Measurable goals and long-term maintenance should be emphasized for the revised Northeast Thailand small scale irrigation project

Audit report covers the period 1980-6/84 and is based on document review, site visits, and interviews with Royal Thai Government (RTG), USAID/T, and contractor personnel. A seriously flawed feasibility study which, among other problems, overestimated the operational capacity of the main canal system, has delayed project implementation, doubled cost, and caused disagreements between the RTG and USAID/T as to relative funding responsibilities. Construction of only about 30% of one site, Huai Aeng, has been completed. The total number of sites to be rehabilitated may be reduced to three; still, however, construction specifications have not been finalized and no further contracts have been awarded. Also, the project lacks a system to adequately evaluate the economic feasibility (especially for farmers) of tank rehabilitation and thus its replicability. Inadequate consultant task force (CTF) management and CTF efforts to rectify design flaws have also delayed implementation. However, replacement of the CTF leader in 7/83 has led to improved operations. As of 4/84, long overdue construction and operations manuals had been drafted and quarterly progress reports improved. The CTF has still not completed maintenance manuals nor begun agricultural extension, research/extension staff assistance, or domestic market demand studies. Funding for operation and maintenance (O&M) of irrigation systems has been another serious (and long-standing) problem in Thailand. The RTG has not provided an adequate O&M program or annual budget as called for in the project agreement: part of the Huai Aueng canal has already washed out and no repairs have been made. As donor funding is more available for new projects than for recurrent costs of existing projects, there is little incentive for the RTG to budget for O&M. Also, the RTG appears to be using the project as a "test case," attempting to place O&M responsibility with participating farmers. Recommendations are to: redefine project objectives; require the CTF to detail staff work plans; reduce the number of construction sites to three and use excess funds to improve O&M; and seek long-term solutions to O&M problems in Thailand.