Drought: Activists say all heavy water users must cut back

Activists have criticised the government for singling out farmers to consume less water and not targeting other heavy water users. The Bangkok Post talks to operators of golf courses, massage parlours and car washes for their take on the situation.

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A noodles restaurant aboard a boat in the Khlong 14 area of the Rangsit canal is still open for business. The area is suffering from a severe shortage of waters as farmers compete with residents for what little there is. PATTANAPONG HIRUNARD

Drought: Activists say all heavy water users must cut back

Golf courses, massage parlours and car washes among those cited.

Excerpts from a story by POST REPORTERS

Activists have criticised the government for singling out farmers to consume less water and not targeting other heavy water users.

The campaigners said urban residents and the business sector should work to shoulder the burden of water shortages with farmers.

"It is true the agriculture sector consumes a large amount of water. But the government cannot only throw responsibility for saving water at them. Every sector must work together to tackle this problem," said Sasin Chalermlarp, secretary-general of the Seub Nakhasathien Foundation.

Mr Sasin said other sectors with heavy water consumption, including industry, tourism and the services sector, must reduce their water use as well as the farmers. He urged the government to declare the drought as a national agenda item and come up with more measures on how to reduce consumption.

On Tuesday the government said soldiers and police officers would be deployed to prevent farmers in the Chao Phraya River basin from draining water in public waterways to feed their crops. This was to ensure there would be sufficient water for consumption until rains come in mid or late August.

Farmers in Pathum Thani, however, insisted they would not bow to the government's water ban policy.

"As long as there is water in the canal, I will use it. We will not let all our plants die because we are forced to provide water for people living in the city. All of us must face the water shortage together," said Umnoi Rodpracha, 55, an orange farmer in Thanyaburi district.

Problem sectors

Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Pitipong Phuengboon Na Ayudhaya cited three examples of heavy water users that might be forced to cut back: golf courses, car washes or massage businesses.

Workers tend to a green on a golf course in Khlong 13 of Pathum Thani's Nong Sua district as the lake around the green continues to drop due to a lack of water from public waterways in the drought-stricken province. PATTANAPONG HIRUNARD

Yesterday, the Bangkok Post talked to three operators in these businesses.

Somchai Hengbanpaew, a manager of Rangsit Thani Sport Club in Nong Sua district, said the 65-rai, nine-hole golf course was also struggling with the water shortage.

He conceded the golf course had previously consumed water from a public canal to feed its grass. However, during the current drought, the club had decided to stop draining the water from the canal because golf course executives did not want to get into a fight with villagers and farmers.

Mr Somchai said the golf club had only used limited amounts of water stored in its pond, which covers just 30% of the course.

"We have no reason to make our golf course turn totally green while surrounding rice farms become brown. Golf players fully understand the current situation and make no complaints."

A massage parlour operator in Bangkok conceded their business used a huge amount of water.

Each bath tub uses 200-500 litres of water and each customer uses more water than one tub on average. As 300-500 customers use the service per day, the water use is massive.

"We are trying to save water but this business cannot drastically cut water use as it is a service business," he said.

He disagreed with efforts by authorities to apply extra charge for water use in massage venues, noting that other businesses use more water, such as industrial estates and state agencies.

"We may have to buy water for our business in the worst case," he said.

In Bangkok, there are 30-50 licensed massage parlours and more than 100 parlours nationwide.

A carwash service. Bangkok Post file photo by Sayant Pornnantharat

Rattanaporn Tubthonglang, 46, owner of the Ray Wash car wash, said her shop has an average monthly water bill of 2,000 baht.

She said she trains new staff to cut water use to save costs, and the shop stores water in two tanks to deal with the problem of slowly-running tap water.

You can read the full, much longer story here: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/623720/government-rapped-for-singling-out-farmers

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