Srettha will not declare Chiang Mai a disaster zone to protect tourism

[webfact]

 

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said the government is refraining from declaring Chiang Mai a natural disaster zone due to the toxic dust crisis, as the negative consequences would outweigh the benefits, particularly impacting tourism.

He explained that if the province were declared a natural disaster zone, foreign visitors' insurance would not cover them, potentially resulting in detrimental long-term effects on tourism.

But what about the residents of Chiang Mai? Yesterday, Srettha gave them two million free masks to cope for now.

Move Forward Party's chief adviser, Pita Limjaroenrat, said the government should ensure that people in the north can gain cheaper access to N95 masks and air purifiers for now and also consider local production of these products.

He also urged the government to develop clear short-, mid-, and long-term strategies with measurable KPIs and a clear timeline, detailing what needs to be urgently done to mitigate the problem this week, this month, next month, and next year.

 

He said if the government provided clear goals with a timeline, civil servants, the civic sector, and other sectors would be able to better collaborate with the government to solve the problem.

He said the government should use data from the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency and the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand to identify the most frequent hotspots over the past five years, monitor them, and ensure that water banks are nearby these areas so that they can be suppressed as soon as possible.

 

Source: Facebook Thai Enquirer 2024-03-18

 

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[2baht]

Let the air poison you in Amazing Chiang Mai! Worth holding your breath for! 

[DaddyWarbucks]

This sock-puppet just does and says what he is told.

[Geoffggi]

Once again money overpowers rational thinking - Safety First ..........LOL 😎

[bg53]

"I won't declare Chiang Mai a disaster zone because that would hurt tourism."

That statement really boosts Chiang Mai's tourism! 

[malibukid]

3 hours ago, bg53 said:

"I won't declare Chiang Mai a disaster zone because that would hurt tourism."

That statement really boosts Chiang Mai's tourism! 

well at least he is honest, sorry but the horse has left the barn years ago

Edited March 18 by malibukid

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said the government is refraining from declaring Chiang Mai a natural disaster zone due to the toxic dust crisis, as the negative consequences would outweigh the benefits, particularly impacting tourism.

Yep, cover it up, deny it, say it ain't so... and bury your heads in the sand.

[Mavideol]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

as the negative consequences would outweigh the benefits, particularly impacting tourism.

surprised this time he didn't claim not liking the ratings  555

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

But what about the residents of Chiang Mai? Yesterday, Srettha gave them two million free masks to cope for now.

Mr PM... stick your mask where the sun don't shine.

[spidermike007]

Lies. It is your nature. Anything to avoid reality. You are presiding over a health emergency and you are doing nothing. You are protecting your super rich Big Agra cronies. 

 

Sretta. The do nothing PM. 

[TheFishman1]

It’s the same BS every year they promised to improve it they promises they promised that this time of the year here pollution is terrible. It’s around on the top five of the worst air pollution in the world. TIT.

[Tarteso]

Just another clown playing with people's lives.

 

[Jack West Jr]

This is not just denial but criminal negligence endangering the lives of everyone. They should prosecute - or even better, fire - this fool .

[cardinalblue]

They should hang this clown but can’t find find a living tree to carry out this act 

[madmitch]

The insurance issue is just an excuse. The only way a travel insurance might not pay is if someone is sick or hospitalized as a direct result of the poor air quality, and that's generally a longer term issue apart from asthmatics or similar. 

 

It doesn't automatically become invalid once you set foot ia "disaster zone.

 

But with the government's lack of effort on solving this issue, they don't deserve the tourism proceeds anyway.

Edited March 18 by madmitch

[vivananahuahin]

The ostrich's politic is to refuse to accept danger.

[helloagain]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

 

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said the government is refraining from declaring Chiang Mai a natural disaster zone due to the toxic dust crisis, as the negative consequences would outweigh the benefits, particularly impacting tourism.

