Thailand's Water Shortage Leads to Conflicts, Calls for Better Management of the Nation's Water Resources
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by Phairath Khampha
Since January 1999 Thailand has been experiencing one of its worst droughts ever, particularly in the northern, central and northeast regions of the country. The problem has been exacerbated by a lack of adequate national-level water resoucres management policies and institutional capacity, a lack of adquate regulations for the management and exploitation of water resources, and greedy and selfish farmers who sucked out the last remaining water resources to irrigate crops and who ignored government instructions to not plant second crops even though the water shortage had been predicted. |
Six Million People in Thailand Hit by Water Shortage
The severe water shortages affected more than six million people in Thailand's 46 provinces by the beginning of February 1999, according to an official report released by Thailand's Interior Ministry on February 3, 1999. The report stated the water shortages had hit a total of 1,369,437 families, or 6,350,356 people, in 364 districts of 46 provinces up to February 1, compared with the previous year's 228,664 families or 945,425 people in 300 districts of 42 provinces. This forms a little more than 10 percent of the country's population.
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New Conflicts for the Oldest Resource Loom in
Increasingly Water-Scarce Thailand
Woman on the river bed of a completely dry Yom
River. |
The Thai government spent 21 million baht (583,333 U.S. dollars) from
its reserve budget to build 1,347 new tube wells and dikes. Some 224 million
liters of clean water had been distributed to affected villagers by truck.
The areas affected were: 12 northern provinces of Chiang Mai, Phetchabun, Sukhothai, Chiang Rai, Tak, Phitsanulok, Lampang, Lamphun, Nan, Phichit, Nakhon Sawan and Phrae; 17 northeastern provinces of Nakhon Ratchasima, Mukdahan, Nong Bua Lamphu, Amnat Charoen, Khon Kaen, Sakon Nakhon, Maha Sarakham, Kalasin, Nong Khai, Yasothon, Roi Et, Loei, Nakhon Phanom, Chaiyaphum, Buri Ram, Udon Thani and Si Sa Ket; Ten central provinces of Chainat, Ang Thong, Lop Buri, Ratchaburi, Samut Songkhram, Ayutthaya, Kanchanaburi, Sing Buri, Pathum Thani and Phetchaburi; Six eastern provinces of Sa Kaew, Chon Buri, Chanthaburi, Rayong, Prachin Buri and Chachoengsao; and Krabi in the South. |
The government had spent 21 million baht from its reserve budget to build 1,347 Tube wells and dykes. Some 224 million litres of clean water had been distributed by truck to affected villagers. Rice farmers had increased their off-season cultivation areas beyond the 720,00-rai limit, particularly in the North with a total of about 1.88 million rai.
The Thai government's water resource development has been so badly managed and poorly coordinated that new irrigation projects were sometimes built upstream, depriving existing downstream projects and resulting in shortages and empty storage capacity, an Agriculture Ministry report says. |
More areas were expected to face water shortages as the combined capacity of seven major dams stood at only 33,984 million cubic metres, of which only 8,451 million cubic metres, or 24.9 percent, could be used for consumption and cultivation. |
Fight for water looms in Kamphaeng Phet Province
Greedy and selfish rice farmers in the northern province of Kamphaeng Phet at the beginning of February were defying the government's water rationing order and continuing to pump water out of a main irrigation canal although they should have been stopped on January 31, 1999.
 Dramatic example of severity of Thailand's drought, children walk to school along the middle of the now-dry bed of the Yom River. |
"We really need water every day. We don't care if we are arrested, but
if we are blocked from pumping water we'll protest," said Wan Yodkaew, deputy
head of Kamphaeng Phet electric water pump users. Kamphaeng Phet is among
seven provinces in the lower Northern Region of Thailand where the government
had to impose water rationing to ensure there is enough for the Central Plains
and Bangkok. The other six are Tak, Uttaradit, Phitsanulok, Nakhon Sawan,
Phichit and Sukhothai provinces.
Farmers in each lower northern province can pump water out of irrigation canals for three days before suspending pumping for the next six days. The pumping period in Kamphaeng Phet should have stopped January 31. |
"From now on rice must be soaked all the time or it will be too dry to give a yield," Mr Wan said, referring to the second rice crop in his province. He described the water rationing measure as unacceptable and insisted that farmers in Kamphaeng Phet not turn off their 46 electric pumps.
WATER CRISIS:
Bangok:
Buri Ram:
Nakhon Nayok:
Isan water shortage gets worse
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"The second rice crop is the only hope for farmers to survive their debt
burdens. The only thing we need is water. We don't ask for more," said Mr
Wan. In fact, Kamphaeng Phet farmers quarrelled with one another when their
water pump period started on January 28 as the pump in Wang Yang irrigation
canal took all the water within ten minutes and left not even a drop for
downstream farmers in the same province.
