Farmers Demand Irrigation Project After Decades of Drought Impact
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More than 100 farmers from Ban Ta Khun district submitted a petition via the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand to the Ratchaprapha Dam office, calling for the advancement of a pipeline irrigation project for agriculture in Ban Ta Khun. They noted that over 2,000 households in the district have been affected for nearly 40 years. The petition was handed over at 2:00 p.m. on September 30, 2026 at the market near the dam’s entrance in Ban Ta Khun, Surat Thani Province. Led by former provincial council member Sathaporn Klomjaroen, the farmers asked the EGAT governor to support the pipeline irrigation project, referencing the completed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and to forward it to the Director-General of the Royal Irrigation Department for budget approval. Assistant Dam Director Wiratch Phuchang accepted the petition amid a gathering of villagers. Sathaporn said the dam was constructed to serve four main purposes: irrigation, electricity generation, tourism, and fisheries, with the first three already completed, leaving only the irrigation component unfinished after 39 years. He added that the pipeline irrigation proposal had been presented to the Irrigation Department since December 27, 2010, and the department completed an EIA for the Ban Ta Khun area in 2021. The farmers hope the petition will secure funding to build the pipeline system and alleviate drought impacts for the affected households. Wiratch Phuchang said the petition would follow EGAT’s standard procedure for processing public requests.
