Rice farmers in Sena district of Ayutthaya province are threatening to sue the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) for compensation, if the department drains excess water into their rice fields before September 15th, flooding their unharvested crops.
The farmers say that they will raise their concerns directly with Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin during a mobile cabinet meeting in Ayutthaya.
Pradab Kongpramoon, a farmer in Ban Krathum in Sena district, said that there are more than 22,400 hectares of rice fields, with only some having been harvested. Of his own 8 hectares, he said his rice plants are about 90-days old and can be harvested in the next 30 days, adding that water from a nearby canal is already flooding his field.
The Royal Irrigation Department has increased the amount of water being discharged through the Chao Phraya Dam in Chainat province, in anticipation of more rainfall caused by the onset of La Niña from the end of this month.
Water discharged through the dam will be drained into farmland water retention areas, as most of it is not protected by the flood walls, built along the Chao Phraya River to protect residential and commercial areas.
The Team Group, which specialises in water management, has predicted that up to 480,000 hectares, mostly rice fields in the Chao Phraya River basin, will be flooded.
