Deputy Prime Minister Chatchai Sarikalaya today tried to play down the impact of floods that have been hitting many provinces as the average amount of rainfalls across the country this year are still below normal level.

He said areas that have experienced abundant rains this year are the same areas that were hit with  excessive flood water last year.   And there are still many areas which have remained dry without rains for months, prompting Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to order cloud-seeding operations to bring artificial rain to these areas.

As a contingency  plan, however, the deputy prime minister said farmers along Chao Phraya river basin, known as the rice bowl of the country, have been informed that their paddy fields will need to be used as water catchment areas to cope with northern runoffs expected this month when more rainfalls are anticipated.

General Chatchai said as a compensation, fish fries would be released and with the arrival of the dry season next year,  there would still be water in the farmland as well as fish that would be ready for consumption or for sale by the next dry season.