Farmers told not to dry crops on roads following fatal road accident

 

Rice farmers have been warned to stop drying their crops on roads or face legal action.

 

 

The instruction was issued today by the Nakhon Ratchasima provincial justice officer after a fatal road accident on November 10 th on a highway in Tambon Makha, Non Soong district.

 

Two pickup trucks collided when the drivers tried to avoid driving over rice laid on the road surface to dry, resulting to two fatalities and two others being injuries.

 

Mr. Wichien Chaisorb, director of the Nakhon Ratchasima provincial justice office, paid a visit yesterday to the family of one of the dead victims, Mr. Nikhom Chitklang, to offer condolences and support.

 

He reportedly told the family that his office will provide legal assistance if they want to take action against the farmers who used the public road as a place to dry their crops.

 

After the fatal accident, the Makha Tambon Administration Organization (TAO) vice mayor called a meeting, with village heads, kamnan and highway police in Non Soong district, to discuss measures to prevent similar accidents.

 

At the meeting it was agreed that there should be a ban on the use of roads to dry rice, with the Makha TAO promising to find alternative space for farmers.

 

Sun-drying freshly harvested rice on local roads has been common practice for many farmers, so that the crops fetch better prices.

 

Source: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/farmers-told-not-to-dry-crops-on-roads-following-fatal-road-accident/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2019-11-14

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The instruction was issued today by the Nakhon Ratchasima provincial justice officer after a fatal road accident

 

problem solved then.

 

i have civil servant friend who works quite high up in the ministry of transport, when the problems with van drivers was in the news i suggested the minister should do something about it, my friend replied that he has done something, he has told them to drive safely - and that was problem solved as far as she was concerned, she wouldn't have it when i suggested without enforcement nothing would change...

Sorry but before I wreak my truck I'm running over the rice just like I'll hit a dog before I'll wreak

2 hours ago, Fred white said:

Sorry but before I wreak my truck I'm running over the rice just like I'll hit a dog before I'll wreak

Agree it's road, drive on left white line they would soon get the idea.

KIn cretins,  just  like the woman round here who brings her cows  home in the DARK with no  lights or warning as you come round a corner

Farmers such lovely people if they dont poison you with chemicals then they kill you with other selfish actions.

 

I wonder were defenders of farmers like @farmerjo are they are so vocal on farmers rights but fail to see how selfish farmers are. Believing that farmermers will use chemicals properly and care for consumers while this is yet an other example of how its money first and others have to live with the concequences.

 

In a country like Thailand bans and harsh punishment are the only way to go. Just like how street vendors encrouch more and more leaving no room for people to walk. If only they respected others then bans were not needed and people self regulated  but its all about maximizing profit at the expense of others.

 

I understand the need to dry rice but then pay for a place to do so or find a safer free place. Its things like this that led me to believe that farmers wont use chemicals responsible. (And of course the results of tests of produces in markets and supermarkets).

 

I dont mind paying more for products if produced safe. But its not just farmers its also the police allowing this and testing agencies not doing much. If testing agencies were to be tough and check far mor fining and destroying batches of bad produces bans would not be needed.

 

Yes ban them using the roads to dry rice.....???? that's bound to work. In rural areas it's what happens, year in year out and everybody knows it, if a dangerous situation occurs you drive over the rice, no harm done, otherwise show a little respect for the farmers and avoid the rice.

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Rice farmers have been warned to stop drying their crops on roads or face legal action.

 

Should the police move on the secondary roads ...
almost 15 years old that I live in a small village in issan;
never seen the police coming to venture into our wild landscapes;
the rice on the road does not disturb anyone and the few vehicles that drive on our roads have much more to pay attention to elephant nests than rice extended on the road ...

 

between my village and the national road there is 4 km that I do in minimum 15 minutes so the road is broken and of course never maintained.
I wonder if the administration that deals with secondary roads knows that it exists?

4 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

Yes ban them using the roads to dry rice.....???? that's bound to work. In rural areas it's what happens, year in year out and everybody knows it, if a dangerous situation occurs you drive over the rice, no harm done, otherwise show a little respect for the farmers and avoid the rice.

Things can and should change i see it in my profession too. Its called progress. Sure it often means more work and cost but the end result is more safety. 

 

I guess you have no problem with selfish people and like things to stay stagnant. For years it was normal to throw human waste on the streets and roads causing disease. That changed an was expensive at first now its normal and saves life.

