My thai friend suffers from Pyromania.

[ubonr1971]

''Pyromania is a type of impulse control disorder that is characterized by being unable to resist starting fires. People with pyromania know that setting fires is harmful. But setting fires is the only way they can relieve their built-up tension, anxiety, or arousal''

 

Over several years I walk my dog on government land that is a huge area and has many trees. People sometimes illegally dump their green waste and other <deleted> and I noticed a guy always going and burning it off. He also sometimes clears vegetation and burns it all up as well. I slowly got to know this guy and thought he is a friendly chap. We added LINE accounts and chat sometimes. He sometimes sends me photos similar to the one below. He said its his 'hobby'. 

 

Recently there was land for sale and he was the first to tell me about it. Many buyers were interested and he knew the owners. We ended up buying it and I put it down to this guy helping us a lot.

 

The sellers hired a tractor and cleared all the land resulting in 3 piles of dry green waste on our new land. My wife did tell him a month ago that we wanted him to teach me how to burn that off safely. 

 

This morning I woke up and he sent me 2 messages. First one asking my permission to burn the 3 piles stating that the conditions 'were perfect'

 

2nd message stating 'I apologise very much for not requesting permission from <my name) in advance'

 

He sent me several photos of the fire. 

 

I was a bit <deleted> to be honest. I wanted to be there.... I told him he is not allowed in the future to do anything on the land without having my approval'

 

I assume it must have been frustrating for him to see the 3 piles of unburnt green waste for so long. Akin to a porn addict who has a laptop with no VPN/ wifi connection. 

 

Im planning on building a house on that land and think I dont want to be on the wrong side of a pyromaniac. 

 

Once again today I have to take a deep breath and say my daily mantra 'I must lower my expectations', 'I must lower my expectations', 'I must lower my expectations'

 

 

[RamenRaven]

If that's your definition of pyromaniac, then most Thais should be pyromaniacs except for a select few upper-middle Thais who live in downtown high-rise condos and are thus out of touch with the burning reality around them.

 

Thanks to nationwide pyromania, northern Thailand and Isan are now incredibly smoky as usual.

[RamenRaven]

Your friend is being incredibly respectful.

 

Most Thais do not ask permission from their neighbors to burn. They just burn anything they want, anytime.

 

Most neighbors just get upset about their laundry smelling bad, rather than the PM 2.5.

 

But just put on a face mask and it's life as usual. That's what they're used for in Thailand: smoke, not (just) for COVID.

 

[ubonr1971]

7 minutes ago, RamenRaven said:

Most Thais do not ask permission from their neighbors to burn. They just burn anything they want, anytime.

no you dont understand. Its not his land. He visited our land and burnt our green waste without asking us for approval

[RamenRaven]

Just now, ubonr1971 said:

no you dont understand. Its not his land. He visited our land and burnt our green waste without asking us for approval

Welcome to Thailand.

Pyromania is a fact of life here and can be difficult to stop. The usual solution: face mask, air purifier, smile, and move on, because we can't control it.

 

But if you're really annoyed, you can secretly get a lot of other neighbors to talk with the "puu yai baan" (village elder), who would hopefully try to gently negotiate with the neighbor. It might work half of the time. Keep it calm and gentle and don't do anything to make the other party lose face.

 

Because of the complexities involved, most Thais choose not to complain.

 

[BananaStrong]

I live on the Sun.   I'm not sure what you call us here.   Burning is my life!!!!! 

[RamenRaven]

What does LOS stand for?

 

Land of Smiles Smoke

 

Enjoy the perpetual BBQ party! Here it's just grass and dead trees and maybe occasionally some plastic.

In China, it's factory chemicals. In Poland, it's thick, black coal. In Indonesia, peat bogs. So consider yourself lucky.

 

[NanLaew]

If the OP's 'pyro pal' teaches him to "burn off safely", then pyro pal will be out of work.

 

The OP think too much.

[redsongthaew]

1 hour ago, ubonr1971 said:

Im planning on building a house on that land

I would install good quality smoke and heat detectors if I were you.

[BritManToo]

5 years in jail for burning at the moment.

Please provide us with your name and address, so I can report you to the relevant authorities.

[ubonr1971]

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

5 years in jail for burning at the moment.

