Nov 23rd, 2022
On November 7, 2022, CADIS Thailand traveled to the northeastern part of Thailand to deliver food and non-food relief together with the Camillian volunteers of the Life Sharing Foundation. The team has also donated cash relief of 150.000 baht (4.000 EUR). They came in response to the distress call of the Pastoral and Social Action Office of the Diocese of Ubon (Ratchathani Province). The relief operation was welcomed and assisted by the Social Action Director - Father Pradapsin Duangtong.
The flood was caused by the supertyphoon Noru bringing heavy rainfall last September 2022. The typhoon made its first landfall in the Philippines, Cambodia, and Thailand. In Thailand, one of the most badly hit provinces is Ubon Ratchathani, a province in northeastern Thailand's Isan region, bordering Laos and Cambodia. The province is located in a low-lying area - a basin where the Chi and Mun rivers meet before they join the course of the Mekong River.
Ubon Ratchathani is facing the worst flooding in its history, which has affected the lives of thousands of people as well as the economy of the province.
Known as the Northeast's economic powerhouse, the people of Ubon Ratchathani have long benefited from the province's abundant water supplies, which allowed them to sustain vast tracts of agricultural areas. But, the flood is destroying their agricultural wealth.
“Jamnong Jitnirat, a member of the Chumchonthai Foundation, said Pak Moon Dam in Khong Chiam district has altered the region's natural water flow. Excess water from the Mun River could have drained a lot faster into the Mekong River had authorities not decided to build a dam at the confluence of the rivers.”
"The government needs to do what it can to fix the problem. The dam interferes with the region's natural water drainage networks -- if it can't be fixed, then it should be destroyed," he said, noting noting the local residents in the area used to be able to earn an income ferrying tourists to islets along the river, but the islets have since disappeared because of the dam.
(cf. Oct. 25, 2022, Bangkok Post)
