Thailand: Drought - Jan 2009
Disaster description
On 27 January 2009, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) reported the drought hazard, which had affected 12 provinces, 45 districts, 272 sub-districts, 1,522 villages, 183,279 households and 659,169 residents. (Govt. of Thailand, 27 Jan 2009)
As of 21 April 2010, according to DDPM, a total of 7,421,017 people from 1,982,861 households in 60 provinces nationwide were suffering from the drought crisis. Drought stricken zones were found in 17 provinces in the North, 19 in the Northeast, nine in the central region, seven in the East, and eight in the South. The number of villages damaged by the drought during 1 Nov 2009–19 April 2010 increased by 6,789 villages or 38.89% when compared to the same period of the year earlier. (Govt. of Thailand, 21 Apr 2010)
Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Theera Wongsamut revealed that up to 44 provinces were expected to suffer from drought in 2010. Total damage was expected to reach nearly 14 billion THB, with growers of off-season rice, pineapple, oil palm, and many other kinds of fruits being the hardest hit. (Govt. of Thailand, 1 Jul 2010)