"Downstream farmers nearly killed those upstream as they refused to slow their pumps," said Mr Thongkham Phosri, deputy head of a water allocation panel at Ban Mai village in Khanu Woralaksaburi district. The panel finally ordered all farmers to turn off their pumps for one day to allow the whole irrigation canal to refill and then let them start pumping simultaneously again. With farmers in Kamphaeng Phet defying water rationing, farmers in downstream Nakhon Sawan province who were using the same irrigation canal feared there would not be enough water for them. Uan Rong-orn, a farmer in Banphotphisai district of Nakhon Sawan, said his paddy would die in a week without water and artificial wells were already dry. Without his paddy, Mr Uan said he had no idea how his family could survive this summer. He borrowed more than 40,000 baht for his second rice crop after facing financial problems when the first one was hit hard by pests. The government's suggestion that soybean be used did not work in the sticky and heavy clay soil of Nakhon Sawan, he said. Somwang Phantumas, a farmer in the same district, said he and his cousins had come home from Bangkok after losing their jobs, only to find their paddy fields dry and everything dead. Despite defiance in Kamphaeng Phet, an official at Chao Phraya dam in Chainat province, which supplies water to the Central Plains via the Chao Phraya river, said overall, upstream farmers in the seven lower northern provinces were cooperating on water rationing. Water consumption in the seven provinces had dropped from 10 million cubic metres to seven million cubic metres daily; therefore, there should be enough water for agriculture and saline water confrontation on the Central Plains, said the official who asked not to be named. Errant farmers' pumps to be seized Farmers who ignore the Royal Irrigation Department's call to draw water from irrigation canals on certain days only may have their pumps seized, Agriculture Ministry deputy permanent secretary Kijja Pholpasi warned on February 2. Kijja said too many greedy and selfish farmers upstream from Bhumibol and Sirikit dams had been consuming increasing amounts of water without any trend suggesting a slow-down. Under the allocation system developed by the Irrigation Department, each agricultural area has its own schedule to draw water for three days and stop for six days, during which other areas took turns to draw water. |
Many farmers, however, did not heed the call because they are greedy and selfish and not concerned with the plight of others. They pumped water into their farms without taking days off, resulting in severe water shortages for farmers in more than 20 lower Northern and Central provinces in Thailand.
Once overflowing with water, a large reservoir in Phitsanulok Province's Wang Thong District dried up and became a cattle pasture. |
He said he would propose that the ministry seize their water pumps and
return them after the off-season crop harvest. Provincial governors would
be empowered to take control of water use and seize water pumps from farmers
who failed to heed the call.
"I do understand the farmers' compulsions, but they must also heed the public interest," Kijja said. Kijja said that the farmers would only get water for their second crop and if they went on to grow third or fourth crops they would not get any water at all. "We must come up with more stringent measures to stop them, otherwise we will not be able to manage the water allocation," he said. The Irrigation Department released about 27 million cubic metres from the two dams for farmers, but it seemed to be far from enough. Kijja said he hoped the water shortage would cease temporarily in February when the second crop was harvested. He allayed fears of a seawater-intrusion problem this year due to the water shortage saying that the Royal Irrigation Department had constructed an embankment to protect agricultural land, as in Nonthaburi Province's Pak Kret district. However, this does not alter the fact that there is massive sea water intrusion occurring. |
Agriculture Minister Pongpol Adireksarn said the ministry would seek Cabinet approval for a 239 million Baht fund from the government central fund to create artificial rain in four of the eight drought-stricken areas.
Cloud-seeding only adds to woes
Swollen water levels in reservoirs as a result of cloud-seeding tempted more and more rice farmers to expand their cultivation of off-season crops despite repeated official warnings against it for fear of drought, officials said on February 2.
Agriculture Ministry drought official Uthai Senphakdi said on February 2 that the official cloud-seeding in Nakhon Sawan the week before had produced rain in Tak, Phitsanulok, Phetchabun, Kamphaengphet, Nakhon Sawan, Chainat, Ayutthaya, Lop Buri and Suphan Buri provinces. He added that the rains had added five million cubic metres of water to the Bhumibol and Sirikit dams.
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The latest three billion-plus cubic metres in the dams was enough to
provide 10 days of water for off-season farming. Uthai said he was worried
that there would be too many peasants cultivating their second and third
crops in a Royal Irrigation Department Nakhon Sawan, Tak, Kamphaengphet,
Uthai Thani and Chainat provinces.
The official said that the present amount of water in the reservoirs could sustain only 3.8 million rai of farmland while farmers had scrambled to plant close to 5.1 million rai, 33 per cent above the recommended level. |
He said that the Agriculture Ministry had set up cloud-seeding centres in Phitsanulok to preserve soil water and increase the water volume in the Bhumibol and Sirikit dams. The centres became operational February 2.
Uthai said that feuds, though fewer in number, involving farmers struggling to draw scarce water from the Chao Phraya river in the six alluvial provinces were still being reported.
Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said on February 2 that provincial administrations could seek help from the government's central fund to fight the drought if their own provincial fund was not enough.
Factories in Northeast become first victims - Some plants have to dig up wells
The water shortage took its toll in Nakhon Ratchasima Province in Thailand's northeast region, with industrial plants its very first victims, said a provincial industry official. Some of 2,500 plants including electronic parts manufacturing plants and sugar refineries were left to fend for themselves in the looming water shortage, said Vorarat Champamoon. Many operators were facing shortage of water supplies to operate their machines and had to dig up wells or send out empty trucks to bring back water from natural water resources.
Officials at Lam Ta Khong Dam, the province's main reservoir, were also facing a challenge of water management. Vinai Wongfufuengkajorn, a dam official, said the reservoir was holding 102 million cubic metres of water, but only 70 million could be used. He said the challenge is how to manage the 70 cubic metres of water to make it last until June 1999 or when the monsoon season begins. The reservoir, with a capacity of 445 million cubic metres of water, supplies water to five districts of Nakhon Rachasima - Sikhiu, Sung Noen, Kham Thale So, Muang and Chalermphrakiat.
