Falling Mekong water levels increase farming cost in Nong Khai
The Mekong River’s level in Nong Khai province of Thailand dropped to 1.83 metres on Thursday (January 9), much lower than the bank’s 10.37 metres.
Compared to the same period in 2019, the current water level was lower by over 2 metres, causing sandy areas to occur along the river.
On the banks of Ban Duea subdistrict in Nong Khai, the sandy areas were visible as well. Besides, local farmers in the area were suffering from drought.
Some of them are using long pipes to pump water from the river to support their farming activities. The length of the pipes stretched to nearly a kilometre, depending on the distance from the Mekong River to the farm.
The use of pumps and pipes has increased farming cost, as Bt300 was spent daily for fuel to run the pumps almost all day.
“The price of products is not high, but just enough to pay our yearly debt,” one of the farmers said.
