The burning truth? There’s no excuse for haze

[webfact]

The burning truth? There’s no excuse for haze 

By Michael Shafer

 

 

The day the burning ban began last month, haze blanketed the mountains and valleys of the North. In the weeks since, the situation has not improved.

 

People have complained loudly – and nothing practical has been done. Many ask why the government made such a big deal out of PM2.5 in Bangkok and is silent now. Who cares? The reality is the government did not DO anything in Bangkok – just as it is not DOING anything here.

 

This is inexcusable.

 

True, the haze problem is big and complex. But it is not insoluble.

 

What’s the problem?

 

No one thinks about the actual causes of the haze. People complain during the burning season, but even then, they don’t ask about underlying causes.

 

As former Transport minister Chadchart Sittipunt observed during his recent Chiang Mai visit, the haze comes from farmers burning fields and the resulting forest fires, plus forest fires set by mushroom gathers. We have known this for years, so why do we allow it to go on and on and on?

 

We have tried threats and bans, police, jailing, soldiers and shooting. Nothing has worked. Isn’t it time to ask, “Why not?”

 

The answer is simple: Because none of these policies addresses farmers’ and mushroom pickers’ needs. Why not stop to ask the farmers and mushroom gatherers why they burn? Maybe if we understood their motivations, we could also figure out how to get them to behave differently. 

 

Why burn?

 

After spending a lot of time talking to poor farmers and poorer mushroom gatherers, here is what I have learned.

 

Farmers burn their fields because they have no other way to clear before planting. If we can provide them a better alternative, they won’t burn. What would be a better alternative? A way to make money from their old crop waste.

 

Poor farmers are actually happy not to burn. In fact, they welcome the opportunity to convert their crop waste into a saleable product instead of, well, wasting it. Not only that, but the training required is minimal; the equipment is cheap and they can make it themselves. The result is no smoke, no greenhouse gases, no smog precursors and a valuable product.

 

The solution

 

What’s the problem? 

 

There is no market for their product. The government recognises that making it will stop small farmers burning and that the product is incredibly useful, but it does nothing. What might it do? Create a market by being a market and so demonstrating value.

 

The government could simply buy a lot, not for charity, but for its own practical use. This stuff can be used as a powerful organic fertiliser (the Office of Land Development already uses it). It can be made into briquettes for cooking and heating that do not smoke or smell, that light faster, burn hotter and longer than wood or charcoal. (The Energy Ministry already touts it.) It can be spread on fields, football pitches and in fishponds to decontaminate them.

 

All of these are important. All of these ought to be done; none are being done locally or nationally. If the government adopted any one of them now, it would provide the initial market that would give farmers the incentive not to burn. It would also demonstrate value and bring private actors into the game. Rising demand would further increase farmers’ incentive not to burn but to profit.

 

Would it be worth it?

 

Put it this way. North Thailand produces about 2.5 million tonnes of corn annually – and about 10.8 million tonnes of corn waste. Farmers burn about 40 per cent of that annually, generating 27,000 tonnes of PM2.5. That is 27 million kilos of haze and each kilo represents the same amount of smoke as 71,429 cigarettes.

 

This analogy helps explain why North Thailand has the highest incidence of lung cancer in the country – and why I think it is inexcusable that for years we have turned our backs on such a simple, sustainable way to eliminate the haze caused by crop waste burning.

 

Forest fires

 

What about forest fires? Who, you ask, would burn a forest for mushrooms?

 

I’ll tell you. The poorest people in the mountains who want to make several months’ income in a few days picking mushrooms that are easier to see against the black ash. According to the National Statistical Office (2018), the average, monthly household income of such a family is Bt11,162; average household size is 3.9. In other words, the average potential forest-fire starter makes an average Bt95.4 per day. A fast mushroom picker working a fire-blackened area can collect better than Bt5,000 worth of mushrooms per day. That is 52 times his/her normal daily income. Burn a whole mountain? Think of the potential riches. Food. School uniforms. Maybe a motorbike.

 

Can we protect this essential income and the forests simultaneously? Yes, provided the government plays its part. 

 

Mushrooms are valuable because there is a rich export market. What to do? Regulate. Permit local sales, but control sales outside of the North. What if mushrooms for sale outside had to be certified as picked in sub-districts where no fires are reported? The incentive to burn disappears and locals become stewards of the forests.

 

Governments have implemented such systems for much more difficult items including foreign currencies in countries facing liquidity crises. Yes, the government has a critical role to play, but one far different from the heavy-handed role it has attempted for years. Today, it might try a less aggressive, market-based strategy.

 

These simple measures can do much to reduce haze during the burning season. – Special to The Nation

 

Michael Shafer is director of the Warm Heart Foundation in Phrao, Chiang Mai.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/opinion/30367182

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-04-05

[VincentRJ]

Excellent ideas for a solution which I fully support.

[YetAnother]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

The burning truth? There’s no excuse for haze 

this is thailand, there is an excuse for everything

[jaltsc]

"We have tried threats and bans, police, jailing, soldiers and shooting. Nothing has worked."

 

Here's a novel idea. Try ENFORCING LAWS. This will not only cut down on the killing haze from burning, but also put a dent in road fatalities, domestic violence, student violence, etc. Using "The government asked for people to be good" doesn't work in a country where hypocricy and token gestures of morality are considered the norm. 

[VincentRJ]

49 minutes ago, jaltsc said:

"We have tried threats and bans, police, jailing, soldiers and shooting. Nothing has worked."

 

Here's a novel idea. Try ENFORCING LAWS. This will not only cut down on the killing haze from burning, but also put a dent in road fatalities, domestic violence, student violence, etc. Using "The government asked for people to be good" doesn't work in a country where hypocricy and token gestures of morality are considered the norm. 