Mr Vinai said there were adequate water supplies for all sectors which use about 300,000 cubic metres of water if farmers would stop their second rice crop cultivation, adding that the second rice farming covered more than 2,000 rai. However, he insisted that the water situation was not as bad as in 1993 when the water level hit the lowest record of 30 million cubic metres.
Mayor Bavorn Srivilailak said on February 1 tap water production had not been affected. However, he said the municipality was not taking any chances and was using a water rationing plan.
Water shortage hits 500 state schools due to prolonged 4-month dry spell
More than 500 state-run primary schools have been afflicted by a water shortage for more than four months due to a prolonged drought, according to Ubon Ratchathani provincial primary education office chief Prasong Maknual.
Mr Prasong said 531 out of all 1,096 state-run primary schools in Ubon Ratchathani have been facing shortages of drinking water for over four months to the end of January while 119 others for 3-4 months, 56 others for 2-3 months and eight others for one month because of drought. The water shortage affected the growing of vegetables at these schools for their lunch schemes and forced the pupils to take drinking water from home to drink at school.
The office requested that local administrative bodies supply water for drought-hit schools and asked every school to prepare and mend its water containers, check its tap water system and campaign for the prudent use of water among teachers and students, Mr Prasong said.
Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart and provincial governors would hold a round-table discussion in Pathum Thani Province on measures to deal with the water shortage. They recognize the problem is mainly due to inapporpriate water resource management policies in the country which has resulted in an near-anarchy situation with respect to sharing of these valuable resources. Maj-Gen Sanan said he would call a meeting of all provincial governors at the Administration Development Institute to gather first-hand information on water rationing plans and steps to curb the growing of second rice crops.
He also wants to start implementing as soon as possible to retain both domestic and international water resources management engineering consultants and experts to examine the situation and prepare a series of projects to be financed internally and hopefully by international aid agencies to strengthen water resources management policies and government institutions responsible for water resources planning and management nation-wide. Plans also need to be drawn up to involve water-user communities, particularly the rural people who often use water with complete disregard for the needs of others.
The plans would be difficult to implement because although there obviously would not be problems with domestic consultants, it is difficult to find foreign consulting firms staffed by engineers and experts who understand the cultural constrains, climate, geography, social problems in rural areas of Thailand and, importantly, have the necessary Thai language skills to work effectively with Thais, he added. He said that although Thai firms have most of the skills, their approach would need to be balanced by those of others who can view the issues related to water resouced management in Thailand with an external perspective and fresh approach, and who would not be laden with the baggage of internal politics and certain unhealthy relations with government officials and members of parliament or provincial councils. There are many vested interests in Thailand, both public figures as well as private, who would prefer to maintain the current situation of water resources management because they can greatly profit from providing water supply and management services at nearly usurious prices, however it is not good for the greater whole of the nation nor the economy, he stated.
Interior Ministry officials planned to visit the drought-hit provinces soon to find out how to assist the affected people, the Democrat secretary-general said. According to him, a water shortage in the lower Chao Phraya River Basin been eased somewhat by unseasonal downpours since late January but the problem remained serious in the North and Northeast regions of Thailand.
Drought drives monkeys into village
The drought drove more than 2,000 hungry monkeys to wreak havoc on a village in Rasi Salai district of Si Sa Ket Province in their search for food. Some 10 people from Ban Waan, tambon Waankham, said on February 8 they had been attacked by monkeys on raids from nearby Don Puta. Villagers say the monkeys steal what ever they can find, including even eggs from hen houses, fermented fish and sticky rice.
Thassanee Sadaengharn, who lives just 10 metres from the monkeys' habitat, said there are raids every dry season when their regular sources of food dry up. Harn Othibutr, 52, who owns a restaurant at Ban Waan, said the monkeys broke one of his shop windows while fighting for chicken meat during a raid on February 7.
Local people dare not approach the monkeys since a villager was bitten while trying to keep a troop away from his food supplies.
Witthaya Saenthaweesuk, senior assistant district chief, said the tambon (sub-district) Waankham Administration Organisation had run out of money to buy food for the monkeys and was waiting for a budget for 1999. However, as a short-term solutiion, the district set up three points at Rasi Salai Market for locals and tourists to donate food to the animals.
In January 1997, Poj Jaimaan, the Si Sa Ket governor, had planned the setting-up of a fund to provide food for the monkeys. But his plan had not materialised yet.
More than 140 drought relief centres planned
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration set up more than 140 drought relief centres in 12 districts and provincial authorities briefed on plans to cope with the crisis.
The city administration, during the dry spell, began in early February to set up 143 water distribution centres in Thawiwathana, Phra Nakhon, Saphan Sung, Wathana, Bang Khen, Prawet, Bang Kho Laem, Chom Thong, Bang Bon, Bueng Kum, Don Muang and Bang Khun Thian districts of Bangkok, Mahin Tanboonperm said. Fifty-two trucks were used to transport water to the centres which were equipped with tanks and reservoirs ranging in capacity from 200 to 2,500 litres.
Meanwhile, a government spokesman said on February 9 the Interior Ministry had distributed 271 million cubic metres of water to 7.6 million people suffering from the effects of drought in 47 provinces.
Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart said provincial governors would, during the dry spell, be encouraged to help avert disruption to agricultural activities and drinking water supplies and the contamination of fresh by sea water intrusion.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Anurak Jureemat said on February 9 the provincial governors should warn rice farmers against growing the second crop after March 2, or else the flow of water would be insufficient to prevent sea water from seeping in to destroy farm land.
Permanent secretary for interior Chanasak Yuwaboon said on the same the implemented water management method would ensure supplies until May. He said the ministry will need feedback about water usage and the situation from field operatives every two weeks in order to review plans and effectively manage resources.
Water shortage under control, claims Sanan
Despite the serious effects the drought in Thailand had had in February on rural communities, the water shortage which was expected to affect the second crop in the North and Northeast was now under control, Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart claimed on February 9.
"Water will be available until March [1999] for consumption and for the second rice crop," he said adding that "planting the third rice crop must be strictly forbidden".
The measures implemented by a national ad hoc committee on water management include pumping water for three days and stopping the supply for six days in all areas affected by the shortage, Sanan said. As a result, the amount of water behind the Chao Phraya Dam in Chainat Province would increase from 10 million cubic metres per day to about 15-20 million cubic metres per day.
However, the interior minister told a meeting of governors from all over the country at Government House that the plan must continue until the end of May. He ordered the governors to revise the plan every two weeks.
"The governors must be at the centre of solving the water crisis in consultation with the ad-hoc committee of the three main ministries -- the Interior Ministry, Science Ministry and Agriculture Ministry," he added.
"The only problem remaining now is how to cope in the days left until the next rainy season, especially in the 267 districts of 42 affected provinces," Sanan said.
According to Interior Ministry statistics, the number of villagers affected by the water shortage in 1999 was as high as 7.6 million (1.65 million families) in 435 districts of 47 provinces -- more than half of which are in the Northeast. This was more than 10 percent of Thailand's population of around 61 million people.
Deputy Interior Minister Praphat Phothasuthon, who is also the chief of the ad-hoc committee for the lower northern region, said governors must set up ad-hoc provincial committees to solve the water crisis within seven days, in order to continue the water control measures.
"Officials must visit farmers in the affected areas and explain to them the need and how to limit the use of water from the dam. If possible, they must ask them to switch to other crops which use less water instead of the third crop," he said.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Anurak Chureemas said three options were available for farmers to fight the water crisis -- planting crops which use less water, such as sweet corn, in areas which have some water, planting grass to produce fresh fertiliser (to use as a green manure) in areas which have less amounts of water, and for use as fodder for ducks and hens in water shortage areas.
Both Interior Ministry and Science Ministry representatives asked for more funds from the government to fight the water crisis.
239 million Baht more needed for rain-making - Water to be rationed to curb cultivation
A further 239 million baht is to be sought by the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry for artificial rain-making operations to cope with the severe drought.
Anurak Jureemas, deputy agriculture minister, said yesterday the money, to be drawn from the central fund, was needed for operations to replenish reservoir stocks. The ministry, with help from the air force, has been active in four areas of Nakhon Sawan and Phitsanulok provinces and plans to extend operations to four more below the Bhumibol Dam in Tak, he said.
To limit second crop cultivation, the ministry would ration water in Tak, Uttaradit, Kamphaeng Phet, Phitsanulok, Nakhon Sawan, Phichit and Sukhothai provinces, he said. Water from the Ping, Nan and Yom rivers would be rationed on a rotation basis in those provinces. The Royal Irrigation Department would allow each province three days of water and six without to safeguard supplies to the Chao Phraya reservoir in Chainat Province, which serves the Central Plains. Sanan Kachornprasart, the interior minister, said after talks on the looming crisis the rapid expansion of second crop areas had sharply reduced levels in many rivers and dams.
Off-season rice areas have so far reached five million rai, exceeding the 3.8-million-rai limit, with much of the expansion in Kamphaeng Phet, Nakhon Sawan, Phitsanulok, Phichit and Sukhothai provinces. About 8-10 million cubic metres from the Bhumibol and Sirikit dams have gone to second crops in Nakhon Sawan Province, causing a sharp decrease in levels at the dams.
As part of the effort to curb consumption, a centre in the lower North, chaired by Praphat Pothasunthon, deputy interior minister, told provincial authorities to set up working groups to liaise with local agencies and people about water use.
In Lampang, low levels in the Kiew Lom reservoir began to restrict generating capacity at the Mae Moh power plant and tap water production. Mae Moh had so far spent one billion baht pumping water from the reservoir to produce electricity. Kiew Lom Dam, the province's main water source, can hold 112 million cubic metres but was down to 100 million cubic metres. Suvit Khantiyawong, director of Lampang's health and environment centre, said the drought is taking its toll on the ecosystems in the Ping, Wang, Yom and Nan rivers.
Governor Chalermphol Pratheepavanit of Lampang set up a centre to help 13 stricken districts, where sand bags were distributed to enable people to block waterways and store water for farm and domestic use. Mr Chalermphol said allegations by villagers that a sugar plant had dumped waste water into the Wang River in Ko Kha district were being investigated.
In the Northeast, a food shortage brought on by the drought forced hundreds of villagers in Si Sa Ket Province to hunt locusts for food. Am-on Sudjai, 52, of Ban Kho, Muang district of Si Sa Ket Province, said villagers had no option because their crops had failed. Niwat Phumwong, a local environmentalist, said many local people had abandoned their homes to search for jobs in the towns.
