Water in a network of canals in the southern province of Chumphon is being drained off to prepare for heavy rain forecast from now until Sunday.
Somkiat Prajamwong, director-general of the Royal Irrigation Department (RID), said the Meteorological Department predicts heavy rain in the South until the week's end.
He has ordered irrigation officials to drain water into the sea from a network of canals to prepare for the deluge. All sluice gates have also been opened to help speed up drainage, Mr Somkiat said.
Drainage has now started at Klong Tha Sae canal located at the northernmost part of the provincial flood prevention and mitigation project, he said.
Water levels were five metres below the canal's banks and the canal could still take in an additional 3.35 million cubic metres of water or about 50% of its holding capacity, Mr Somkiat said.
Khlong Tha Sae canal connects to the Klong Tha Tapao, Klong Sam Kaew, and Klong Hua Wang-Phanang Tak canals.
The Nong Yai water retention pond holds about 1.415 million cu/m of water or about 54.6% of its full holding capacity of 3.121 million cu/m. The amount of water in the retention pond is being reduced to 30% so it can hold another 1.706 million cu/m, Mr Somkiat said.
Machinery has been brought in to remove obstacles blocking the waterway in Klong Tha Tapao, and 20 water pumps, 10 water propelling machines, 5,000 sand bags have been put in place to prepare for flooding.
In the Central region, the Thachin River level was still high and several villages in Suphan Buri's Bang Pla Ma district remain flooded.
River run-off diverted from Chai Nat caused the river banks to burst and inundate more than 200 households and plantations in tambon Takha in Bang Pla Ma. In some areas, water was more than 1.5 metres high.
In Chai Nat's Sapphaya district, the flood situation has continued for nearly 30 days with no signs of it receding, with about 3,158 households being submerged.
Several local schools opened Wednesday and students had to struggle through floods to get there.
However, the amount of run-off flowing into the Chao Phraya dam from the North has reduced at a rate of 2,759 cu/m per second.
Therefore, the discharge rate at the dam was cut to 2,598 cu/m per second, which has resulted in levels along the Chao Phraya River from Sapphaya district, Sing Buri, and Ang Thong falling by 20-25 cm.
In the Northeast, the amount of water being discharged from Ubon Ratana dam in Khon Kaen is being reduced, to ease the flood situation downstream, at the behest of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. The discharge rate at the dam was being lowered Wednesday from 38 million cubic metres per day to 30 million cu/m.
During his visit to flood-stricken Khon Kaen on Tuesday, Gen Prayut ordered a provincial flood management panel to reduce the rate of discharge. Gen Prayut inspected the area after more than 5,000 rai of rice paddy fields in Muang district were inundated.