Please provide us with your name and address, so I can report you to the relevant authorities.

Maybe your comprehension skills are lacking. Please read the original post.... or amend the statement to 'please provide us with his name and address....'

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, ubonr1971 said:

Maybe your comprehension skills are lacking. Please read the original post.... or amend the statement to 'please provide us with his name and address....'

"I was a bit <deleted> to be honest. I wanted to be there.... "

Looks like consent to me.

[RamenRaven]

7 hours ago, ubonr1971 said:

no you dont understand. Its not his land. He visited our land and burnt our green waste without asking us for approval

But you wrote:

 

Quote

This morning I woke up and he sent me 2 messages. First one asking my permission to burn the 3 piles stating that the conditions 'were perfect'

 

[ubonr1971]

15 hours ago, RamenRaven said:

But you wrote:

 

 

duh.... and then I said ''2nd message stating 'I apologise very much for not requesting permission from <my name) in advance''' Please read things before typing next time

[GammaGlobulin]

My Thai friend suffers from Sanguivoriphobia.

 

She was prescribed a dash of Thorazine, last year, to be taken bis in die (b.i.d.), for the rest of her life.

 

Now, she's doing better.

 

Yet, she still refuses to go out at night without a scarf around her neck.

 

Those bloodsuckers are everywhere, if you ask me.

 

 

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

Sorry.

 

I had thought this was just another post about PM 2.5, until I had read it for the second time.

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

However, now that I realize that the OP is serious, I must admit that I am EXTREMELY fortunate to live in a very small neighborhood, here, where ALL my neighbors are EXTREMELY sane, with me being the only mental case exhibiting signs of "benevolent narcissism". 

 

I just wish for your sake, although this might never happen, that if you live in a neighborhood with pyromaniacs, that the gov might consider putting Thorazine in the water supply, even if they refuse to fluoridate it.

 

We all know what happens when the gov fluoridates the water supply.

Carries go down, supposedly.  And, people go crazy.

 

And, we also might guess what might happen if the gov added Chlorpromazine to our water supply.

 

Nobody would go crazy, anymore.

 

 

[zzaa09]

Nothing like a good fire.

Almost hypnotizing. 

[GammaGlobulin]

I hate Firebugs.

[GammaGlobulin]

Agricultural burning is the intentional use of fire for vegetation management in areas such as agricultural fields, orchards, rangelands and forests. Agricultural burning helps farmers remove crop residues left in the field after harvesting grains, such as hay and rice. Farmers also use agricultural burning for removal of orchard and vineyard prunings and trees. Burning also helps remove weeds, prevent disease and control pests. For some crops, including rice and pears, burning is the most efficient and effective way to control disease. Burning is allowed only on Permissive Burn Days, which are issued based on the forecast of air quality and meteorological conditions that can affect smoke dispersion. All burn permit holders must comply with fire protection agency requirements.

[GammaGlobulin]

Burn, Baby, Burn....

 

I do not care.

 

Because, I have an Air Purifier.

 

I NEVER worry about the smoke from the Burning Season.

 

Why should you?

 

You already KNOW that the smoke is INEVITABLE, and for good reason.

 

Therefore, why do you sweat about it?

 

Personally, I LOVE the smoke.

 

I have a TON of 3M N98 ventilators.

 

I actually ENJOY the smoke here.

 

I ALSO very much ENJOY the Jasmine rice produced here.

 

I am totally OK with the little bit of smoke, once per year.

 

In my opinion, you should be OK with it, too!

 

Don't Bellyache!

 

 

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

When I was young, during the autumn, we would burn the leaves which had fallen from the trees.

 

Nobody never told us not to.

 

The smoke from the burning leaves of chestnut trees was delicious, not to mention the smoke from the elms and oak trees, too.

 

My fondest and most nostalgic memories of those days, now, are intertwined with the smell of burning leaves in the crisp air of that season.

 

I would not trade those memories of smoke for nothing.

 

Some people, not to name names, become overly anxious anytime they smell the smell of burning, even if they do not discriminate between what is being burned.  They, idiotic as they are, think that all smoke is equal, which it is not.  Some smoke is OK, and far less harmful than other kinds of smoke.

