Flooded-in farmers demand action
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More than 1,200 farmers in Suphan Buri yesterday threatened to block a major road if relevant authorities failed to drain flood water from their paddy fields urgently.
“Our fields have been flooded for about five months already,” protest leader Piyapoj Kiartchusakul said.
The protesters, mostly rice farmers from Bang Pla Ma and Song Phi Nong districts, demanded that pumps be immediately installed to push the water out of their plots. As of yesterday, their areas were still under a metre and a half of water.
“We don’t want to see prolonged flooding affect our farming season this year as well,” Piyapoj said, adding that farmers wanted to see results in the next five days.
“We want to start our farming by February 5,” Piyapoj said, adding that if their demands went unheeded, they would block Highway 340.
Suphan Buri MP Nitiwat Jansawang met with the protesters and promised to take their demands to the relevant authorities.
