CHAI NAT -- Farmers in this Central province say this year's drought has come sooner than in 2016 as several public swamps and all canals are drying up very quickly.
As a result, farmers have decided to abandon several thousand rai of farmland as they are not certain there will be any more water for a third round of rice farming.
In tambon U-taphao of Manorom district, farmers are taking the last amount of water left in swamps near their communities to feed their vegetables and other crops.
The water level in the Chao Phraya Dam in tambon Bang Luang of Sapphaya district is now 14.71 metres above the mean sea level, 29 centimetres lower than the 15m standard operating level. The water level below the dam is 5.65m above MSL.
From Sapphaya district on down, water in the Chao Phraya River is shallow. At some spots, sand dunes have emerged and people can simply wade across the river.
Suchart Charoensri, director of the 12th Irrigation Office in Chai Nat, said his office has asked farmers in its catchment area to refrain from the third round of rice farming because there will not be water for them.
The farmers have been asked to wait until May when the new farming season usually begins.