Pak Chong district chief officer Kanatchon Sricharoen has presided over a religious rite, at a Chinese monastery in the district, to pray for rain to save the district’s dying rice and maize plants.

The Chinese ceremony was attended by about 100 rice and maize farmers and local officials.

Kanatchon told the media that Pak Chong district, in the north-eastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, has been affected by drought for several months, even though it is now in the middle of the rainy season.

He disclosed that maize being grown on over 4,800 hectares in the district are now wilting due to the lack of water. Nakhon Ratchasima governor Sayam Sirimongkol has instructed the Pak Chong district administration to seek help from the Royal Rain-making Centre in the Northeast.

In the eastern province of Rayong, meanwhile, the Khao Chamao-Khao Wong National Park was temporarily closed to all visitors on Tuesday, after continuous heavy rain and water run-offs from the mountain, which have inundated Khao Chamao Temple and surrounding farmland.