Thailand Faces More Severe Drought This Year

BANGKOK, April 24 (TNA) - More severe drought this year has hit several Thai areas where water sources are drying up and extreme hot weather has persisted. In the Lower Thai North, drought is covering wider areas of Uttaradit province, where natural water sources and reservoirs are drying up and nearly 100,000 people are running out of water for consumption, prompting local authorities to have deployed tank trucks to distribute water every day. In adjacent Phitsanulok province, over 50,000 local households are facing water shortages, particularly in high and non-irrigated areas namely Nakhon Thai, Chattrakan, Noen Maprang and Wang Thong districts, as this year's drought, considered the most severe in the province in a decade, has also damaged over 80 square kilometers of farmlands, prompting an ad-hoc relief center to have provided needed assistance to the local victims. In nearby Phichit province, the bed of the Yom river has now surfaced in Pho Prathapchang district, where local authorities have told farmers not to grow the second crop of grains in non-irrigated areas and are distributing clean water to the local drought victims. In the Northeast, all districts in Yasothon province have already been declared drought-stricken areas where natural water sources are drying up, causing hardships to local villagers and their animals. Meanwhile, the Thai Ministry of Interior's Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation has warned people in the country's northern, northeastern and eastern regions to brace for possible summer storms over the next couple of days. (TNA)