Water flow from dams to be cut as shortage hits -Warning issued on central plains crop
The Royal Irrigation Department drastically reduced the rate of water discharge from the Bhumibhol and Sirikit dams over the few months following February - and it warned farmers in Thailand's Central Plains not to start the third rice crop.
The water supply from the two dams would be decreased in stages from the height of 26 million cubic metres m3 per day to 20 million m3 in April to 15 million m3 in May and 10 million m3 in June.
Kicha Polparsi, deputy permanent-secretary of the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry, warned farmers in the Central Plains to refrain from planting the third rice crop. He said: "Let me warn that water scarcity in May and June would be severe and and there would not be enough water for the third crop. The farmers will suffer losses," he added.
The warning came even though heavy rainfalls earlier in February increased the water volume in Bhumibhol and Sirikit dams by 25 million m3. The rain also raised the levels in natural water sources like marshes and canals by about 50 centimetres.
Meanwhile, Mr Kicha said the water use for the second rice crop had slowed down. He also said farmers in upper-central provinces such as Nakhon Sawan, Tak, Kamphaeng Phet and Sukhothai provinces cooperated with the ministry's water rationing plan and had not pumped as much water as they had earlier.
Defiance of planting limit worsens problem
The sound of diesel-powered water pumps along the major distribution canals in Ang Thong Province, a major rice-growing province, is worrying for both farmers and the authorities alike.
Despite appeals to conserve water, farmers such as Sompong Sukpueng (47) are being forced to take desperate action. He and his peers on the Central Plain are in dire need of water for their second crop, sown last November. Harvest time is near and Mr Sukpueng could see his investment wiped out if his 28-rai paddy field does not receive water.
Farmers have agreed to take turns pumping water from canals into their fields. But the situation is so bad that Mr Sompong, like many other farmers, cannot wait his turn. The motivation is strong. If his crop is successful it will help him repay a loan from the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives.
The outlook is bleak, though. Production from this year's second rice crop is expected to total 2.96 million tons, down from 4.79 million last year. Decha Pornbamroong, manager and owner of Decha rice market in Bang-plama, Suphan Buri, blamed the water shortage for problem.
Currently paddy production costs are estimated at 3,000 baht a ton, while the farmers receives between 4,800 and 6,000 baht, depending on the moisture content. Rice with a moisture content of 15 percent fetches 5,900 to 6,000 baht per ton, compared with 4,700 to 4,900 for 30 percent.
Thai Farmers Research Centre says rice exports are likely to decline in line with the shrinking cultivation area. Thailand would likely earn 60 billion baht from rice exports this year, 30 percent less than last year.
The water shortage affected more than 4.5 million people throughout 34 provinces. Farmers in the lower northern provinces of Kamphaeng Phet, Nakhon Sawan, Pichit, Phitsanulok and Sukhothai have worsened the problem by expanding cultivation areas for the off-season rice crop to 1.75 million rai, in defiance of the 578,500-rai limit.
With competition for water intensifying, farmers in Kamphaeng Phet were threatening to demolish dams and weirs and irrigation plants if they do not get a satisfactory water ration. The rainy season was expected to be later than usual this year.
The excessive expansion of off-season cultivation adversely affected water supplies in the Chao Phraya reservoir in Chainat Province, which serve provinces in the Central Plains and are supposed to provide enough fresh water to flush out salty water entering the Chao Phraya River.
If weather patterns are normal, farmers can grow off-season rice twice, from November to May, tapping irrigation systems, a sufficient water supply and improved strains that can be harvested in 90 days. That practice is unlikely to work this year.
Surachet Popichit, an irrigation officer in Ang Thong, said good returns in 1998 and reasonably good prices in 1999 had encouraged farmers to expand their crops despite warnings from the Agriculture Ministry since November to switch to other crops because of the water shortage. Off-season rice cultivation has long been a major staple source of income for farmers in Ang Thong as the cultivation area covers about 75 percent of the entire arable land in the province.
"The worst water shortage I saw was in 1994. It is too early to judge this year, but I hope the situation will not be worse. But the [irrigation] system could collapse if farmers panic and hoard water," Mr Surachet said.
Irrigation authorities had been campaigning since November 1998 for water conservation. But it was hard to persuade farmers to switch to alternative crops requiring less water, he said. The second crop is estimated to need 1,500 cubic metres of water per rai, with demand rising to 2,000 cubic metres in an extremely dry year. The government suggested farmers plant fast-growing vegetables that would improve soil quality and raise chickens as alternative income sources.
Sukanya Antanai, an officer with the Agriculture Department in Ang Thong Province, said the introduction of cowpea was relatively new in the province. Farmers could plant cowpea to restore soil quality and the authority would buy back the seeds at 20 baht a kilogram. The buy-back quota is set at 100 kg per farmer.
But it was difficult to convince farmers to plant legumes which would require only 4 percent of the cultivation area, when they could easily sell rice for 5,000 baht a ton. Also, people in the Central Plains did not like the taste of cowpea and the Land Development Department had yet to explain what it would do with excess cowpea seed production.
Meanwhile, industries had to cut back production in the previous 18 months, reducing their demand for water. Many factories also use their own wells rather than surface water.
Uthai Juntima, an executive of the Industrial Estate Authority, said estates in the Central Plains and eastern provinces were not affected by the water shortage. Given the significant unused capacity of industrial estates, there would be enough water to support production even if the shortage was prolonged.