He explained that if the province were declared a natural disaster zone, foreign visitors' insurance would not cover them, potentially resulting in detrimental long-term effects on tourism.

But what about the residents of Chiang Mai? Yesterday, Srettha gave them two million free masks to cope for now.

Move Forward Party's chief adviser, Pita Limjaroenrat, said the government should ensure that people in the north can gain cheaper access to N95 masks and air purifiers for now and also consider local production of these products.

He also urged the government to develop clear short-, mid-, and long-term strategies with measurable KPIs and a clear timeline, detailing what needs to be urgently done to mitigate the problem this week, this month, next month, and next year.

 

He said if the government provided clear goals with a timeline, civil servants, the civic sector, and other sectors would be able to better collaborate with the government to solve the problem.

He said the government should use data from the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency and the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand to identify the most frequent hotspots over the past five years, monitor them, and ensure that water banks are nearby these areas so that they can be suppressed as soon as possible.

 

Source: Facebook Thai Enquirer 2024-03-18

 

- Discover how Cigna Insurance can protect you with a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment. For more information on expat health insurance click here.

 

Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe
 

 

Total cop out, fix it. Send up your jets with GPS.  Then army choppers with a few guns and land office to find out who owns the land then drag them into court with jail time. Next make contact with neighboring countries who also still burn that blows over Thailand. 

[steevjee]

There it is.....for anyone that was wondering if this bloke cared about his own citizens health and well being.    NOPE!

[andersonat]

 

 

The PRIMARY function of any Government is the protection of the country's population from either external- or internal-factors.

 

The Prime-Minister has singularly failed in his duty-of-care to protect the health of the Residents of (and Tourists in) Chiang Mai.

 

 

 

Edited March 18 by andersonat

[worgeordie]

The Government just don't care, it's the same thing every year ,they know

it's going to happen , they know when and where ,and do what to prevent it.?

 

There is no deterrent ,people go into the forest and set it on fire ,for their

benefit , to make it easier to find mushrooms when the rains start, BUT it's

affecting so many people's health ,and also must be  no good for

the tourist industry that provides jobs for so many, 

 

Not buying corn from the neighbors , sending planes up to make rain ,when

are they going to be proactive and try and stop the fires before they start ,

make it illegal for villagers to go into the forest at this time of year , have

police, rangers ,army out and about up in the hills , employ drones , give

rewards for information about the arsonists ,do something !  every year

you think they will stop the smoke pollution , but nothing happens.... 

 

regards worgeordie

[Sydebolle]

Sir, whatever you avoid or ignore - Chiang Mai is a disaster zone and has been for the recent past. When I came 40 years ago, it was no subject and no haze, no smog, no nothing. 

Today Chiang Mai is Thailand's worst air polluted city and toggles, worldwide, between 1st and 5th rank quite often. 

Your ignorance is typically Thai; it does not go away with it. Get the police force to act less as highway robbers for bribes and more onto doing their jobs. Land owners can be easily identified = any fire = off to jail. Simple as that, juicy fees and jail sentences. 

You're not protecting tourism, you're killing the next generation of Thai voters and tax payers while the micro organism in the soil is - literally - getting fried. 

How hopelessly stupid; someone must have pampered the police and politicians nicely, just look for the beneficiaries and you might find the answer! 

[Gknrd]

Won't be long before the Thai internet censors start deleting negative posts. Or banning sites that say anything bad about Thailand.

[Sydebolle]

14h31, today 18 March 2024 - no further questions 

[Thumbs]

Safeguarding tourism while risking the health of tourists by allowing them to travel  to the region? Enjoy your holiday heres some free face masks 

Edited March 18 by Thumbs

[nobodysfriend]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

the government is refraining from declaring Chiang Mai a natural disaster zone due to the toxic dust crisis, as the negative consequences would outweigh the benefits, particularly impacting tourism.

 

Here we have it ( again ), money rules in Thailand .

Disgusting .

