Irrigation officials, administrators and soldiers will be ordered to strictly enforce water rationing to ensure an adequate supply for use until next April, Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda said on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and economic ministers discussed measures to cope with the water shortage at Government House on Wednesday.
After the meeting, Gen Anupong said less rain than normal was predicted in June and July, so strict rationing was necessary at sluice gates to maintain water reserves for all uses until next April.
Irrigation officials would plan the rationing, local administrators would ask their people to cooperate and violators would be punished, he said. Affected people could seek help from government complaint centres nationwide, and the government was willing to offer assistance including artesian wells, he said.
Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Pitipong Phuengboon Na Ayudhaya said the water shortage existed only in the Chao Phraya River basin, where there were 7.45 million rai of farmland.
Before the government had asked farmers to pospone further rice planting, 3.44 million rai had already been planted. After the instruction to delay fresh planting was issued, rice was planted on another 560,000 rai, but about 3.45 million rai remained fallow, he said.
Most of the 560,000 rai of new crop would not suffer from lack of water because the fields were near natural and manmade water sources, he said.
The problem existed for about 800,000 rai among the previously cultivated 3.44 million rai, because there was not enough water to irrigate these crops, Mr Pitipong said.
Farmers of the fallow 3.45 million rai of land were asked to postpone their cultivation to July or August, or grow maize and green beans, crops that needed little water and but were in market demand, the minister said.
Alternatively, they could receive finance assistance to switch to integrated agriculture. A debt moratorium was a possibility for people who delay planting, Mr Pitipong said.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Dapong Ratanasuwan said 880 artesian wells would be drilled by mid-July to help 100,000-130,000 rai of the critical 800,000 rai previously planted land.
Of these, 380 were exisiting wells drilled to monitor water levels. They would be equipped with pumps, and 500 new wells would also be drilled. Irrigation officials would decide where the wells would be. He estimated the cost at 84 million baht.
Anond Snidvongs, executive director of Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency, said the latest El Nino phenomenon had already started and might be as harsh as the most severe ever, the El Nino of 1997.
In addition to Thailand, North Korea, China, Taiwan and India would also be affected. A serious water shortage was likely and justified strict water rationing, he said.
Two storms were forecast to reach Thailand, bringing welcome rain -- in August and either September or October. Rain water supplies should be back to normal levels in October, he said.
Lertviroj Kowattana, director-general of the Royal Irrigation Department, said water discharges from dams in the Chao Phraya River basin would be reduced to retain water for consumption, ecological maintenance and farming through until next April, and about 850,000 rai of previously cultivated land would be affected.