Thai govt approves Bt721 million for two drought-busting projects

[webfact]

Govt approves Bt721 million for two drought-busting projects
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- A Cabinet meeting, presided over by Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, yesterday approved a budget of Bt721 million for two projects to tackle next year's drought, Government Spokesman Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said yesterday.

The first was a Bt604-million project to build 30 "monkey cheek" water retaining areas in five Northeastern provinces: Nakhon Phanom (9), Nong Khai (6), Bung Kan (4), Loei (3) and Mukdahan (8). It will be overseen by the Royal Irrigation Department.

Sansern said such "monkey cheek" areas - with a combined storage capacity of 12.77 million cubic metres of water before it poured into the Mekong River - would benefit 14,680 rai of land and 6,030 households.

The second project was a Bt117-million plan to build sandbag check dams at 526 locations along small canals nationwide.

They would boost waterway efficiency and store about 51.73 million cubic metres in total, benefiting 300,000 rai of land and over 20,000 households, he said.

This project would be overseen by the Interior Ministry's local administration organisations.

The idea and planning for these two projects had already been approved in principle by the September 16 Cabinet meeting.

As the rainy season draws to a close, many were concerned the stored water in Thailand might not be enough for use in farming next year.

However, Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department chief Chatchai Phromlert yesterday warned the public of more expected rainfall in the North and Northeast during October 1-5 and instructed officials to prepare for an emergency.

As the East and South received scattered rainfalls in this period, he said the department had received reports that flash flooding at Wang Bo Waterfall in Prachinburi's Khao Yai National Park had killed one person.

He said four districts in Satun province (Manang, Muang, Kuan Don and La Ngu) also reported residents in 544 homes suffering from flash flood.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Govt-approves-Bt721-million-for-two-drought-bustin-30269925.html


-- The Nation 2015-10-01

[naboo]

40,000B per rai and 100,000B per family.

Bargain!

[chainarong]

721 million Baht , not much when you seriously think about it, I have no idea what a Monkey Cheek retaining area is, not putting to fine a line on it ,Thailand can ill afford to stuff up , time has run out , if this is a make doo till we find or fund something else , like we had the flood mitigation programme, that worked fine until it rained, so lets see how this monkey Cheek , actually works, then make a valid comment after the farmers have raised hell.

[Toany]

Floods in the south do not help the Dams in the north and central areas that are very low.

[zaphod reborn]

Floods in the south do not help the Dams in the north and central areas that are very low.

Exactly and that's why monkey cheeks would be a total failure. Thailand needs an aqueduct system like the system used in California. It's the only way to get water from catchment areas to drought stricken areas.

[maidee]

they have like a crystal ball to see there will be a drought next year ?

[maderaroja]

721 million Baht , not much when you seriously think about it, I have no idea what a Monkey Cheek retaining area is, not putting to fine a line on it ,Thailand can ill afford to stuff up , time has run out , if this is a make doo till we find or fund something else , like we had the flood mitigation programme, that worked fine until it rained, so lets see how this monkey Cheek , actually works, then make a valid comment after the farmers have raised hell.

The "Monkey Cheek" retaining area is the King's idea. When he was a boy, he saw that monkeys stuffed their cheeks full of food to eat at a later time.

Many cities in Thailand are built near a bend in the river. Think of a "U" shape with the city in the bottom of the "U". It is easy to access the slow flowing water at the bend and river traffic can provide for the economy of the city.

The buildings were built on stilts. So, that during the flooding of the river, the water would not affect the residents of the buildings.

Unfortunately, since Thais have decided to live flat on the ground, the river now floods the buildings causing loss to the community.

If you build another channel for the water across the bend in the river and install weirs to control inflow and outflow and add a flood plain or reservoir to hold water, in the middle, you will have "Monkey Cheek". It can be opened during the flood season and save the city from the excess of the water and, hopefully, flooding.

Edited October 1, 2015 by maderaroja

[zaphod reborn]

721 million Baht , not much when you seriously think about it, I have no idea what a Monkey Cheek retaining area is, not putting to fine a line on it ,Thailand can ill afford to stuff up , time has run out , if this is a make doo till we find or fund something else , like we had the flood mitigation programme, that worked fine until it rained, so lets see how this monkey Cheek , actually works, then make a valid comment after the farmers have raised hell.

The "Monkey Cheek" retaining area is the King's idea. When he was a boy, he saw that monkeys stuffed their cheeks full of food to eat at a later time.

Many cities in Thailand are built near a bend in the river. Think of a "U" shape with the city in the bottom of the "U". It is easy to access the slow flowing water at the bend and river traffic can provide for the economy of the city.

The buildings were built on stilts. So, that during the flooding of the river, the water would not affect the residents of the buildings.

Unfortunately, since Thais have decided to live flat on the ground, the river now floods the buildings causing loss to the community.

If you build another channel for the water across the bend in the river and install weirs to control inflow and outflow and add a flood plain or reservoir to hold water, in the middle, you will have "Monkey Cheek". It can be opened during the flood season and save the city from the excess of the water and, hopefully, flooding.

That's great, but it does nothing to alleviate drought. Why build a half-ass system, when better infrastructure will provide security against dual threats of natural disaster, which is what Thailand is currently undergoing - flooding in the south and northeast/east, drought in the north and central areas?

Edited October 1, 2015 by zaphod reborn

[trainman34014]

Don't believe a word of it until you see it's been built. We've yet to see a sod turned on all the other 'Infrastructure Projects' that billions have been pledged to.

[PoorSucker]

The man in the picture seems happy that he will get help to ease the drought.

[maderaroja]

Don't believe a word of it until you see it's been built. We've yet to see a sod turned on all the other 'Infrastructure Projects' that billions have been pledged to.

There are many "Monkey Cheek" projects that have been built throughout Thailand. You only need to look for them.

Edited October 1, 2015 by maderaroja

[bamnutsak]

Yes, just what is needed, more mass areas of standing water for malarial and dengue mosquitoes to breed.

I think this whole "Monkey Cheeks" thing is way over used, much like cloud-seeding, for water-resource management.