in reply to eliot ness I am neither ignorant or a fool I think you are a pompous prig to presume so I am not oconcerned what will happen in 20 or 30 years from now because I will no longer be on this planet ,the present situation is very dire and it needs a quick fix and at the moment ground water wells are the answer .

Please read the series of replies above. I neither called you ignorant or a fool, that was someone else. I don't expect an apology, but all I ask is you read the posts correctly next time.

I have seen first-hand the unexpected consequences of long-term over pumping of ground water. In one case it caused pollution of that aquifer that would have cost millions of £/$ to resolve. I'm so sorry you don't seem to care about the health of future generations, but if it's any consolation neither do many of the world's people.

I agree that the current is dire, but be careful of quick fixes that may come back and bite you on the bum !

in reply to eliot ness I am neither ignorant or a fool I think you are a pompous prig to presume so I am not oconcerned what will happen in 20 or 30 years from now because I will no longer be on this planet ,the present situation is very dire and it needs a quick fix and at the moment ground water wells are the answer .

Please read the series of replies above. I neither called you ignorant or a fool, that was someone else. I don't expect an apology, but all I ask is you read the posts correctly next time.

I have seen first-hand the unexpected consequences of long-term over pumping of ground water. In one case it caused pollution of that aquifer that would have cost millions of £/$ to resolve. I'm so sorry you don't seem to care about the health of future generations, but if it's any consolation neither do many of the world's people.

I agree that the current is dire, but be careful of quick fixes that may come back and bite you on the bum !

In my experience of water tables/ground water you mess with them at your peril...future drainage problems contamination and sink holes to name just three..but this is Thailand and everything is about today and not planning for the future.Hence the problem they have now...oh well

Planting peas (a legume) could have soil quality benefits (??)

Legumes are nitrogen fixing plants ( they add nitrogen to the soil). They can rejuvenate depleted soils and decrease the need for chemical fertilizers.

They require far less irrigation than rice.

This is a practical plan.

Someone is thinking.

I agree. But how many Thai dishes do you see with legumes in them? They're not popular with the Thais. Even in their vegetarian restaurants which would be the staple of a Western equivalent, whereas the Thais use tofu only, which of course is derived from just one type of legume.

in reply to eliot ness I am neither ignorant or a fool I think you are a pompous prig to presume so I am not concerned what will happen in 20 or 30 years from now because I will no longer be on this planet ,the present situation is very dire and it needs a quick fix and at the moment ground water wells are the answer .

Like many here, I have an artesian well as there's no alternative water supply. When a neighbour told me he wasn't going to lash out on a water filtration system for his proposed well as the water is 'so pure', I'd told him that when yet another construction was started to the rear and side of my property, my water turned white from the cement being dumped. So no, mass water well boring is decidedly not the answer.

in reply to eliot ness I am neither ignorant or a fool I think you are a pompous prig to presume so I am not concerned what will happen in 20 or 30 years from now because I will no longer be on this planet ,the present situation is very dire and it needs a quick fix and at the moment ground water wells are the answer .

Like many here, I have an artesian well as there's no alternative water supply. When a neighbour told me he wasn't going to lash out on a water filtration system for his proposed well as the water is 'so pure', I'd told him that when yet another construction was started to the rear and side of my property, my water turned white from the cement being dumped. So no, mass water well boring is decidedly not the answer.

Interesting ! How deep is your well, because for surface "pollution" to reach an aquifer it would suggest it is quite shallow, or there is severely fractured rock under your house, or your borehole wasn't cased correctly, or you are extracting from "a perched water-table" ? But these things do happen. Did you check the pH as cement run-off is quite alkaline ? A farmer in Botswana poisoned his herd of cows because he watered them right next to the borehole and eventually the nitrates in the cows urine soaked down into the soil/rock contaminating the aquifer and too high nitrate concentrations kills man & beast.