Thailand will not be caught between 2 cyclones on election day, says minister
The Thai Meteorological Department dismissed rumours doing the rounds on social media that the country will be hit by two cyclones on Sunday, the day of the general election.
Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn met the press on Tuesday at the department’s weather forecast operation centre to clarify matters.
Rumours of two cyclones – one from the Bay of Bengal on the West and another from the South China Sea in the East – making landfall in Thailand at the same time have been doing the rounds on social media. Rumours claim the two cyclones have been forming over the two seas since Monday.
Meeting the press on the department’s behalf, Chaiwut said though no cyclone will make landfall in Thailand on Sunday, many parts of the country may experience heavy rain on Sunday due to the influence of Cyclone Mocha forming over the Bay of Bengal.
He added that the department’s weather forecast system has not detected any storms that will hit Thailand from Tuesday to next Monday and no storms are forming over the South China Sea.
Mocha, meanwhile, will gather strength on Tuesday and Wednesday before becoming a cyclonic storm on Thursday.
However, Chaiwut said the cyclone will move northwest and reach upper or central Bay of Bengal on Saturday and Sunday. Though the cyclone will not make landfall in Thailand, its influence will unleash heavy rain in the North from Thursday to Sunday, Chaiwut said.
Also, he said, the southwest winds will strengthen on Sunday and bring heavy rain to about 60% of the country.
Separately, he said, Thailand will also suffer drought this year due to the El Niño phenomenon.
The La Niña effect had been bringing heavy rainfall from mid-2020 to early this year, he said. However, the El Niño system will keep June to December or even until February very dry. The temperature is also expected to be 0.5-1 degree Celsius higher. Chaiwut reckoned the drought this year could be as severe as the one that hit Thailand in 2016.
The 2015-2016 El Niño impact was one of the strongest on record and had a significant impact on Thailand. The drought that resulted from El Niño was the worst in more than two decades, causing widespread crop failures, water shortages and power outages.
The drought brought the agricultural sector to its knees, affecting the rice, corn and sugarcane industries. The drought also had an impact on the livestock sector as farmers could not feed their animals.