[Cabradelmar]

declare, don't declare, it's irrelevant... because whatever happens, nothing would change as there is no political will to do what needs to be done. look at the up-side, when TAT misses it's 40 million goal they will have an easy built-in excuse.

[JCauto]

21 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

The Government just don't care, it's the same thing every year ,they know

it's going to happen , they know when and where ,and do what to prevent it.?

 

There is no deterrent ,people go into the forest and set it on fire ,for their

benefit , to make it easier to find mushrooms when the rains start, BUT it's

affecting so many people's health ,and also must be  no good for

the tourist industry that provides jobs for so many, 

 

Not buying corn from the neighbors , sending planes up to make rain ,when

are they going to be proactive and try and stop the fires before they start ,

make it illegal for villagers to go into the forest at this time of year , have

police, rangers ,army out and about up in the hills , employ drones , give

rewards for information about the arsonists ,do something !  every year

you think they will stop the smoke pollution , but nothing happens.... 

 

regards worgeordie

 

You're normally a sensible poster so it's disconcerting to observe you carrying water for the CP group while simultaneously casting all the blame upon the poor villagers who are simply trying to make a living. To suggest it's mushroom picking that is causing the fires to this extent is absurd.

 

You want to change the climate via rain-seeding airplanes? Might as well invest in Aboriginal raindancers to come and have a jump about for all the good that will do.

 

Drones, police and rangers to observe the fires that any idiot could simply go to a website showing the latest satellite imagery to observe? Why? What's the point? They know where they are, I could list the ones for yesterday if you like.

 

There is only one reason for such large-scale burning and that is cropping for commodities including corn, cassava, sugar cane, watermelon and other crops for the agro-industries in Thailand, China and Vietnam. These commodities are mostly grown via contract farming with small-scale middlemen who contract farmers to clear and plant the land then buy the crop. The crop is eventually sold to larger agro-industrial conglomerates such as the CP Group. CP Group doesn't contract farmers directly, since they're too huge, and it provides them with a degree of separation. Chinese industry and agriculture companies are not easily identified, controlled and boycotted. Everyone along this chain is making money including the authorities from village and district level upwards.

So you tell me how you're going to stop that. Except put away the fantasy solutions that haven't the slightest chance of occurring or doing anything about the actual problem. And stop blaming the villagers. You should understand by now who has the power and who makes the real money from this, and it ain't them.

[morocco]

I have been riding all over the north and have noticed very few fires. 90 % of the smoke is coming from Laos and Myanmar. Call it a natural disaster or not it doesn’t matter. Until those two countries start controlling the many fires in their areas nothing is getting better in Thailand. Even though the Thai government is cracking down on the burning in the north it won’t help much. 

[JCauto]

1 hour ago, helloagain said:

Total cop out, fix it. Send up your jets with GPS.  Then army choppers with a few guns and land office to find out who owns the land then drag them into court with jail time. Next make contact with neighboring countries who also still burn that blows over Thailand. 

 

You think the current jets don't have GPS? Wow. And you think that the number of land owners is so small you could chase after them with choppers and coppers and haul them all off to the land office? LOL. And what's the plan once you "make contact with neighboring countries"? Hold onto the phone while they try to stop laughing and answer your ridiculous questions?

 

Here's a hint about why this ain't changing. Those people you wish to conduct air raids upon and throw into jail are also known as the majority of the voting population in the North of Thailand. Capisce?

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, helloagain said:

Total cop out, fix it. Send up your jets with GPS.  Then army choppers with a few guns and land office to find out who owns the land then drag them into court with jail time. Next make contact with neighboring countries who also still burn that blows over Thailand. 

That would be a terrific excuse for the Armed Forces to actually get some real hands on practice and it's also a reason to put them to use. What else do they do? They seem like the most useless defense organizations I've ever encountered, and when you take into account their budget that's a crime against the Thai people. 

 

So is Sretta's astonishing negligence.