Severe drought in Thailand's North, Northeast

BANGKOK, April 28 (TNA) - Several thousands of farming families in the North and Northeastern regions are now suffering greatly due to severe drought which is ravaging the two regions and have asked for urgent assistance from the government. Adisorn Kamnerdsiri, deputy governor of the northern capital of Chiang Mai, has again requested for assistance from concerned agencies to help drought-stricken people after complaints were submitted. Villagers in the province, in particular, are suffering from severe drought while the water level at the two large reservoirs is receding steadily. In Lamphun’s Mae Tha district, raising cows are unable to produce enough milk as they are forced to eat only dried grass and hay and become weak. Raisers have to buy corn and maize trees to help them in producing more milk. Disaster Prevention and Mitigation officials in the northernmost province of Chiang Rai have installed powerful water pumps and pumped water from Mekong River into large wells to assist more than 500 households in Chiang Saen district after the villagers have been suffering from the lack of water for months. A large amount of fishes raised at Nam Oun reservoir in Sakon Nakhon’s Phanna Nikhom district have perished due to changes in water temperature. Many raisers are currently losing money. Border patrol policemen have presented necessities given by His Majesty the King to villagers whose houses in a district in Nakhon Phanom province bordering Laos were damaged due to recent storm. Thirteen families were affected by the freak storm. (TNA)