Politician calls for urgent funding to solve Krabi’s water shortage
A former Democrat politician called on the Interior Ministry on Tuesday to allocate funds urgently to the Krabi Waterworks Office to solve the ongoing shortage of water.
Thanawat Phukaoluan said Krabi’s water shortage was worsening as the provincial waterworks has announced it can only distribute water in seven subdistricts, and only every other day from Wednesday to next Monday.
Thanawat, who reportedly quit the party after failing to win enough votes in his constituency, said the seven areas where taps may run dry are Paknam, Sai Thai, Krabi Yai, Thap Prik, Krabi Noi, Ao Nang and Klong Prasong.
Thanawat said a day without tap water can pose many difficulties, and this issue of water shortage during the dry season has been troubling this seaside province since 2011. Yet, he said, no local or provincial administrative authorities have taken steps to tackle it once and for all.
He noted that the water shortage has also led to rumours that taps at the popular Phi Phi Island would run dry by Wednesday.
Thanawat said the local administration has not addressed the concerns in time, causing damage to the island’s reputation among travellers.
He said Krabi Waterworks needed a budget of 12 million baht for building a 7-kilometre-long channel to take raw water from Muang district to the water plant responsible for the seven subdistricts.
He added that the provincial waterworks also needed 13 million baht to build an undersea water distribution channel from the mainland to Koh Phi Phi.
He advised the Interior Ministry to urgently approve the budget for the two operations to tackle drought sustainably.