"We found water consumption by factories at the IEAT estate in Lampoon Province had declined to 250,000 cubic metres in January 1999 from 270,000 in December 1998," he said.
The polluter-pays principle had also encouraged companies to be more sparing in using water. The IEAT had provided additional wells and was encouraging factories to use recycled water.
An executive from East Water Resources Development and Management Plc, a raw water supplier for industries in Chon Buri and Rayong, said he was confident there would be enough water for industries there. Reservoirs in Rayong and Chon Buri provinces had stored 239.6 million cubic metres of water, 90 percent of their storage capacity, enough for the year even if rain did not start until November 1999, he said.
Agencies team up to combat drought
Four Thai state agencies have pledged to inject more than 20 million baht into a joint operation to combat drought.
Gen Surayud Chulanont, the army chief, said on February 16 the Mineral Resources Department, Provincial Electricity Authority, Petroleum Authority of Thailand and army have agreed to join hands to help alleviate the effects of the drought, which was expected to worsen with the onset of the 1999 summer.
The MRD is to fund the construction of more tube wells as well as rehabilitation of old wells and water supply systems, while the PEA has pledged 11 million baht toward the joint operation. The PEA will also give six million baht worth of petrol for the operation and set up 1,500 outlets to distribute petrol to concerned agencies, while the army will despatch soldiers to help distribute water in dry areas. The army will also allocate unspecified sums for the scheme.
The operation was to be launched in February and would last until the situation improves.
Thailand takes firm line on Asian Development Bank water-user fee loan terms
The Asian Development Bank was urged by the Thais to ease up on its demands to have a water-user charge implemented as terms for a large loan. The Thai government indicated that rather funds would be drawn from the budget for the year 2000 for agricultural and rural development projects if the Asian Development Bank refuses to ease terms on its $300-million loan. Thai cabinet ministers agreed to this resolution on February 16. They are saying that outside financing agencies cannot dictate how a country is to be run. It is better to forfeit the opportunity of a loan.
"We are no longer so desperate for money that we have to kiss their feet and meet all their demands," they said, "They [the ADB] is just a bank and like all banks their purpose in life is one-track. Any demands they make would be beneficial to them and certainly not to the client [borrower]. That is how that game is played."
The Thai prime minister said the government would only accept terms with which the country could cope.
"Otherwise we won't borrow the money," said Chuan Leekpai, "It's as simple as that. Take it or leave it."
Although proposals that fees be collected for use of irrigation water were not new [see related story 'No Charge' for Using River Water in Thailand], it would not be right to impose the burden on farmers who cannot pay. It would just create new financial problems in rural areas that would require Thailand to see more external financing to solve.
"It is easy to see what their gambit is," said the prime minister referring the financing agencies.
Pongpol Adireksarn, agriculture minister, said he would urge the ADB to be flexible. The ministry had borrowed from many foreign sources. Between 1998-2001 alone, the ministry borrowed 8.5 billion baht from the Japanese Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and lender countries such as Spain and Finland. Terms on most of the loans were lenient, said Mr Pongpol, who feared the water charge proposal would invite conflict between the state and poor farmers. Water charges should be collected on a voluntary basis, he said, pointing to sugarcane planters who believed the system would lead to a more effective water distribution. Mr Pongpol was confident the ADB would accept the government's concerns and ease the condition.
Akapol Sorasuchart, government spokesman, said ministers agreed the loan contract between the ADB and Finance Ministry should not be legally binding for it would affect the administration. The government would meanwhile move on with the $200-million first-phase of the development program, which should have started in 1998, with loans from the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund of Japan.
The phase involves improving produce quality, supporting alternative agriculture to boost production and growth of community forests. It also involves a more integrated approach to watershed management and development activities. The reason for the delay is that the government requires a host of foreign consultants, but few have expressed interest in this work and it is still waiting.
The second phase, yet to be considered by the cabinet, involves a loan of $400 million for increasing production efficiency to boost competitiveness.
Of the total $600-million for agricultural infrastructure development which would include improvements to irrigation and other rural infrastructure, $300 million has been obtained from the OECF and $300 million is being negotiated with the ADB. The ADB is currently short-listing a number of consulting firms for the Project Preparatory Technical Assistance it hopes to start to implement before the end of 1999. The process may have to be fast-tracked and the bank is considering further in-person solicitations by the various interested consortia. It would be imperative for applicants to meet with ADB officials to better determine how they might fit in the process.
Meanwhile, the NGO Co-ordinating Committee on Development, comprising 62 member groups, petitioned the government to reconsider the $600-million package. The committee said it was not in line with the Eighth National Economic and Social Development Plan which emphasises promoting sustainable development rather than industrialisation.
The group urged the government to use the national budget in supporting agricultural development and avoid signing loan contracts that would affect the sector, particularly small farmers. They arguie that despite all the up-front talk, agencies such as the ADB generate grandiose-sounding titles to projects that have politically-correct appearances. However, they argue, they have observed that in other countries the projects actually set up the foundations for the establishment agro-business and other related industrialization processes owned by the wealthy rather than true sustainable rural development. With it comes the exploitation of local people who are often marginalized by the process. Often they are expropriated of their lands and means of life. They, too, argue that agencies such as the ADB have ulterior motives which in reality are aimed at assisting the wealthy rather than the rural poor.
It urged the government to involve agriculturalists and local communities in considering conditions on water use before the cabinet approves in principle the Water Bill, scheduled for the first trimester of 1999.
