Tropical peat contains a large amount of undecomposed organic matter and represents a key carbon strock. Due to frequent drought by global climate change and drainage for agricultural practices, tropical peat experience a dramatic change in its environmental conditions. As microbes release various types of enzymes which are known to be affected by water content in wetlands, it is anticipated that water regime in tropical peat would be affected by drought. This study assessed effects of extreme drought on tropical peat in relation to previous land use patterns. Peat samples from different water regime were exposed to air drying and a suite of enzyme activites were measured. Drought enhanced hydrolas activities (e.g., ß-glucosidase, xylosidase, phosphatase, N-acetylglucosaminidase and arylsulfatase) substantially, which was accompanied by decreases in bacterial abundance. However, oxidases (e.g., phenol oxidase and peroxidase) increased significantly after exposure to drought. This suggests that dramatic drought in tropical peat system may accelerate decomposition of recalcitrant organic matter probably by activation of fungal community and an increase in oxygen availability.