Dead-end for rice farmers
Farmers from five villages near Chiang Mai fear they will not be able to plant paddy this year because the construction of a road alongside the Chiang Mai-Lamphun railway track has dried up their water supplies.
With up to 3,000 rai of farmland affected, the farmers have complained to the new government after getting nowhere with the Thaksin government, which initiated the project.They said the road was constructed on a stream that took water from the Ping River. The Bt146-million road was built in 2004 to ease traffic jams on the Chiang Mai-Lamphun superhighway. Last year the farmers complained to the government about the stream being cut, but were able to plant paddy when the rains came. But this year their land is dry. Somboon Boonchoo, vice-president of Phai Phaya Kham (Phaya Kham dyke), said although the rainy season had arrived early, farmers in villages one, two, three, five and 10 in Sarapee district were unable to plant their crops because the stream had dried up. "We have complained to the appropriate government agency, but they said they could take responsibility for the construction only," Somboon said. "Now we don't know on whom to rely. This project was created by the government and it has caused a problem, but no one wants to deal with it."
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