Black prawn farmers in Thailand have threatened to sue three senior officials for "spreading false information" on the environmental impact of inland prawn farming. Payoong Pattarakulchai, a prawn farmer in Ratchaburi and the deputy chairman of Prawn Raisers Association, said farmers in 18 provinces were preparing lawsuits against Sompong Theerawong, director-general of Land Development Department (LDD), Saksit Tridech, secretary-general of the Office of Environmental Policy and Planning, and Somsri Arunin, chief of soil salinity research of the Fisheries Department. He said the three officials had used the results of studies of just a few farming areas to damn the entire industry in press interviews.