Farmers in clash as dam floods paddies
Two groups of farmers from separate provinces almost came to blows yesterday after a dam built by one group to prevent rice paddies from being submerged flooded paddies belonging to the other.
On Saturday about 100 farmers from Phitsanulok's Chumseang Songkram sub-district and Sukhothai's Krainok and Banmai sub-districts built a dam obstructing Kom Mai Daeng canal at a point on the border of the two provinces. They built the dam to prevent the canal from overflowing and flooding more than 1,000 rai of paddy below the dam. The dam, however, caused the canal to overflow and flood more than 1,000 rai of rice fields in Sukhothai's Dong Doei sub-district. When about 100 farmers from Dong Doei tried to destroy the dam yesterday, they were confronted by the farmers who built it. Sasin Tankijjanont, a senior assistant district officer in Sukhothai's Kong Krailat district, mediated the conflict. He asked the farmers who wanted to tear down the dam to give him one day. He said he would ask Phitsanulok's irrigation office to open a water gate on the canal to release water into the Yom River today. The farmers agreed to his request. May is crucial for rice cultivation. If paddy fields are submerged more than seven days, however, the plant does not produce grain. Consequently, floods can destroy farmers. Farmers in both provinces saw their two previous crops destroyed by flooding.
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