Thais seem to burn everything including trees, coconut husks, and trash. The smoke drifts over to my house but I close the windows and ignore it. Today, for about thirty minutes, I burned some weeds and cardboard boxes on my land. Two Thai workers, who don't live here, came over and complained that farangs aren't allowed to burn anything. I believe there is an ordinance against burning rubber or waste, but am I within my rights to burn weeds and paper on my own land?

First time I hear of this rule, makes you wonder if you are allowed to be here, right? Do you have a work permit or other form of legal document that allows you to stay here? If so, i don't really see the problem, although I could be wrong. I know I burn wood on a regular base in our garden.

No problems, just call the Police & see what they say.You are allowed to do whatever you please on your property.

Did they want any money to do it for you, or was the smoke getting up their noses for a change ?

Roo, they claimed the smoke was bothering them and I told them that their smoke bothered me so "mai pen rai." I have been trying to reach my friend, Pop with the TP, but can't find him. He is the one policeman I can trust.

Roo, they claimed the smoke was bothering them and I told them that their smoke bothered me so "mai pen rai." I have been trying to reach my friend, Pop with the TP, but can't find him. He is the one policeman I can trust.

That's incredible. Kick them off your property.

Roo, took your advice and went to see Sgt Nui at the TP. He said that ideally Samui would like to have a smoke-free island, but in reality they know that it will never happen. He said that you can do whatever you want on your land as long as someone doesn't file a complaint at the tesebahn against you. In my case it would not warrant any action as it was a small fire, on my land, and was a rare occurrence.

I then asked him about the coconut growers at the bottom of the mountain who burn hundreds of husks a day with smoke that goes up about 80m and he said that nobody has complained to the tesebahn about it.

In summation he said that the best thing to do is to pick a day when there is no wind and few people around to burn the weeds. As I was driving down the mountain today I saw three small fires burning. To me, telling a Thai he can't burn something in his yard would be like telling him he can't eat rice.

Of course locals burn things. But not that quantity like before, because of the development of theirs and of the infrastructure of the island. Some locals burned coconuts to process coconut oil from morning to evening with thick smoke all day without concerning the neighborhood at all. Nowadays not so much, but at some places it still happens.

I burn nothing on my land. In your case it was very impolite from them to complain that way. They probably wouldn't have done that, if you were a local. I wouldn't argue with them, because it will help nothing. If they complain again, tell them that they are right, but that does not count if the Farang has a Thai driving license or similar....

I will let my Thai wife start the fire from now on so I'm sure nobody will say a word about it.

i burn every one or two weeks. never had a problem. the land owner next door even brings his yard waste over to my burn pit because he knows i burn regularly. when i start a fire he or his wife take the laundry down and go back inside and put it back up again when i'm finished.