Addressing demands for the disclosure of terms being negotiated with the ADB, Mr Chuan said the government would reveal all once the contract had been signed. The NGOs argue that is too late; the contract would be already signed and the terms would thereafter become inflexible.
Ministry defends ADB terms on water usage
However, agriculture assistant permanent secretary Ampon Kittiampon on February 17 defended the water management condition attached to the Asian Development Bank's US$600 million Agriculture Sector Program Loan, stating it was in line with the 8th National Economic and Social Development Plan and the ministry's own action plan.
Ampon said that during the Finance Ministry negotiations with the ADB on February 8, both sides recognised the sensitive nature of any measures that would require the approval of Parliament. He said the government had placed a reserve on the condition on the promulgation of a water law in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) being negotiated with the ADB.
"So, the ADB cannot set a schedule for the promulgation of law by the Thai government," Ampon said.
He explained that on river basin management the framework of the MoU adhered to the decentralised principle of the 8th Plan and the ministry's action plan, as approved by the Cabinet on March 18, 1997. The MoU required the government to establish an interim river basin committee for the Ping and Pasak rivers, initiating integrated water resource planning and management with stakeholder participation for the basins. Ampon added this new approach to water resource management in Thailand would be difficult to implement at first, but with the assistance of foreign consultants familiar with the integrated river basin development approach as well as familiar with the Thai government, the Royal Irrigation Department, rural and agricultural practices, culture and means in Thailand it would be considerably easier.
Sayamol Kriyoonwong of the Project for Ecological Recovery said even she agreed with the framework, but she wanted the ministry to pay more attention to water resource management by the local communities in the branches of both basins.
"The ministry [action plan] and the National Economic and Social Development Board [8th Plan] only focus on communities surrounding the main streams of both basins. Actually, the basins' branch communities are very important to river basin management," she said.
Under the terms of the program loan, the ADB wants those using water from the irrigation systems to be charged for the use of the water. Ampon said the charge would be imposed only on users who have the ability to pay, adding that small-scale farmers and users outside the official irrigation areas would not be affected.
Sayamol agreed with the principle of the water charge, but said the price should not be levied by the Royal Irrigation Department (RID).
"Water pricing should be operated by a committee of a basin's stakeholders, not the RID. The money should be used to benefit the basin's community," she said. "Otherwise corrupt officials will in effect be able to extort money from desperate water users. It is already happening now when there are droughts and water shortages as in this year."
Nonetheless, Ampon pointed out that none of the conditions had yet been finally decided upon. The next round of negotiations with the ADB took place on February 18.
"Most of the contents of the MoU released by the press are inexact, some being old proposals from the ADB that were rejected by the Agriculture Ministry. The negotiation is continuing and I am insisting that all of the conditions of the ADB loan will support public participation and community rights to manage natural resources, in line with the philosophy of the 8th Plan," he said.
Government and ADB reach agreement on loan plan
The government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) reached a compromise on February 11 on the US$600 million Agriculture Sector Program Loan after the bank agreed to drop conditions requiring the passage of a water bill to allow state agencies to charge farmers for irrigation water.
Amphon Kitti-amphon, assistant permanent secretary for agriculture, said after a round of negotiations with ADB representatives yesterday that the bank accepted the Agriculture Ministry's position that the loan conditions must not include any measure that would require legislation.
The assistant permanent secretary said the Agriculture Ministry would not ask farmers to pay for irrigation water but would seek to partially recover the cost of providing water to farmers' groups which are outside the existing irrigated areas and have the ability to pay.
"The government spends a huge amount of money every year on operating and maintaining the country's irrigation system. That's why the government must seek to recover the cost of providing extra services to farmers outside irrigated areas who have the incentive to pay, because access to water will increase their productivity," he said.
Amphon said the Office of the National Water Resources Committee would be upgraded to play a leadership role in managing water resources among various government agencies.
Agriculture Minister Pongpol Adireksarn has said many farmers' groups, including sugar cane planters, have expressed interest and a readiness to pay for tube water to be provided by the Irrigation Department. The service is expected to begin in the near future.
Regarding the difference of interest rates on loans to be provided to farmers under the programme to increase credit access, Amphon said the Agriculture Ministry insisted on flexible rates, but bank officials were concerned that setting the rates too low would adversely affect the agricultural capital market. Amphon said the ADB negotiators have agreed to allow the Agriculture Ministry to fix interest rates on loans to improve the farmers' access to credit. He said talks between the government and the ADB would continue today to fine-tune the conditions for the agricultural reform loan. Pongpol said the terms of the loans would be resubmitted to the Council of Economic Ministers in the next few weeks, after which it would be tabled at the ADB board meeting for consideration.
Agencies blamed for water mismanagement
Government agencies' gross mismanagement of water resources is to blame for worsening the drought and the chronic shortage that threatens to cause Thailand's agriculture sector to slip further in international competitiveness unless drastic reforms are implemented, according to an Agriculture Ministry report.
An assessment report compiled by Office of Agricultural Economics seen by The Nation describes a myriad of problems associated with the cumbersome government agencies, their inherent inefficiency and obstinate resistance to change that explain why they tend to create more problems than they solve.
"Water resources are administered and managed by eight different ministries [through some 40 agencies] with different priorities and programmes that are overlapping and sometimes in conflict," the report says. "No one agency is authorised to take responsibility for sector planning."