 

I guess your ok with the burning as that is what has been done for years ? Also a ptime example of a selfish and dangerous act of farmers. Should that not change as it is the way it always was?

 

I find it a weak argument saying we do it because we always did it. It means the end of progress and innovation.

8 minutes ago, Assurancetourix said:

 

Should the police move on the secondary roads ...
almost 15 years old that I live in a small village in issan;
never seen the police coming to venture into our wild landscapes;
the rice on the road does not disturb anyone and the few vehicles that drive on our roads have much more to pay attention to elephant nests than rice extended on the road ...

 

between my village and the national road there is 4 km that I do in minimum 15 minutes so the road is broken and of course never maintained.
I wonder if the administration that deals with secondary roads knows that it exists?

If its on a almost non traveled secondary road then its not an issue but that was not the case in this accident it was a two lane road more travelled. Common sense is not too common. 

 

Question what are elephant nests ?

2 minutes ago, robblok said:

Question what are elephant nests ?

A or many huge pothole(s)  

29 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

Yes ban them using the roads to dry rice.....???? that's bound to work. In rural areas it's what happens, year in year out and everybody knows it, if a dangerous situation occurs you drive over the rice, no harm done, otherwise show a little respect for the farmers and avoid the rice.

In previous years, the economic situation in Thailand was good.
The peasants, knowing that they would earn a better living "in the city", have gone there by desertifying the countryside.
Fewer workers, those who remained were forced to buy farm equipment, tractors and harvesters;
materials paid largely by those who went to work in the city or sometimes overseas (Taiwan, Japan, Middle East, Europe itself,).
The problem of the mechanization of agriculture is that the way of working changes.
In the past, the rice was cut by hand and the serpette and let it dry on the spot, praying Buddha that it was not raining.
Then we beat him on the spot with the machine that goes well;
it was put in sacks and brought to the granaries without having to dry it on the road.
Some farmers continue to do so because they find the staff they need.
but most have no one to cut the rice and then work at the foot of the threshing machine.
they are therefore forced to work differently.
We will see more and more dry rice on the roads unless ....
The baht explodes and forces the workers to return home and resume their miserable but otherwise more interesting life.
the villages will live again and the roads will be less busy with rice drying.

1 hour ago, robblok said:

Farmers such lovely people if they dont poison you with chemicals then they kill you with other selfish actions.

 

I wonder were defenders of farmers like @farmerjo are they are so vocal on farmers rights but fail to see how selfish farmers are. Believing that farmermers will use chemicals properly and care for consumers while this is yet an other example of how its money first and others have to live with the concequences.

 

In a country like Thailand bans and harsh punishment are the only way to go. Just like how street vendors encrouch more and more leaving no room for people to walk. If only they respected others then bans were not needed and people self regulated  but its all about maximizing profit at the expense of others.

 

I understand the need to dry rice but then pay for a place to do so or find a safer free place. Its things like this that led me to believe that farmers wont use chemicals responsible. (And of course the results of tests of produces in markets and supermarkets).

 

I dont mind paying more for products if produced safe. But its not just farmers its also the police allowing this and testing agencies not doing much. If testing agencies were to be tough and check far mor fining and destroying batches of bad produces bans would not be needed.

 

I don't condone it.

However this is most likely their seed for the next crop that needs to be dried down to acceptable storage moisture and what better place to do it than on some bitumen or concrete that is mostly contamination free.

 

Farmers,police,testing agencies,you need to get out to breathe some country fresh air.The exhaust fumes are making you a bit grumpy in the mornings. 

3 hours ago, robblok said:

Question what are elephant nests ?

They build them in cherry trees of course.

 

I thought everyone knew that elephants paint their toenails red so that they can't be spotted when they're nesting in cherry trees?

4 hours ago, robblok said:

see how selfish farmers are

insert "many Thais"

Best of luck with that one.

Most roads here in Isan around my village are full of the stuff as usual.

4 hours ago, robblok said:

while this is yet an other example of how its money first and others have to live with the concequences.

Which applies to many Thai with everything in general............no need to single out farmers 

4 hours ago, robblok said:

Things can and should change i see it in my profession too. Its called progress. Sure it often means more work and cost but the end result is more safety. 

 

I guess you have no problem with selfish people and like things to stay stagnant. For years it was normal to throw human waste on the streets and roads causing disease. That changed an was expensive at first now its normal and saves life.

 

I guess your ok with the burning as that is what has been done for years ? Also a ptime example of a selfish and dangerous act of farmers. Should that not change as it is the way it always was?

