His Majesty the King gave three aircraft to the army for its operations to prevent flooding and drought.
Three Cessna 182Ts would be deployed for defence and civil use, said army chief Gen Apirat Kongsompong. The four-seat, single-engined aircraft are manufactured by Textron Aviation in the US. They have a maximum range of 1,695 kilometres and maximum speed of 280 km/h.
The airplanes will be used to assist in the army's operations to help civilians in times of natural disasters and suppress illegal activities such as forest encroachment, illegal immigration and drug smuggling. The three Cessna 182Ts will be based at the 21st Aviation Battalion under the Army Aviation Centre at a military base in Lop Buri province.
Meanwhile, the cabinet yesterday approved a central budget of over 500 million baht for flood prevention plans this year. Secretary-general of the Office of the National Water Resources Somkiat Prajamwong said the budget will be spent on operations to prevent inundation as well as tackle other water-related problems nationwide. The operations include weed eradication in more than 20 provinces and canal dredging in Bangkok for better drainage in the rainy season.
Canal dredging must be completed this month as the Meteorological Department's has forecast storms after mid-month. The storms will cause heavy rains in many areas, flash floods and landslides.
The budget will also finance a project for a water pumping and diversion system to manage the water, and deal with floods and droughts, in the eastern provinces including the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC). Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, in his capacity as director of the National Water Command, had inspected construction at its site, Mr Somkiat said.
The department is expediting the water pumping and diverting system project to finish it this year instead of in 2022 as previously scheduled. Once completed, the system is expected to help prevent flooding and drought in the eastern areas particularly the Eastern Economic Corridor. The office will also create physical models of 17 watersheds to be used for water management demonstrations.