Smog In Thailand's North 'To Get Worse'

[Reasonableman]

Oh, i thought you were asking, not telling, sorry ;-)

And the answer is....

This is a Thai issue, a farrang issue, a world issue and effects everyone. I think the majority of Thai's agree. The minority, they need educating to change behaviour to fit with the present day awareness of the issue. 500 years of burning can stop overnight with the right policy. And why shouldn't it stop? Thai people always amaze me at their ability to change when they need to.

The question is WHAT IS THE RIGHT POLICY!

Already told u enough times already - can't u read?

[MESmith]

There is no other way for those farmers to clear their lands for the next crops ? they dont think about others ? apparently not .

Well, any other method would be enormously expensive and less effective which would cause a huge increase in crop prices, both in the food shops in Thailand and for export. The Thai economy is based on cheap farming (40%) and much less on tourism (6%) so without practices such as burning off the land, Thailand would be much less economically competitive and this would lead to an increase in unemployment, reduced investment and a poorer economy. It's not a simple case of the farmers not thinking about others, it's more about no-one coming up with a better method for the farmers, who also suffer respiratory diseases, to use instead.

Well, they could always just plough it back into the soil. They do use tractors, you know. Even after they've burnt the straw, much of stubble remains, & gets ploughed in, anyway.

Ploughing the stubble back into the soil does not reduce pests and diseases - it provides a reservoir for them and is very labour intensive. However, one method is to let the land stay fallow for at least a year or 2 - but that costs the farmers money - the government should pay the farmers to leave their land fallow and then maybe everybody would be happy.

??? How is driving a tractor labour intensive? Also the land is then flooded - doesn't that kill off pests?

[Card]

"??? How is driving a tractor labour intensive? Also the land is then flooded - doesn't that kill off pests?"

Flooding won't kill most of the pests and neither will tractors. I also don't see how you are going to flood the soil on dry land before the rains when the land should be ready for planting. If u mean rice paddies, then rice pests won't be affected. Only burning and/or chemicals and burning is cheaper and much more effective where crop residues are concerned. Why should farmers use any other method?

As I said previously, the only really effective and clean way to prevent burning is to pay the farmers not to burn and most likely this will mean leaving the land fallow for at least a year because other methods will not work or will pollute in a different way (chemicals). However, this will also involve extra expense, higher food prices (as there will be lower productivity - although not by 50% as fallowing improves the soil as well) and very importantly, close monitoring and penalties for infringement. During the fallow periods, the weeds will need to be cut back and mulched - maybe tractors will play a role there, otherwise u will just end up with more of the plant material to be burnt off after a year. Cleaner air will not be cheap to achieve. Simply punishing the farmers will not work and could lead to a lot of social unrest. Neither will whinging or threatening to tell other tourists not to visit. This country is, and always has been, built and prospered on the backs of poor farmers working for a pittance - they will respond to support (hence Thaksin's popularity) not just punishment.

Edited March 10, 2012 by Card