 

I find it a weak argument saying we do it because we always did it. It means the end of progress and innovation.

I think it's more due to successive, authoritarian and demonstrably Bangkok-centric Thai governments ignoring Thailand's agrarian legacy and not making any effort to offer farmers alternatives to road-drying their rice despite encouraging them to have two rice-harvests per year. All this while bending over backwards to service some woefully misbegotten right for all to own a car including every spotty country oik in a pickup truck while not spending any money on rural roads.

I’m sure the farmers will listen to this warning and the police will make sure everyone is following the rules.

3 hours ago, farmerjo said:

I don't condone it.

However this is most likely their seed for the next crop that needs to be dried down to acceptable storage moisture and what better place to do it than on some bitumen or concrete that is mostly contamination free.

 

Farmers,police,testing agencies,you need to get out to breathe some country fresh air.The exhaust fumes are making you a bit grumpy in the mornings. 

Im actually on a holliday in the south having a great time. Not grumpy at all but just frustrated with how much farmers get away with.just wait for the burning season an other nice gift from farmersthere goes the fresh air you talk about.

 

I am as much against other poluters as i am against farmers. I applaud the plastic bag ban. I am against those black smoke belching vehicules. The problem in Thailand is enforcement. But you as a farmer are a bit bias all i ask for is for them to think of others not their own money at the expense of others. (Burning, chemicals, and now creating dangerous situations on roads only to safe some money at the expense of others).

 

But dont you agree that if testing agencies did a better job and fined producers that used too much chemicals and destroyed those fruits and vegetables bans would not be needed as farmers would be hurt in the pocket if they used it irresponsible while those that did use it responsible could keep using it.

 

Seems a win win... but because this is Thailand it wont work and bans are needed.

 

 

49 minutes ago, Chazar said:

Which applies to many Thai with everything in general............no need to single out farmers 

Yet the topic is about farmers so not singling them out. I am against those crazy minivans who go to fast so that they can make an extra run for extra money as much as i am against farmers. Those who put themselves before others and cause others harm for their own profit all get my scorn.

17 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

At the meeting it was agreed that there should be a ban on the use of roads to dry rice, with the Makha TAO promising to find alternative space for farmers.

So currently there is no ban on putting dangerous obstructions on the road,so two people are dead because these people consider getting an extra 10 baht for their load of rice so thats 5 baht for each life which people in Thailand think is a fair price. 

I fail to see how motorists driving on rural roads at speeds more suitable to motorways can be in any way described as progress, you look for selfish start here!

23 minutes ago, robblok said:

But dont you agree that if testing agencies did a better job and fined producers that used too much chemicals and destroyed those fruits and vegetables bans would not be needed as farmers would be hurt in the pocket if they used it irresponsible while those that did use it responsible could keep using it.

I'm glad we can agree on one thing,it's a start.

14 hours ago, Chazar said:

KIn cretins,  just  like the woman round here who brings her cows  home in the DARK with no  lights or warning as you come round a corner

Cows don't need lights as they have been fitted with horns.

They have to BE TOLD that?

My heart (and brain) bleeds for this country!

What a bunch of idiots!

 

Could be worse...

 

 

41 minutes ago, farmerjo said:

I'm glad we can agree on one thing,it's a start.

I just want to eat fruits and vegetables that are free of poison (or in safe levels). I only support a ban as the testing agenciesmdont seem to do their job and corruption is normal so that makes testing also not full proof. For now a ban seems to be the only way to really make things safe.

 

Plus i disagree with farmers burning and poluting us all for their own gain. Same goes for factories of course and those trucks and busses that dont seem to do maintenance and belch black smoke.

On 11/15/2019 at 8:41 AM, soalbundy said:

Yes ban them using the roads to dry rice.....???? that's bound to work. In rural areas it's what happens, year in year out and everybody knows it, if a dangerous situation occurs you drive over the rice, no harm done, otherwise show a little respect for the farmers and avoid the rice.

Spot on soalbundy, in many years around Ubon I've only ever seen on very quiet village roads with minimal traffic, worse case you'd just run over it to avoid any accident. Banning this is the sort of nanny state kneejerk reaction that western countries have become accustomed to.

On 11/15/2019 at 2:13 PM, robblok said:

Plus i disagree with farmers burning and poluting us all for their own gain.

As it stands tonight the National park behind me have started their fire break season early(still to green in my opinion),this time it is the government burning so we need to keep that in mind when it hits Bangkok.