A large number of fish have recently been found dead in the two provinces after the Chao Phraya River became heavily polluted. Most of the fish belonged to local fish farmers, who have suffered financially as a consequence.

"We borrowed money to raise the fish. Now they are gone, we have no means to repay our debts," a fish farmer who identified himself only as Boonrawd said.

The number of fish farmers affected by the pollution has been put at 231.

To help them, the Cabinet yesterday agreed to pay Bt257 per affected square metre in financial relief to the fish farmers, but no individual would receive more than Bt20,560.

"The payments will be made by this Friday," deputy government spokeswoman Netpreeya Chumchaiyo said yesterday.

She said the financial relief would come from the budget earmarked to help disaster victims.

Moreover, she added that the Cabinet also considered the Interior Ministry's request that the government advance money to the fish farmers entitled to receive compensation from polluters based on actual damage to their livelihoods.

The size of fish baskets and the time spent raising the fish would be taken into consideration for compensation calculations.

"The Natural Resource and Environment Ministry has been instructed to explore legal means as to whether the government can advance the money and sue the polluters for compensation later," Netpreeya said.

She said if there were legal precedents to support the idea, the government would advance the money.

"If not, the Cabinet will look into other options next week," she said.

Relevant authorities are still trying to determine how the Chao Phraya River had become polluted in the first place.

Deputy Angthong governor Benjawan Anpruang said officials were now checking whether a factory along the Chao Phraya was responsible for the pollution, or whether a sunken sugar barge was responsible.

In a related development, some 20 aerators have been installed along the Chao Phya River in Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani in a bid to tackle polluted water from upriver.

The aerators were put in by the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) and Office of Vocational Education Commission, and more are planned.

"We will also install 10 more in Nonthaburi," department director-general Samart Chokkanapitark said yesterday. He said the aerators should improve water quality by boosting oxygen levels in the water. Early last week, thousands of farmed fish were killed by the polluted water in Angthong and Ayutthaya. The polluted water has been flowing downstream at a rate of 10 kilometres a day and is expected to reach the mouth of the river in Samut Prakan by March 28.

As of yesterday, the water in Ayutthaya's Bang Sai district had a dissolved oxygen (DO) level of 2.76 milligrams per litre (mg/l) while the water in Pathum Thani's Pak Kret district had a DO level of 2.96 mg/l.

Dissolved oxygen is an important factor that determines the quality of water in lakes and rivers. The higher the concentration of dissolved oxygen, the better the water quality. A level of two to three mg/l is considered normal.