Ekasit Sakdeethanaporn, director of the Chao Phraya dam in Chai Nat province, said today that the warning went to people living along the Chao Phraya River in Chai Nat, Nakhon Sawan and Uthai Thani provinces.
They were advised to closely monitor the riverbank for signs of collapse, find ways to protect their property, and be ready to evacuate and move out their possessions if there is any sign their homes may subside.
He said riverside collapse was possible as the level of the river was dropping quickly.
In the previous 24 hours, the level of the river above the Chao Phraya dam in Bang Luang sub-district of Sapphaya district, Chai Nat, had dropped by 14 centimetres to 13.34 metres above mean sea level, already 66cm below its critical level of 14m, Mr Ekasit said.
Sections of waterside roads in Saraburi and Ayutthaya provinces had already collapsed.
Two sections of an embankment road parallel to the Khlong Phraya Banlue canal in Lat Bua Luang district of Ayutthaya fell 2-3m along a combined distance of 600m yesterday (July 5) and today.
The canal adjoins the Chao Phraya River in Bang Sai district of Ayutthaya.
Yesterday a 300m section of an embankment road along the Khlong Rapipat canal collapsed nearly 3m in Nong Khae district of Saraburi province. The canal adjoins the Pa Sak River which connects to the Chao Phraya River in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya district of Ayutthaya.
Noppadol Amornvej, assistant chief for disaster prevention and mitigation in Ayutthaya, said today that embankment roads had collapsed in Sena district in May, with additional waterside collapses in Tha Rua, Bang Sa-ai, Bang Pa-in and Wang Noi districts.
Meanwhile, water shortages are becoming more severe in provinces in the North, the Central Plain and the Northeast.
Crops were dying in over 90,000 rai of parched farmland in Ban Dan, Khiri Mat, Lan Hoi, Muang, Sawankhalok, Si Samrong, and Thung Saliam districts, affecting more than 9,600 families there.
The same was happening to nearly 13,000 rai of crops in Pong district of Phayao, where the Yom River was drying up.
The water shortage was the most severe in 50 years and affected 200,000 rai of paddy fields in Nakhon Phanom province. Authorities planned to pump water from the Mekong River to save farmland in the province.
Thung Phueng sub-district of Chae Hom district of Lampang province had been without rain for the longest period.
In Sakon Nakhon province, the longest stream, Huai Pla Hang, had dried out for the first time in 20 years, affecting both farming and tap water production in Dua Sri Khanchai sub-district of Wanon Niwat district.
In Buri Ram province, the Khlong Manao reservoir in Non Dindaeng district to the south was the shallowest in 40 years. Authorities were cutting back the discharge from the reservoir to ensure there would be enough for tap water production for about 3,000 local families.
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