Let me put a young and innocent "face" on this Burning Season insanity.  Recently an infant died in Buriram Provence DIRECTLY as a result of this mostly unnecessary burning of crops and sugarcane.  How many people need to die and have their health damaged before goverment officials and the farmers stop this insanity?

 

The answer I received from many Thais was not pleasant.  The quote I heard was, "If I am not effected then I don't care and I will continue to burn."

 

How nice.  Profits before health.  Even the uncaring rich who see their workers as ants need people who are healthy enough to work. This is beyong disgusting.

 

 

20 minutes ago, MASSMAN said:

How many people need to die and have their health damaged before goverment officials and the farmers stop this insanity

Old old complaint.

No one is counting and it will continue indefinitely.

In 10 years people will still be complaining.

Sadly, it is what it is..

 

If it is any consolation...it could be worse.  

 

I am afraid that the Thai government and people have lost their way...corruption and greed are the motivation of their culture...there is a serious lack of compassion for their fellow man...

 

Not going to change with this current generation.  All the good feeling about Thailand seems to have disappeared with the passing of their benevolent respected King.

11 minutes ago, Puchaiyank said:

If it is any consolation...it could be worse.  

 

I am afraid that the Thai government and people have lost their way...corruption and greed are the motivation of their culture...there is a serious lack of compassion for their fellow man...

 

Not going to change with this current generation.  All the good feeling about Thailand seems to have disappeared with the passing of their benevolent respected King.

They were still burning the fields in the days of the old King. There were the same numbers of road deaths. King is nothing to do with it..unfortunately.

The last king used to make long television broadcast to the nation, explaining the need to look after the environment and reduce burning. Nobody took any notice off him and he was genuinely loved by Thais. 

 

The burning will not stop its part of life and death in this country.

1 hour ago, Puchaiyank said:

If it is any consolation...it could be worse. 

How?  Currently Thailand is number one in the world with AQI of 511 - twice that of China/India. 

 https://aqicn.org/city/thailand/

Thailand has joined the ranks of the most polluted countries in the world, with many days well over 50-100 PM 2.5, and often 125-200 AQI. The air here is horrendously bad, and seems to be getting worse each year. 

 

If Prayuth and the people in charge of this catastrophe really cared, there is so much they could be doing.

 

1. Stop the ridiculous promotion of diesel vehicles. You walk into a BMW dealership, and over half the cars for sale are diesel. Thailand is one of the few countries left, in the world, that actually promotes this nonsense. As soon as diesel vehicle is not maintained according to schedule, it becomes a hazard to the environment. What are the vehicle maintenance habit here?

 

2. Convert all diesel powered electric plants to natural gas. Begin promoting renewable energy. Show us some creative juice. Show us, and the Thai people something. Anything.

 

3. Stop the burning now. How? There is a very simple solution to this problem. If the authorities were interested in solutions. The burning has to stop. There are alternatives, to this 19th century technique of burning after the sugar cane harvest. Either the government starts to encourage farmers to switch to more environmentally friendly crops, or they start to penalize farmers for burning. This heinous burning, is leading to a tremendous degree of environmental degradation, and alot of lung disease. So here is what I propose-

 

A. Fine the farmers 5,000 baht for a first offense, and give them a stern warning, that burning is now prohibited, and the second fine will be very harsh.

B. For a second offense, fine the farmer 100,000 baht, and warn them that if the burning continues, their land will be confiscated.

C. On the 3rd offense, confiscate their land. Period. No questions. No legal proceeding or appeals on the part of the farmers. Allow others to come in and purchase the land at a fair price, with the caveat that sugar is prohibited as a crop to be grown on that land. The news would travel faster than the toxic smoke, and farmers would change their ways overnight, and move into the 21st century. 

 

We have an emergency situation. Thousands of people are dying from pulmonary failure. The lung institute in Nonthaburi is packed to capacity.  

 

The increasingly bad air will eventually discourage tourists too. This thing is going to hit Thailand hard, and it is going to hurt coming after 6 years of major sabotage to the tourism industry, on the part of the administration, a hapless PM, and a dumb as you can get army led administration and TAT.