The Royal Thai Army has opened a field water service point in Chiang Rai Province and is expediting the recovery of water pumping stations to maintain public utilities for people affected by flooding. Lt. Col. Kannanat Ponnipatkul, Assistant Spokesperson of the Royal Thai Army, revealed that the flood situation in Chiang Rai Province, especially in Mae Sai District, has affected public utilities in the area because the mass of water has flooded the water pumping station, including carrying mud and debris to the pumping pond, causing damage to the machinery and the pumping station area of the Provincial Waterworks Authority, Mae Sai Branch, temporarily unable to be used and produce tap water for the public. The Royal Thai Army is concerned and recognizes the importance of the water system because it is an important part of the people's lives. Therefore, the Royal Thai Army has assigned the Department of Military Engineering to dispatch personnel together with officials from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation to urgently clean the water pumping pond area from mud and debris to restore the station to use as soon as possible. Meanwhile, personnel from the Engineering Unit in the 3rd Army Area have been deployed to install field water supply points to provide water services for consumption to disaster victims in Mae Sai District, a total of 4 locations: 1. Wat Ko Sai Community Service Point, 2. Mai Lung Khan Community Service Point, 3. Mueang Daeng Community Service Point, and 4. Siam Rescue Community Service Point, which have now been completed and are ready to provide services and alleviate public utility problems for the public. For the Army's field water supply unit, it is one of the important equipment of the engineering unit, which is stationed in the engineering battalions nationwide to perform missions to help people and support various sectors in terms of public utility systems. In the past, the Army has organized the field water supply engineering unit to produce clean wate r for disaster victims in many areas, both domestically and in foreign missions. In the earthquake in Nepal in 2015, the field water supply unit can produce 6,000 liters of tap water per hour or 60,000 - 80,000 liters per day, which is sufficient for the water needs of people in 4 communities, totaling 1,200 households every day. And not only in Chiang Rai Province, at present, the engineering units nationwide have prepared the said equipment to provide services to people in all areas that are affected by water systems from various disasters immediately. Source: Thai News Agency
