Dangerous Levels Of Pesticides Will Poison Thailand's Food Plan

[rheinwiese]

Article The Nation

Published: 26/01/2011

Pesticide levels pose threat to Thai vegetable exports

Researchers are calling for a reduction in the types of pesticides that can be registered for use at local farms because of concerns the European Union might ban Thai vegetable exports.

The sharp increase in pesticide use by Thai farmers has alarmed international markets.

One researcher said the Department of Agriculure also needed to impose a complete ban on four hazardous chemicals still used in Thailand but not in any developed country.

Rapichan Phurisamban, of Biothai, said the country's record of pesticide use was worrying. Thailand imported 42,089 tonnes of pesticides in 1997 but that figure had risen to 137,594 tonnes in 2009.

Food and Agriculture Organisation figures for 2007 show Thailand had 27,126 agricultural chemical brands registered for use - more than China (20,000), Vietnam (1,743), Indonesia (1,158), Malaysia (917), Burma (818) and Laos (100) combined.

"[it is] not only that the country is consuming a massive amount of chemicals, we have also found that farmers still use agricultural chemicals that have been banned in many countries," Ms Rapichan said.

"They are carbofuran, dicrotophos, methomyl and EPN.

"The department should urgently ban these hazardous chemicals in line with international practice."

The present list of pesticides approved for use should also be reduced. The list of pesticides approved for use is due to expire in August.

The EU recently found prohibited chemicals in imported vegetables including basil, chili, Chinese bitter cucumber and bean. Fears of a possible EU ban on Thai vegetables has prompted the government to order a temporary suspension of shipments.

Dr Pattapong Kessomboon of the Department of Community Medicine at Khon Kaen University expressed concern over the government's alleged ignorance of the uncontrolled use of dangerous chemicals on vegetables.

"We were warned about chemical-contaminated vegetables 26 times in 2009 and up to 55 times last year," said Dr Pattapong, a member of the Thailand Pesticide Network.

"But there has been no quick response from the state agencies concerned. We expect the EU to ban our vegetable exports soon."

He said chemical and pesticide use on vegetables had led to serious health problems including cancer.

Department of Agriculture director-general Jirakorn Kosaisevi insisted yesterday the state's controls on chemicals were on the right track.

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

Article The Nation

Published: 26/01/2011

Pesticide levels pose threat to Thai vegetable exports

Researchers are calling for a reduction in the types of pesticides that can be registered for use at local farms because of concerns the European Union might ban Thai vegetable exports.

The sharp increase in pesticide use by Thai farmers has alarmed international markets.

One researcher said the Department of Agriculure also needed to impose a complete ban on four hazardous chemicals still used in Thailand but not in any developed country.

Rapichan Phurisamban, of Biothai, said the country's record of pesticide use was worrying. Thailand imported 42,089 tonnes of pesticides in 1997 but that figure had risen to 137,594 tonnes in 2009.

Food and Agriculture Organisation figures for 2007 show Thailand had 27,126 agricultural chemical brands registered for use - more than China (20,000), Vietnam (1,743), Indonesia (1,158), Malaysia (917), Burma (818) and Laos (100) combined.

"[it is] not only that the country is consuming a massive amount of chemicals, we have also found that farmers still use agricultural chemicals that have been banned in many countries," Ms Rapichan said.

"They are carbofuran, dicrotophos, methomyl and EPN.

"The department should urgently ban these hazardous chemicals in line with international practice."

The present list of pesticides approved for use should also be reduced. The list of pesticides approved for use is due to expire in August.

The EU recently found prohibited chemicals in imported vegetables including basil, chili, Chinese bitter cucumber and bean. Fears of a possible EU ban on Thai vegetables has prompted the government to order a temporary suspension of shipments.

Dr Pattapong Kessomboon of the Department of Community Medicine at Khon Kaen University expressed concern over the government's alleged ignorance of the uncontrolled use of dangerous chemicals on vegetables.

"We were warned about chemical-contaminated vegetables 26 times in 2009 and up to 55 times last year," said Dr Pattapong, a member of the Thailand Pesticide Network.

"But there has been no quick response from the state agencies concerned. We expect the EU to ban our vegetable exports soon."

He said chemical and pesticide use on vegetables had led to serious health problems including cancer.

Department of Agriculture director-general Jirakorn Kosaisevi insisted yesterday the state's controls on chemicals were on the right track.

Thailand "world's Toxic kitchen".

[McMagus]

The following quotes are from Greenpeace ...

http://www.greenpeace.org/seasia/th/Global/seasia/report/2008/2/agrochemicals-in-thailand-eng.pdf

'Using WHO hazard categories, 54% of imported

insecticides fell into the extremely hazardous category (Ia) and highly hazardous (Ib)

category (Pingali and Rosegrant, 1993).'

'Initially, importation of pesticides was mostly in the form of finished products. Now

there are three categories of pesticide imported in Thailand, the active ingredients,

additive chemicals and separated packaging (Office of Industrial Economics, 2002).'

'Because pesticides are often overused, Thai farmers’ current use of pesticides is

highly inefficient and has led to chemical poisoning. For instance, in order to save

labour costs associated with spraying, farmers often mix pesticides themselves,

creating a “cocktail” of several chemicals without considering their synergistic effects'

(Chaiwanankupt, 1983).

'...a number of public policies have encouraged pesticide

use (Chaiwanankupt, 1983), and continue to do so.'

[puck2]

Start the production process earlier, have your own garden without pesticides.