The report is part of the Agriculture Ministry's agriculture sector reform masterplan taht was being used as a reference in the ongoing negotiations between the Thai government and Asian Development Bank for the US$600 million Agriculture Sector Program Loan.
The report cites as an example what it refers to as irrigation projects' lack of professional management of water delivery that is responsive to the changed priorities of agricultural development and the need for Thai agricultural products to remain competitive in international markets.
"Institutional weaknesses in water supply regulation result in more frequent flooding and drought," the report says. "On-farm and in-field water use management is inefficient, resulting in low productivity and poor quality agricultural products."
The paddy yield of Thailand is among the lowest in the world although a marked increase in yield has been achieved over the years, with average paddy yield nationwide of only 350 kilogrammes per rai.
All these inadequacies combine to work against the current government policy of counting on the agriculture sector as a base to stimulate rapid recovery of the country's ailing economy.
To make matters worse, the report says no comprehensive national water policy exists even as Thailand's drought situation and water shortage have gone from bad to worse to becoming a national crisis for the past several years.
The present institutional framework does not allow for sector planning because there is lack of adequate information systems to support comprehensive planning and effective management, it says.
"Whatever [water] is available is not being used efficiently, or with adequate attention to supply or demand management principles," according to the report.
The Agriculture Ministry estimates that irrigation projects' efficiency still remain very low with an average of about 30-40 per cent of the 214,128 million cubic metres of total surface water available for irrigation.
The mandate of the Irrigation Department, which is the focal point of Thailand's centralised water management arrangements, has been largely unchanged even though the economic and social development patterns have been transformed drastically.
"The various laws and functions that the Irrigation Department continues to implement today were designed during a significantly less-developed state of Thailand's social-economy, primarily to ensure national food security and respond to the seasonal flooding and second rice cropping patterns of farmers in the Chao Phya flood plain."
This centralised institutional arrangement had functioned well in the past, serving the requirements of rice farmers in the central region. However, the needs of competitive mixed agriculture and contract farming linked to agro-industries that have evolved in northern and northeastern regions, and to competitive global export markets, are not being adequately met, the report says.
"Large- and medium-scale irrigation systems designed for flat rice fields of the central region are not suitable to soil and hydrology conditions of northern, northeastern and southern regions," the report says. "The result is water delivery that is inefficient, difficult to manage and unreliable."
The National Water Resource Committee, created to ensure coordination of activities of some 40 government agencies involved in water resource projects, is institutionally weak and lacking in professional capability and authority to implement its mandate. The committee, chaired by the prime minister, is supported by the Office of the NWRC that employs 80 officials, few of whom are professionally qualified with background in water resource development.
"As a result, there are only six engineers in the office without other necessary technical staff to support their work. Thus the in-house capability is weak compared to government agencies they are supposed to supervise, and that creates a credibility gap.
The report has recommended the government serious look at retaining international consultants with expertise in water resources development and management and engineering. It went on to state that such consultants would be expected to carry out strengthening of Thailand's institutions that have the responsibility of managing the country's water resources.
"Such consultants would be expected to have expertise in strengthening the institutions and water resources management in a tropical setting associated with mainly the cultivation of rice, but with development of alternative high-value cash crops for areas that cannot adequately be irrigated," the report stated, "and furthermore, these consultants would be expected to have an intimate knowledge of Thailand's irrigation systems and policies, agriculture, rural cultures and traditions and be able to communicate with government officials and engineers at the professional level and with the rural people at the farm level; fluency in Thai would be a significant asset."
Ministry suspends dam project
The Agriculture Ministry on February 10 suspended the Royal Irrigation Department's Lam Saphung dam project and asked it to study alternative ways to supply water for villagers. Agriculture Minister Pongpol Adireksarn issued the order at a meeting of the Wildlife Conservation Committee, of which he is the chairman.
Officials said the committee was divided over the project in Chaiyaphum's Phukhiew Wildlife Sanctuary. Its supporters claimed the project would have little negative impact on wildlife and forests while people will benefit from it. But opponents argued that a dam to help ease drought problems was not worth risking since forests will have to be destroyed. However, the supporters all have strong vested interests in seeing the project go ahead and they do not include the concerns of the rural people living in the area.
Meanwhile, Royal Forestry Department director-general Plodprasop Suraswadi said the project could go ahead but not within the sanctuary's boundaries.
"I can assure you the Lam Saphung dam project will not be approved. The sanctuary is a very sensitive area that we cannot afford to lose," he said.
The project had been rejected by the committee in 1998. At that time the panel wanted to visit the project site before making a decision and wanted the Royal Irrigation Department to carry out a study of small dams as suggested by His Majesty the King Bhumipol.
His Majesty in 1997 told Lt Gen Rewat Boonthap, then 2nd Region commander, and Gen Thienchai Janmukda, chief aide-de-camp to the King, that the dam should be replaced by small dams or weirs at many points along the stream and small reservoirs on villagers' farm land.
The King correctly reasoned that check dams needed only limited funds, would not cause environmental damage and would not create conflicts among villagers. Moreover, they would provide a more appropriate, user-friendly approach to management of already scarce water resources. The aim should be to meet the needs of the rural end-users and not necessarily the needs of big business at the cost of destroying rural people's livlihoods.
The 1.1 billion Baht ($US=39 Baht) Lam Saphung dam was to store about 32 million cubic metres of water and more than 1,200 rai (1 rai = 1,600 m2) of forest areas was likely to be submerged.