Thailand’s Cabinet approved a seven-year reservoir plan in Chanthaburi to expand irrigation and regional water security, while wildlife concerns and separate permission to use national park land remain central to the project.
Approved Aug. 5 for fiscal years 2027 through 2033, the plan sets a 7.2 billion baht budget framework that includes land acquisition. The reservoir is designed to hold 99.5 million cubic meters and support irrigation across 87,700 rai. The Cabinet lists local water security, support for the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) and downstream flood relief among its aims.
East Water said May 15, 2026, that it had begun supplying Bridge Data Centres III (Thailand) Co., Ltd., in Chonburi and planned to add two data-center customers by 2026. Neither the Cabinet’s project summary nor East Water’s announcement identifies Khlong Wang Tanod as a source for those facilities.
The Royal Irrigation Department (RID) says it may consider a rainy-season transfer of surplus water to Rayong and nearby areas after four reservoirs and a distribution system are complete. It estimates the possible transfer at an average of 56 million to 70 million cubic meters a year. RID says water needs in the source area would come first and allocations would go through river-basin committees; the transfer is not underway or designated for immediate industrial use.
The Active, Thai PBS, reported Oct. 24 that farmers and a community-group leader said water access from earlier reservoirs had been incomplete, with residents organizing or paying for some distribution infrastructure. RID says environmental review reduced the planned area to 11,982 rai from about 14,600 rai. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation says at least 100 elephants use low-lying forest there and has proposed reducing reservoir capacity to limit flooding in Khao Sip Ha Chan National Park.
A 2024 conference paper modeled 11 water-level scenarios. In one, a level above 57 meters would flood more than 483 rai in the park and harm elephant habitat; the paper presents this as a modeled outcome, not a confirmed estimate for the current design.
On Sept. 13, Lalida Phoeritwiwattana, Deputy Spokesperson of the Prime Minister’s Office, told MGR Online that Cabinet approval alone did not authorize construction on national park land and that separate land-use permission or park revocation had not been granted as of that date. She said updated environmental information could be considered alongside the project’s environmental and health impact assessment, which the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning lists as approved Aug. 10, 2021.
CNA reported that Ban Klong Yang, within the planned reservoir area, has 334 households and 654 residents. Village head Seeda Saengkla told the outlet that residents open to relocation worried about housing and livelihoods afterward: “They don't want to move somewhere else only to end up in debt.” The Cabinet approved housing support in principle and directed RID to provide fair and appropriate compensation.
