Deputy Minister Watcharaphon convened 29 agencies to approve a central budget of 350 million baht to aggressively cut off the cycle of black-chinned catfish following its spread to Lam Pao Dam, ordering a hunt for those who maliciously released the fish.
On 16 September 2026, Mr. Watcharaphon Khaokham, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, chaired a meeting of the command center monitoring and resolving the black-chinned catfish outbreak with 29 related agencies. The goal was to urgently establish a national management framework, especially addressing the spread to northeastern Thailand around Lam Pao Dam in Kalasin Province.
Deputy Minister Watcharaphon added that the meeting agreed to seriously and continuously implement the Fisheries Department's seven existing measures. They also approved using approximately 350 million baht remaining in the central budget to intensify efforts, including building barriers to break the fish's cycle in rivers linking provinces by the Royal Irrigation Department; mobilizing personnel from the Ministry of Defence, Royal Thai Police, and Department of Corrections; and engaging local networks under the Ministry of Interior to support work at the community level.
After the meeting, Deputy Minister Watcharaphon reiterated that this problem would not be prolonged. A 180-day action plan was set, with clear and verifiable outcomes expected. He said he plans to visit Lam Pao Dam in person this week. He also ordered the Fisheries Department's legal team to urgently investigate those responsible and the source of the outbreak, since black-chinned catfish cannot swim from the sea coast to Lam Pao Dam on their own, indicating human or other factors must have introduced them.
Regarding calls from a shadow cabinet to replace the minister if no results appear within three months, he emphasized his commitment to the work and said the decision lies with the Prime Minister. Moving forward, priority will be given to compensating affected farmers alongside weekly public communications through the Public Relations Department to keep the outbreak under control and prevent further impacts on the ecosystem and national food security.