Thailand, Bangkok: The Thai Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives says the drought in Thailand this year might become the most severe that Thailand has witnessed in the last 10 years. The drought is affecting 9.6 million Thai farmers in a country where more than 60 percent of the population depends on agriculture

Deputy Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives Newin Chidchob said: "The drought is hitting Thailand's farming sector very badly and has now spread to 66 of Thailand's 76 provinces, forcing local authorities to stop supplying water for irrigation. The current water supplies are not sufficient to have a second dry-season crop cultivation this year, on which farmers depends.

As part of the efforts to end the drought problem in Thailand, Minister Newin has asked the Thai government to commission a dozen of C-130 airplanes from the Royal Thai Air Force to help with the artificial rain-making operation over the drought-affected farming provinces in the country.

The Thai Ministry of Agriculture further added: "This year, only about 10% of Thailand's arable land has enough water reserves to produce a second crop".

But despite drought problems and rising oil price, PM Minister Thaksin Shiwanatra recently announced that those problems will only have a limited impact on the economic growth of Thailand. PM Thaksin remains optimistic and maintain that the country's economy will see a 5 to 6 percent grow in 2005.