Floods: farmers angry, crocodiles happy

Rice farmers are unhappy with the government's flood management actions while efforts are underway in Pattaya to recapture crocodiles that escaped during the floods there.

Workers strengthen a 165-metre long embankment built to prevent water from the Chao Phraya River overflowing its banks and flooding Wat Chaiyawatthanaram, a historic site and popular tourist attraction in Ayutthaya. SUNTHORN PONGPAO

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Farmers threaten to rally for more flood aid

Hunt on for missing crocodiles

Post Reporters

Rice farmers are unhappy with the government's flood management efforts and are threatening a protest, says the Thai Farmers Association.

Farmers in at least 34 provinces affected by floods were angered by the government's policy to drain excess water into their paddy fields, which forced them to harvest the crops prematurely, said association vice-chairman Wichian Phuanglamchiak.

The farmers suffered huge financial losses from the premature harvest and suspected the government would not be able to compensate them adequately, he said.

Mr Wichian said total rice yields and the prices for them were halved.

The urgent harvesting had also cost about 3,000 baht to 4,000 baht in extra labour costs per rai, he added.

Some farmers were facing massive losses, but were not eligible to receive the 2,222 baht per rai in government compensation as not all their crops were damaged, said Mr Wichian.

If the government failed to offer them urgent help, the farmers will have no choice but to protest, Mr Wichian said.

The flooding problems intensified yesterday in several provinces along the main rivers in the lower north and the central region.

In Pattaya, Chonburi, teams of hunters on Thursday said they had caught 29 of the many crocodiles that escaped from a tourist park after days of heavy rain triggered widespread flooding.

Million Year Stone Park chief Suan Panonwattanakul said the  crocodiles escaped on Sunday  through a hole in a large pool, caused by heavy flooding. The 10-rai pool housed 2,890 crocodiles.

Staff had so far recaptured 29 crocodiles,  many of them four to five metres in length. They did not, or could not say how many had actually escaped.

The crocodile farm will pay a 5,000 baht reward to people who provide information leading to each capture of a crocodile, Mr Suan said.

The search for the missing reptiles will continue until the staff are certain that areas around the park are safe, he said.

Stronger pool walls will be built urgently to ensure there is no repeat of the incident, he added.

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embankment – a slope made of earth or stone that rises up from either side of a road, railway/railroad, river, etc. มูลดิน,ตลิ่งทาง
overflow – (of a river or body of water)  to flooding the land next to it ไหลล้น
bank – a raised area of land along the side of a river  ริมฝั่งแม่น้ำ
site – a place where something is located  สถานที่
threaten – to say that you might do something bad or harmful, especially in order to make someone do something  ขู่เข็ญ คุกคาม ทำให้กลัว
rally – to join a public meeting that a lot of people go to in order to support someone or protest against someone or something ชุมนุม
aid – help; assistance ความช่วยเหลือ
protest – a meeting or rally, sometimes forceful or violent, of people who strongly disagree with something ชุมนุมประท้วง
association – an official group of people who have joined together for a particular purpose สมาคม
policy – a set of plans or action agreed on by a government, political party, business, or other group นโยบาย
drain – to get rid of the water in an area of land ระบายออก
excess – greater than is usual; too much of something   มากเกินปริมาณที่พอดี
paddy field – a field planted with rice growing in water นาข้าว
harvest – the activity of collecting a crop, in this case a rice crop การเก็บเกี่ยวผลผลิต
premature – happening too soon or before the usual time ก่อนเวลาอันควร
suffer – to be badly affected by a very difficult or unpleasant situation ประสบความลำบาก
suspect – to believe that something is true, especially something bad  สงสัย
compensate – to pay money to someone because something bad has happened to them  ชดเชย
adequately – good enough or large enough for a particular purpose อย่างพอเพียง,  พอประมาณ
yield – an amount of something produced ผลผลิต
halve – to reduce by a half; to make something reduce by a half ลดลงครึ่งหนึ่ง, หั่นครึ่ง
urgent – needing to be dealt with immediately ที่เร่งด่วน
labour – work, especially hard physical work งานที่ใช้พละกำลัง
massive - very large in size, amount or numberใหญ่โต
eligible – allowed by rules or laws to do something or to receive something มีสิทธิ
crop – a plant grown for food, usually on a farm  พืชผล
intensify – to get stronger เข้มข้นขึ้น
trigger – to cause ก่อให้เกิด กระตุ้น
widespread – happening or existing in many places, or affecting many people อย่างแพร่หลาย
recapture – to catch a person or an animal that has escaped จับกลับคืน
reward – money that someone receives for finding and returning something or for helping รางวัล
reptile – any animal that has cold blood and skin covered in scales, and that lays eggs, e.g., snakes, crocodiles, etc. สัตว์เลื้อยคลาน
ensure – to make certain that something happens or is done  ให้การยืนยัน, รับรอง, ให้ความมั่นใจ
incident – something that happens, usually something bad เหตุการณ์