 

In addition, young people today, having grown up with helicopter mothers hovering around them, believe that all risks in life are equal, which they are not.

 

They have no capacity to place risks in life in some logical hierarchy.  And thus, they become equally fearful of almost everything in life.

 

They are taught that they must LIVE FOREVER, and that they should always remain...GLUTEN FREE.

 

When I grew up, I had never even heard of gluten, nor any type of peanut allergy.

 

The smoke here is, in fact, very minor compared to the smoke in other places. I would not worry about it if I could avoid the publicizing of it.

 

Speaking of the chestnut trees, and the leaves we loved to burn in autumn months, I am reminded of Nat King Cole, who died from smoking fags, and not from roasting chestnuts:

 

 

 

 

Pardon me:

 

In my last comment, I stated "ventilators" when everybody knows that what I actually meant was the term "respirators".

 

A ventilator is what you need when you have had too much smoke, and you are about to take your last gasp, of course.

 

And a respirator is what you need to minimize inhalation of smoke, of course.

 

Still, one should never worry, too much, about the Smoking Season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

And now, a word about STUBBLE.

 

Everybody knows, FULL WELL, that stubble could, in principle, be turned into biochar.

 

Biochar has many advantages. But, is it cost effective?

 

Therefore, you have a choice to either burn the stubble or create biochar.

 

The cost or creating biochar might add significantly to the cost of doing business.

 

Also, you can think more about the conversion of STUBBLE to increase soil carbon.

 

Everybody complains too much.

Nobody wants to pay for the added costs, either financial costs or costs of convenience, to make meaningful changes.

 

This is why I laugh at Mankind, like Randy Newman.

 

Randy Newman had a rare sense of humor that rubbed almost everybody the wrong way, but he was right.

 

Young people, these days, are so much more fearful of things they need not fear.

And, they have forgotten the real threats that they should be fearing, NOW.

 

Here we be, with REAL existential threats all around us....

And yet, some children are worried about a little bit of smoke, once per year.

 

Truly, it boggles the mind!

 

But, I tell you, Kids....

You will NOT live forever.

Cancer rates are increasing.

And, this increase is NOT due to smoke from burning STUBBLE in the fields.

Look elsewhere.

 

Try to put your existential threats into a more logical hierarchy, based on....

Science?

 

Anyway, no matter what, you probably will NOT live forever.

 

Here is a word from....ZANZIBAR, APROPOS:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[zzaa09]

Fire is nature's cleansing process.....

[BangkokReady]

Kind of just sounds like a Thai thing.

 

I think a lot of quirks of being Thai appear like some form of mental illness to foreigners.

 

Whether they are genuine mental disorders or not, well, how can you tell if it's a normal and typical thing?

 

A lot of Thais believe in superstition and mystic things that we consider to be the stuff of the dark ages.

 

One of the many reasons we have to be very careful and not be surprised when something absolutely insane happens and no one cares.

[GammaGlobulin]

Here we are, these days, fretting about a tiny amount of smoke rolling down upon us from the farmers in the hills, for only a short four months of the year.

 

Why, in the Grand Scheme of Things, should we be so irrationally worried about a bit of smoke?

 

I mean, REALLY.....!

 

People here are worried about SMOKE????

 

I mean:  It REALLY Blows My Mind!

 

Sure, one can empathize with you for being slightly concerned that a tiny amount of smoke might wipe out a few days from your collective lifespans. And, who really cares about that?

 

Have you no conception of REAL existential threats which are FAR more important than a little bit of smoke that might disturb your view of the local mountains?

 

RIDICULOUS!!!

 

 

 

The pollution of smoke from agricultural burning is, in fact, of extremely little importance when considering the impact of other pollutants such as CO2 and methane.  Oh, WAIT.....   I forgot, most idiots don't care about CO2 or methane, simply because these two gasses are invisible.

 

Here we are...BURNING DOWN OUR HOUSE, not to mention the house of our grandchildren; Yet we care more about the relatively innocuous smoke from burning STUBBLE to grow the food we eat?

 

Why do we not quickly put everything into a more logical perspective?

 

Oh. I get it.  Everybody wants to have MORE of everything.

Every more.

Shop until you drop.

One can NEVER have too much of anything.

 

Kids, today, have no concept of the degradation of the planet.

