Dhanin Chearavanont, senior chairman of Charoen Pokphand Group, has urged the government to put water management at the centre of Thailand’s economic transformation, saying the country’s agriculture and food sectors remain a vast opportunity despite global crises.
Speaking at “The Listening Forum: Voices to the PM – Entrepreneurs Speak, Government Listens” at Government House, Dhanin said Thailand still had “enormous opportunity”, especially in agriculture and food, which he described as “oil above the ground”, a resource that can be created repeatedly and without limit.
He proposed that the government accelerate investment in irrigation systems, water management and modern agriculture to raise farmers’ incomes, revitalise the grassroots economy and strengthen Thailand’s long-term food security.
Dhanin said Thailand had major strengths in climate, sunlight and cultivation potential, but the biggest problem facing Thai agriculture was water.
He said that if the government invested in irrigation, built reservoirs and distributed water to farming areas across the country, the same way that electricity and roads were once extended to every village, Thailand could dramatically improve farm output and farmers’ incomes.
Based on direct experience, he said farmers with access to water could grow crops up to three times a year. With better management efficiency, output per rai could increase by as much as fivefold.
“Oil above the ground is more important than oil underground, because everyone needs food. Farmers are benefactors who feed the whole country, but today they are still poor. We must help solve this problem,” Dhanin said.