In the Philippines, irrigation infrastructure is being expanded and the country’s Congress has also pushed agencies towards a unified national preparedness framework covering farmers, fisheries, food security and water before drought worsens.
Thailand’s Cabinet has ordered agencies to prepare specifically for a severe event, focusing on water for households, agriculture and industry, agricultural planning and emergency reserves.
But experts and farmers like Surachai have questioned whether preparedness on the ground is sufficient. As the manager of a community enterprise group, he said he is highly aware that the farming community around him in Thailand’s agricultural heartland is not braced.
“Sometimes I have to sit down and talk clearly with them, telling them to believe that a drought is coming. Farmers rarely believe it because government information isn’t clear. Inconsistent information makes farmers lose trust in everyone. So they gamble (on planting crops),” he said.
“Farmers don’t lack knowledge; they have inherent wisdom. They just need a spark on how to use their resources to sustain their families, and the government needs to facilitate that vision,” he added.
Sonthi said the government should urgently urge farmers to adapt by suspending off-season rice farming in favour of low-water crops like soybeans or mung beans, while encouraging the excavation of farm ponds.
Active adaptation support has not been prioritised enough politically in Thailand, Areeya said, with climate policies often focusing on greenhouse gas mitigation and research that struggles to deliver on-the-ground impacts.
“We invest heavily in research and develop numerous agricultural apps, but we lack consolidated execution,” she said.
Seree said it was “concerning” that the Thai government still lacked clear measures and preparedness to support farmers on the ground.
“If farmers continue rice cultivation under severe drought conditions, they face extreme risks of heavy losses. Yet, if they abstain, yields will be insufficient for domestic consumption and export,” he said.
Yet Thailand is not preparing for the looming climate stress in isolation. Across the Mekong basin, the systems for anticipating and coordinating responses to drought have strengthened considerably since the severe El Nino-linked droughts of the past decade, according to the Mekong River Commission (MRC), an intergovernmental body for cooperation in the Lower Mekong basin.
A spokesperson highlighted to CNA improved monitoring, data sharing and coordination over water resources among the MRC member states: Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
While those mechanisms cannot prevent an extreme El Nino from bringing drought, they could give governments more warning and greater ability to manage increasingly scarce water across borders, MRC said.
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