Enforcing laws will not work by itself. It will cause great political trouble and dissatisfaction among the poor farmers. There has to be a fair and reasonable solution in place which addresses the underlying problem. First make the solutions available then enforce the laws against burn-off.

[justin case]

stupidity mixed with greed

 

don't forget thais don't know s.hit about pesticides, herbicides and all this crap also is burnt with whatever field or bush is put on fire

 

you can cure ugly but you can't cure STUPIDITY

[koosdeboer]

This morning the old man taking care of the Grand Canyon attraction owned by the kamnan of Nam Phrae was burning heaps of leaves there.

[robblok]

Great its actually not a bad idea to pay the farmers for the waste, put aside a bit of budget for it and make it happen might be cheaper then all the damage it does. But combine this with heavy policing when they don't. Then at least they can't say they don't have an alternative. 

[fantom]

I think this is a challenging article but in my opinion does not go far enough.

 

1. Corn and Sugar: What are these crops being used for? and who is buying / contracting the produce?

I have long been of the view that much is used to make alcohol which in turn is put into petrol to make cars "Green."  It is actually getting difficult to find a petrol ('gas' to my American chums) that sells 91 octane petrol without added alcohol. It is fatuous to produce a product that questionably reduces pollution while at the same time produces so much we have difficulty breathing

 

2. Mushrooms: these are being produced in industrial amounts, by burning the hills. Again my understanding is that they are being sold in industrial quantities in China. I am not sure just who is benefiting from this trade.  Why, as a matter of interest, are we not encouraging controlled mushroom farming? I am sure the old King would have had a few thoughts on the matter.

[Eric Loh]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

What’s the problem? 

Politics.

[sammieuk1]

Will the general face hazy sedition charges if hasn't gone by Tuesday 4 days left????

 

[dwcrist]

I thought the same thing. The government or subsidized private companies should buy and use the crop waste and use it to make clean fertilizer. This along with outlawing the sale of charred crops or crops from burning areas will help.

 

However none of this will help if it is not committed to and if laws are not enforced and authorities are not held accountable for their effectiveness. There needs to be both strong positive incentives for compliance and dire negative consequences for violations that are clearly outlined and applied consistently for all.

[wwest5829]

7 hours ago, jaltsc said:

"We have tried threats and bans, police, jailing, soldiers and shooting. Nothing has worked."

 

Here's a novel idea. Try ENFORCING LAWS. This will not only cut down on the killing haze from burning, but also put a dent in road fatalities, domestic violence, student violence, etc. Using "The government asked for people to be good" doesn't work in a country where hypocricy and token gestures of morality are considered the norm. 

Hmmm, you did not read the article? You have to provide a viable alternative. Enforce the law? Well, I have read this ad nauseam. Unless and until we address the causes ... there will be no change. Gestapo tactics dealing with this cited issue, immigration, radicals having support or the political travails will not stop until the economic causes are dealt with ...

[mok199]

Total disrespect for the health of this Nation the Enviornment and the Planet....Greed gone wild

[emptypockets]

11 hours ago, VincentRJ said:

Excellent ideas for a solution which I fully support.

Very good.  How much are you donating to kick start the programs?  Half a million baht?  One million?  Five million? 

I can imagine you full support suddenly dwindles when words are replaced with actions. 

[bkk6060]

I think they are western thinking solutions that will never ever happen here.

Good luck, glad I am spending this month in beautiful Pattaya.

[DrTuner]

I was first reading this amazed about how a Thai could write such logical and useful article, until..

 

Quote

Michael Shafer is director of the Warm Heart Foundation in Phrao, Chiang Mai.

 

And that'll be it, Thais will ignore anything from farangs because they are the übermensch possessing an IQ too high to estimate.

[VincentRJ]

1 hour ago, emptypockets said:

Very good.  How much are you donating to kick start the programs?  Half a million baht?  One million?  Five million? 

I can imagine you full support suddenly dwindles when words are replaced with actions. 

I'm donating all the money I've paid in taxes in Thailand, such as the VAT on all the products I've bought in Thailand and the VAT on all the hotel rooms I've booked, and so on. But don't ask me how much that is. I haven't been keeping track of it. ????

[White Christmas13]

I always thought picking wild mushrooms is illegal so why don't the get arrested 

[fruitman]

14 hours ago, webfact said:

and nothing practical has been done.

I don't agree.

 

I've seen and posted a picture where mr Prayuth gave the meanest badass looking (western) leafblower to Chian Mai officials and he pulled a face of 'this thing can pack some punch' when he handed it over. Mind you, it was the most expensive professional model from Somchai's hardware shop in the whole north of thailand.

 

If that's not gonna stop the haze than what is?!

 

For the no believers, here it is! 

[trainman34014]

29 minutes ago, fruitman said:

I don't agree.

 

I've seen and posted a picture where mr Prayuth gave the meanest badass looking (western) leafblower to Chian Mai officials and he pulled a face of 'this thing can pack some punch' when he handed it over. Mind you, it was the most expensive professional model from Somchai's hardware shop in the whole north of thailand.

 

If that's not gonna stop the haze than what is?!

 

For the no believers, here it is! 

And the bloke on the right is thinking Hmmm; i wonder how much i could get for that if i flogged it ?

[rickudon]

One simple idea about the mushrooms. If an area of forest is burnt, send the army, police, prisoners in to pick the mushrooms, money made donated to kickstart corn waste reuse plans. If the mushroom pickers have to compete with the government in burnt forest, no point in burning .......