Patani River, Eco System & Environment Facing Threat

The main objective of the construction of Patani Dam was to strengthening agricultural

products, fresh water fishery and to protect water flooding in the monsoon time. Since it was constructed in 1968 and finished in 1980, many subsidiary or diversion canals had been constructed in order to flow the water to different cultivation area mostly in Patani province. The only sector who benefit from this diversion canal is the farmers who cultivated rice(Padi in Malay), the food crop of the people in this region. The well wishing of the government toward farmers who work in the paddy fields were not completely welcomed because the system of paddy farming in this area was different from central, northern or north eastern part of Thailand that is Patani Paddy farming is a minor scale farming –people in this area never realized in paddy farming alone for the living but rubber plantation is very important sources of income, people in this area were not purely farmers but they were involved in different field of occupation at the same time. The majority of them grow rice for food not for living thus during farming time they came back to the village to do farming and went back to work in rubber plantation or fruit gardening or taken employment in the town or in the neighbor country like Malaysia and come back again in the harvest time. For the majority of new generation age 30 downward is completely not involve in the farming activity, this young people if not go to university –they probably go to get employed in the town or Malaysia because the income when compare with farming is completely difference, you will never get rich if you work on paddy field but there’s a chance if you involve in business or working in Malaysia. The paddy cultivation is heading down slowly with the new generation and probably will die down if the modern(technology) and full scale of paddy farming never introduced to the area because full scale and modern farming mean the farmer living. Another cause of deterioration in paddy farming beside income and technology is the eco system and environment had changed because of Patani dam and diversion canals’ construction for example a new kind of weed and grass are appeared in the field –the problem which make farmers had to invest more labor, money and times.

More threat coming soon

Flood is Visiting Every Year During The Monsoon