Thai PM urges Asian-Pacific nations to promote sustainable water management

CHIANG MAI, May 20 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has urged countries in Asia and the Pacific to promote sustainable water management to prevent war on water in the future. Yingluck made the call during her speech at the national leaders' session as part of the 2nd Asia-Pacific Water Summit, being held in Chiang Mai Province in the Thai North from May 14-20. In her speech, Yingluck cautioned that there could be war on water in the future, as water is borderless and flows from high to low grounds; so, water management in the region needs to be integrated because no countries can cope with floods alone but joining forces to reduce the destruction of natural resources, which has cause polar ice packs to melt, and to also prevent the destruction of watershed forests and to create warning systems to prevent damage. The Thai prime minister mentioned severe flooding in Asia and encouraged Asian Pacific countries to jointly protect clean water sources and to cope with disasters, pointing out although severe flooding in Thailand in late 2011 affected the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth, all parties in Thailand joined forces to push for the recovery of the national economy, to grow by 4.6 per cent. The Thai prime minister also told the national leaders' session that her government is investing 350 billion baht in water management projects. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi, who heads the Thai government’s Water Management and Flood Prevention Commission, then said he hopes experts’ sessions from May 16-18, also held as part of the 2nd Asia-Pacific Water Summit, in which academics and experts from 37 countries in the Asian Pacific region exchanged their opinions, will lead to sustainable solutions to prevent drought and floods. (TNA)