Thai govt approves Bt721 million for two drought-busting projects

A Cabinet meeting approved a budget of Bt721 million for two projects to tackle next year's drought, Government Spokesman Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said on 30 September.

The first was a Bt604-million project to build 30 "monkey cheek" water retaining areas in five Northeastern provinces. It will be overseen by the Royal Irrigation Department and would benefit 14,680 rai of land and 6,030 households.

The second project was a Bt117-million plan to build sandbag check dams at 526 locations along small canals nationwide. They would boost waterway efficiency and store about 51.73 million cubic metres in total, benefiting 300,000 rai of land and over 20,000 households, he said. This project would be overseen by the Interior Ministry's local administration organisations.