Cambodia which Thailand is not fortunate enough to have a replica or any remotely corresponding scale of natural landscape, therefore reference to it here is irrelevant. I do agree however that not enough has been done to trap that river water higher up, in fact 100's of kms upstream from Bangkok and eventually it will flow down, flood Bangkok & wasted, ultimately it must flow out to sea. Thailand is blessed with lots of water. Storage, reticulation & conservation are her shortcomings. Such solutions are always huge, extremely expensive projects and always best situated on NIMBY territory. (Not in my back yard.) Edited June 24, 2015 by The Deerhunter

[Ulic]

Now water in reservoirs is low, dig them out, repair and prepare them to hold more water so when

the rains do eventually come, which they will, you will be both better able to control flooding and

have more water in reserve so bridge droughts. This is not rocket science. Invest some money

in the countries infrastructure.

Edited June 24, 2015 by Ulic

[soalbundy]

I'm so glad he is concerned about the farmers, can you pay us for the 50 tons of rice you bought of us in 2013 but never paid ? Thought not, got to buy a few submarines first.

You sold your rice to the RTA?

No. In 2013 it would have been to Yingluck or the one of her cronies. Now, Seriously, Didn't the current government pay out all the Rice scheme people or was this a sale to a totally different body?

No, the government paid out until the budget was used up,our village was relatively late with the harvest so we came last along with thousands of others which meant there was no money left in the till.We were given two dates for payment which have long gone and now they say wait until we have sold all the rice in the stockpile. Our Tetsabaan has sent two delegations to Bangkok for discussion all to no avail. The farmers co op bank has said that they will lend us our own money at 7% interest but there were just too many takers so that fell flat but they are paying monthly running costs such as debt incurred due to planting, ie plowing,fertilizer,harvesting costs which isn't satisfactory as we are also paying interest to the bank where we borrowed the money instead of paying it all off in one swoop. We aren't planting anything now but those that do must now take out additional credit for planting costs. In my village many are in dire straights due to this, there is no love for Prayut here.

[tajtom]

With all that tourist money and Visa money your country is pulling in.. I are sure you can get the labour in rural areas to constuct water catchers and chanels to farm plots

Its not rocket science

[The Deerhunter]

Now water in reservoirs is low, dig them out, repair and prepare them to hold more water so when

the rains do eventually come, which they will, you will be both better able to control flooding and

have more water in reserve so bridge droughts. This is not rocket science. Invest some money

in the countries infrastructure.

I already offered to pay for exactly that on one we share with a sister-in law. She declined. My investment in her infrastructure and "NoThank you.

[The Deerhunter]

I'm so glad he is concerned about the farmers, can you pay us for the 50 tons of rice you bought of us in 2013 but never paid ? Thought not, got to buy a few submarines first.

You sold your rice to the RTA?

No. In 2013 it would have been to Yingluck or the one of her cronies. Now, Seriously, Didn't the current government pay out all the Rice scheme people or was this a sale to a totally different body?

No, the government paid out until the budget was used up,our village was relatively late with the harvest so we came last along with thousands of others which meant there was no money left in the till.We were given two dates for payment which have long gone and now they say wait until we have sold all the rice in the stockpile. Our Tetsabaan has sent two delegations to Bangkok for discussion all to no avail. The farmers co op bank has said that they will lend us our own money at 7% interest but there were just too many takers so that fell flat but they are paying monthly running costs such as debt incurred due to planting, ie plowing,fertilizer,harvesting costs which isn't satisfactory as we are also paying interest to the bank where we borrowed the money instead of paying it all off in one swoop. We aren't planting anything now but those that do must now take out additional credit for planting costs. In my village many are in dire straights due to this, there is no love for Prayut here.

Wow! Surprised. I have never heard or seen that bit if information before. How about Yingluck? Is she still top of the popularity pole?