Governor’s bold move against toxic haze: Chiang Mai’s war on farm fires heats up

[webfact]

Chiang Mai Governor Nirat Pongsitthithavorn is leading the charge against the annual curse of PM2.5 pollution caused by the burning of agricultural residue.

In a teleconference with the province’s 25 district chiefs, he laid down strict instructions to tackle the issue head-on.

The provincial administration has already taken a decisive step by banning unauthorised burning of farm waste from January 1 to April 30. Farmers must now obtain approval from the district office before resorting to burning, and a cutting-edge app named FireD will be used to monitor and report the process.

 

Governor Nirat is not merely relying on restrictions, he has tasked the district chiefs with exploring alternatives to burning. Farmers are being encouraged to adopt more eco-friendly practices, such as ploughing and burying residue or selling it to energy recycling plants. These innovative plants will then transform the waste into compressed energy bars, creating a win-win situation for both farmers and factories.

 

by Puntid Tantivangphaisal

Photo courtesy of The Nation

 

Full story: The Thaiger 2024-01-11

 

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[novacova]

What will/can they do about the haze that drifts in from other regions?

[TroubleandGrumpy]

He should send out details about the NASA fires guard website where they can see fires via satellite, and tell them if they burn without permission they can easily see it from their staellites and then their farm will be closed for 12 months, and also say that breaking that law will incure a minimum 1 month in jail.  When they do that 1 or 2 times the word will get around very quickly and all of them will stop.

[JoePai]

8 minutes ago, novacova said:

What will/can they do about the haze that drifts in from other regions?

Big fans to blow it back ?

[realfunster]

2 minutes ago, JoePai said:

Big fans to blow it back ?

Is that you Plodprasop ?

[novacova]

1 hour ago, JoePai said:

Big fans to blow it back ?

Ingenious 

[Olav Seglem]

At least he is trying to do something in his area.

May he be successful and we should all applaud him....

 

[JCauto]

Much better to pretend to do something than to actually do something serious, that's the Thai way, appearance over substance. What could they do if they were serious Oh, how about informing CP Group that they will be held responsible for any burning where the farmer is growing crops for their purchase? Until those responsible for funding the burning take responsibility for the inevitable outcome of it and provide incentives to their contracted farmers to change their practice, this is just more hot air being added to the already approaching unbearable dry season haze and heat in Chiang Mai.

[Tarteso]

Governor have a lot of job, a lot 😂

Edited January 11 by Tarteso

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, novacova said:

What will/can they do about the haze that drifts in from other regions?

That's another issue... he can't control that.

But he can stop the natives burning.

[Srikcir]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Governor Nirat is not merely relying on restrictions, he has tasked the district chiefs with exploring alternatives to burning.

What happened to the government's plans for Very Small Power Plants created in 2020 to get operated by farming communities that uses harvested agricultural biomass as fuel versus just field burning the biomass? If successful, the then government alleged that it could save money by reducing sime agricultural subsidies and produce improve farmer revenues. 

Now we're back to "exploring."

[charleskerins]

2 hours ago, Olav Seglem said:

At least he is trying to do something in his area.

May he be successful and we should all applaud him....

 

agreed

[nobodysfriend]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Farmers are being encouraged to adopt more eco-friendly practices, such as ploughing and burying residue or selling it to energy recycling plants.

 

The government does not seem to understand that the burning is the easiest way for the farmers . Easier than harvesting what can be hard work ...

The farmers do not want more work , they want more money .

A solution would be a small fleet of automated harvesters . https://www.testing-simulation.com/post/automated-trucks-for-sugar-cane-harvesting

Better than a submarine .

[CMHomeboy78]

4 hours ago, JCauto said:

Much better to pretend to do something than to actually do something serious, that's the Thai way, appearance over substance. What could they do if they were serious Oh, how about informing CP Group that they will be held responsible for any burning where the farmer is growing crops for their purchase? Until those responsible for funding the burning take responsibility for the inevitable outcome of it and provide incentives to their contracted farmers to change their practice, this is just more hot air being added to the already approaching unbearable dry season haze and heat in Chiang Mai.

That's the line of attack taken by Singapore against agricultural burning in Borneo and other nearby areas.

They went after the big companies who were behind it with sanctions that proved effective according to my son-in-law who lives there.

[spidermike007]

There is a very simple solution to this problem. If the authorities were interested about 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-

 

1. 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.

 

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

 

3. 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.

 

Then they can move on to tackle the sale of diesel vehicles, and the government's enthusiastic support of such. It is inane in this day and age. Most nations are moving away from diesel for good reasons. When they are not well maintained, they foul the air, with large, nasty particles, and huge clouds of noxious black smoke. And how many properly maintain their diesel vehicles here? 

 

Stop the burning. Now. 

 

[DaddyWarbucks]

On 1/11/2024 at 5:25 PM, CMHomeboy78 said:

That's the line of attack taken by Singapore against agricultural burning in Borneo and other nearby areas.

They went after the big companies who were behind it with sanctions that proved effective according to my son-in-law who lives there.

Yes, I've heard the same thing about the success Singapore has had recently in taking on the agribusiness polluters in the region.

But that's Singapore where things get done efficiently more often than not.

This is Thailand {TIT} where business and government are joined at the hip following the US model.

A symbiotic relationship that almost guarantees corruption and dysfunction insofar as it relates to the general good.

As Napoleon is supposed to have said: "The surprising thing is not that every man has his price, but how low it is."