Chiang Rai Governor visits the area to monitor the situation of the Ing River, which is flooding the areas of Thoeng, Khun Tan and Chiang Khong districts. The Royal Irrigation Department brings in 10 water pumps to quickly push the Ing River into the Mekong River. Chiang Rai Governor Puttipong Sirimat urgently traveled to the Ban Taen Bridge in Tambon Sathan, Amphoe Chiang Khong, Chiang Rai Province last night after returning from an urgent mission in Bangkok since August 23. Mr. Thaweechai Kowtrakul, Director of the Chiang Rai Irrigation Project, Mr. Udom Pokpongbowornkul, Chiang Khong District Chief, and relevant agencies jointly reported the situation after the Royal Irrigation Department installed 10 water pumps under the bridge over the Ing River. They can drain 690 cubic meters per minute and will push 41,400 cubic meters of water per hour to push the Ing River into the Mekong River because the water level in the Ing River has increased rapidly because water was released from Kwan Phayao, the source o f the Ing River, causing the water level in the Ing River to overflow in the areas of Thoeng, Khun Tan, and Chiang Khong Districts. Mr. Puttipong Sirimat, Chiang Rai Governor, revealed that Chiang Rai Province coordinated to request a water pump from the Royal Irrigation Department. It took 2 days to travel and the machine just arrived today. After arriving, we immediately installed and started working. The reason we need to bring the water pump to help push the Ing River into the Mekong River faster is because if we let the water flow naturally, it will flow very slowly, causing the water to overflow and flood the areas along the river. We need to make the water flow into the Mekong River as quickly as possible so that the people along the river will not suffer, like the people in Thoeng District, which is along the Ing River, who are all suffering. In addition, the monsoon trough has been passing through Chiang Rai Province since the end of last month and it has not gone anywhere until today. The Chiang R ai governor further revealed that regarding the Chinese government releasing water from the Jinghong Dam into the Mekong River, this is a matter that the Thai government will have to negotiate with the Chinese government. It is something that the government sector is trying to do. As for himself, he has a duty to take care of the area within the province in order to cause the least amount of suffering to the people and to hasten the mass of water to leave the area as much as possible. Chiang Rai province has two main rivers: the Ing River from Phayao and the Kok River from Chiang Mai. Currently, the problem is with the Ing River, which flows through the areas of Thoeng, Phayao, Khun Tan and Chiang Khong districts. As for the Kok River, we are trying to manage it. I am concerned about the rain and flash floods because we have been experiencing continuous rain for almost a month now, which may be due to the La Niña phenomenon. You can see from the amount of rain that fell from August 1-23, the accumulated rain fall was about 600 millimeters, while the entire month of August 2023 only had about 200 millimeters. This month, in just 24 days, the accumulated rainfall was three times higher than last year, even though it has not even been a month yet. This is something that we must warn our brothers and sisters in other areas that the La Niña phenomenon is something that we must prepare for and find ways to prevent and solve. In terms of helping the people, both from the government and private sectors, to set up royal kitchens and distribute relief bags, but the most important thing for flood victims right now is hygiene. Our medical unit has set up teams, both teams that take care of medical treatment and teams that take care of mental health. Right now, I have instructed doctors from every hospital to take turns going to areas with flood problems because we don't know which areas will have problems in the future. Right now, we have 10 districts with problems and 8 districts that have not yet encountered problems. We have to rotate personnel to help each other. Source: Thai News Agency
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