They are unable to make any gut comparison between what the environment was like 70 years ago, and what this garbage dump is like now.

Young kids are now living in a garbage dump, comparatively, truth be told.

Yet, just like rag pickers, they haven't a clue.

They have no good frame of reference by which to judge.

 

And so, Being Human, we will continue to burn down our house, without thought, until we have burned down our house, to ashes.

 

Or, maybe we will blowup our house, in One Giant Fell Swoop of Nuclear Armageddon.

 

Either way, we are Bent on Burning Down our House, most assuredly..

 

Maybe...

Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish....

You be the judge.

 

 

 

Who Got a Match?!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ubonr1971]

3 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Agricultural burning is the intentional use of fire for vegetation management in areas such as agricultural fields, orchards, rangelands and forests. Agricultural burning helps farmers remove crop residues left in the field after harvesting grains, such as hay and rice. Farmers also use agricultural burning for removal of orchard and vineyard prunings and trees. Burning also helps remove weeds, prevent disease and control pests. For some crops, including rice and pears, burning is the most efficient and effective way to control disease. Burning is allowed only on Permissive Burn Days, which are issued based on the forecast of air quality and meteorological conditions that can affect smoke dispersion. All burn permit holders must comply with fire protection agency requirements.

What country are you talking about here especially in regard to the last sentence. Sounds like America or another nanny state. 

 

FYI on thailand.... people burn <deleted> whenver they want and whereever they want. In fact I live in the cbd of a small city. Some idiot near us burns plastic at 2am sometimes. 

 

I had to laugh at your narrative 'all permit holders'. I dont think the local farmers would understand what the hell you are talking about...

[GammaGlobulin]

Concerning LITERALLY burning down a house:

 

How much do you know about passive aggressive behavior?

 

Passive Aggressive behavior seems to run rampant in some cultures even more than others.

 

Burning Down the House of one's neighbor is just a more blatant display of the same passive aggressive behavior characterized by KEYING your Neighbor's Car.

 

Here in Thailand, very few people will KEY a Car, by using a key to scrape the paint off a car door.

 

Yet, in Taiwan, in days past, one rarely saw a car more than a few years old without many key marks.

 

This is just an example of passive aggressive behavior.  Your neighbor might not like you parking your car too close to his property.  The perfect solution is to use a car key to completely ruin the car's appearance.

 

In extreme cases, in Taiwan, houses have been burned to the ground for little more than causing one's neighbor to lose face.

 

Arguments are often not settled openly and outright.  Instead, passive aggression is key to revenge.

 

Sorry to my Taiwanese friends.

But, you know this is true, guys!

 

Or, you can always cut the brake line's of your neighbor's car.  This happened to me, and we caught the culprit on surveillance camera.

 

Or, better yet!

If you don't like your political opponent, you can always run over his wife with a truck.

 

Chen Shui-bian, where are you now?

 

Let bygones be bygones.

 

 

 

 

 

  

[GammaGlobulin]

Just now, ubonr1971 said:

What country are you talking about here especially in regard to the last sentence. Sounds like America or another nanny state. 

 

FYI on thailand.... people burn <deleted> whenver they want and whereever they want. In fact I live in the cbd of a small city. Some idiot near us burns plastic at 2am sometimes. 

 

I had to laugh at your narrative 'all permit holders'. I dont think the local farmers would understand what the hell you are talking about...

Direct quote from California...

Sorry.

Should have provided attribution.

[ubonr1971]

3 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Burn, Baby, Burn....

 

I do not care.

 

Because, I have an Air Purifier.

 

I NEVER worry about the smoke from the Burning Season.

 

Why should you?

 

You already KNOW that the smoke is INEVITABLE, and for good reason.

 

Therefore, why do you sweat about it?

 

Personally, I LOVE the smoke.

 

I have a TON of 3M N98 ventilators.

 

I actually ENJOY the smoke here.

 

I ALSO very much ENJOY the Jasmine rice produced here.

 

I am totally OK with the little bit of smoke, once per year.

 

In my opinion, you should be OK with it, too!

 

Don't Bellyache!

 

 

 

 

what brand is your purifier. where do I buy one from? how often do you have to change the filters or only cleaning? thanks