This year's prolonged drought has badly hurt farmers, who face increased production costs and lower yields, and are likely to see the effects in next year's crops as well.
Farmers have not been able to harvest their crops as usual, as lack of rain has disrupted their usual farming cycles. Rice farmers have been advised to grow their main crops in the middle of July. In addition, a drought brought on by the El Nino weather phenomenon has seen some fruit crops to decline or be delayed.
So far, the drought has hit 53 provinces, mainly in the North. About 6.4 million farmers are suffering from water shortage. As a result, officials are revising downward the Kingdom's projected total farm output.
While farmers are suffering, the drought has created an opportunity for some businesses involved in alternative water supplies in the Kingdom, the world's biggest rice exporting nation, where rice is farmed throughout the year and demand for water is high.
Businessmen in Lop Buri have invested in water pumps to sell to farmers, who must now buy water to keep their plantations alive.
Many farmers have entered into agreements to supply rice in return for water.
Niwat Chom-ngam, 54, a farmer in Lop Buri, said farmers' costs include Bt400-Bt500 per rai for combined harvests and water costs of Bt400 per rai.
"Costs have increased from Bt3,000 per rai last year to Bt5,000 this year, while the paddy price has increased only slightly," said Niwat, adding that the paddy price is quoted at Bt7,000 per tonne.
Choocheep Uthago, head of the agricultural office of Baan Mhee, Lop Buri, said all the water pumps along the local irrigation channels belong to local businessmen, and are now working 24 hours a day.
"Farmers whose land is far from the irrigation channel have seen costs increase from Bt400 per rai to Bt900," he said.
Nopporn Chaipichit, director of the irrigation office in Lop Buri, said the province had capacity to supply rice fields totalling 937,730 rai, but farmers had planted 1.5 million rais.
Farmers in Nakhon Ratchasima face a severe water shortage, as the water in Lam Ta Klong Dam had dropped to its lowest-ever level, with remaining water of 94 million cubic metres from a total capacity of 324 million cubic metres. Consequently, officials have stopped distributing water for agricultural purposes.
Samarn Tadtheing, head of a farmers group at Nam Kuang in Lumpun province, said there was only 35 million cubic metres of water left in the Mae Guang Dam. Officials have warned farmers to delay their main rice crops from late June to mid-July or early August to ensure water supply from rainfall. Second-crop rice production in the area around the dam has fallen by 30 per cent, Samarn said.
Pramote Gongthong, president of the Northeastern Tapioca Trade Association, said the drought had seriously affected the whole tapioca production system. Total production of cassava (the root from which tapioca is derived) is forecast to drop to 15 million tonnes, compared with normal annual output of 27 million tonnes, he said.
"It is predicted that this year Thailand will face its most serious cassava shortage in 40 years," Pramote said.
The projected drop in supply has pushed the cassava price up to Bt3 per kilogram. However, tapioca flour manufacturers have not been able to secure smooth supply of cassava, with many becoming reluctant to buy at all due to the high price of the raw material.
"The problem has created a vicious cycle, as [tapioca] manufacturers do not have supply of raw materials to ensure smooth processing, which creates a shortage of working capital with which to buy cassava from farmers," he said, estimating the loss to the industry at Bt50 billion this year.