But tolerate snails, worms/butterflies and other hungry insects. You'll have new friends: beuatiful butterflies, birds, frogs, wizzards

A (Western) lady on the market:

Oh, a snail on this salad geez, geez.

The other lady:

I want this salad (is free of pesticides).

wizzards in the vegetable garden are very positive!

You don't like Harry Potter in your garden?

we have

[cloudhopper]

Thailand "world's Toxic kitchen".

We have yet to mention the use of formalin in fruit and meat.

[hellodolly]

the government should make farmers aware of what they are using on their crops.

the fertilizer and persticide companies used the same tactic in england about 20 years ago.

they approach the farmers and say u can increase your crop yield by let say 50% if u use this on your crops

in the first year they give a big discount on the price, the farmers are happy 50% more income.

in the second year they have to pay more, but farmers do not want to see a 50% drop in income

so the cycle has started.......

the government must set strict limits and educate the farmers!!!!!!

b4 the companies pollute this beautiful country

Well it certainly sounds good and looks good on paper and if successful would make a huge long run difference as Thailand became known for real healthy food.

Now to get to reality. They can not even show them how they can make more money by other means than burning off the rice fields.

Several years ago they proved that the small farmer could increase his income by using Buffalo's instead of machinery. They even had a free ten day school to teach them how.

Once again we get back to the root of the problem. A poor education system. Some schools don't even have electricity.

Ask your self are you going to listen to some one who dosen't even know that electricity is needed in the schools.

[Hawaiian]

As mentioned by some posters, systemic pesticides cannot be removed from produce. They are not only in the plant itself, but are being found in increasing amounts in the soil. Neonicotiods such as imidacloprid

are suspected to be one of the causes of colony collapse disorder in honeybees. Bees ingest this chemical from pollen as they forage for nectar. Although Germany has banned the use of neonicotoids Bayer still manufactures and distributes outside of the country.

Neonicotoids sold in the U.S. are found in insectides of all sorts products from veterinary to agricultural use. The chemical companies are trying to quiet all of the results of tests showing this to be a very dangerous family of chemicals. Not sure how widespread their use in Thailand is.

[moggie]

Production sites

in Thailand

Thailand has received high priority on Bayer’s agenda for growth in Asia. The continuality of investment plan, therefore, has been provided for new projects in both the polycarbonates production site in Map Ta Phut industrial Estate as well as the formulation site for products of CropScience and Animal Health and integrated polyurethane systems house namely “Bayer MaterialScience polyurethane systems plant” in Bangpoo industrial Estate

anybody live near there?

do u think they are fussy about who they sell carbofuran, dicrotophos, methomyl and EPN to?

i doubt it as the shareholders expectatations of high profit margins are their number one priority.

we could boycott bayer products?

[Thai at Heart]

Production sites

in Thailand

Thailand has received high priority on Bayer’s agenda for growth in Asia. The continuality of investment plan, therefore, has been provided for new projects in both the polycarbonates production site in Map Ta Phut industrial Estate as well as the formulation site for products of CropScience and Animal Health and integrated polyurethane systems house namely “Bayer MaterialScience polyurethane systems plant” in Bangpoo industrial Estate

anybody live near there?

do u think they are fussy about who they sell carbofuran, dicrotophos, methomyl and EPN to?

i doubt it as the shareholders expectatations of high profit margins are their number one priority.

we could boycott bayer products?

Very simple solution. Randomly sample the large big box retailers vegetables from the shelf for 6 months to EU limits. A test is relatively expensive, but once they have to return or remove product from the shelf, then the suppliers will start to clean up the market themselves. Once you can't supply to the big guys, everyone will know that the stuff in the local market is not tested, but people will start to avoid it.

Tada, the market sorts itself out.

[moggie]

just sent an email to bayer in thailand and i quote!

i have retired to thailand

and have recently been concerned about the use of pesticides

there has been a very interesting exchange of information on a website called thai visa about chemical use in food production

and i quote

Germany has banned the use of neonicotoids Bayer still manufactures and distributes outside of the country.

why do u still sell?

do u supply these chemicals in any format to thai farmers to increase yields?

carbofuran, dicrotophos, methomyl and EPN

do u think they will reply?

[Asiantravel]

just sent an email to bayer in thailand and i quote!

i have retired to thailand

and have recently been concerned about the use of pesticides

there has been a very interesting exchange of information on a website called thai visa about chemical use in food production

and i quote

Germany has banned the use of neonicotoids Bayer still manufactures and distributes outside of the country.

why do u still sell?

do u supply these chemicals in any format to thai farmers to increase yields?

carbofuran, dicrotophos, methomyl and EPN

do u think they will reply?

No! Thais are notoriously bad at responding to e-mails anyway but one like this will definitely go in the too hard basket in my opinion

[McMagus]

Phuque as the say in France ! I didn't know about the formaldehyde usage. Does any body have any information..real info, not rumour or urban myth...I want to know..

[Thai at Heart]

Phuque as the say in France ! I didn't know about the formaldehyde usage. Does any body have any information..real info, not rumour or urban myth...I want to know..

I worked in agriculture for export to some very particular multinationals for a given product. We had to comply with all the relevant limits, and if any given destination didn't have limits we had to comply with EU regulation. We tried every type of permitted pesticide under the sun, including several natural products that were completely safe. We had a field extension staff of 600, living in the villages instructing farmers continuously. We had testing at delivery and export. We provided all inputs at cost, provided training and the such.

In my 3 or 4th year, we had a traditional problem with one area (nameless) producing product way above cypermethrin limits. Investigate this, investigate that, couldn't find how or why it was happening. On driving out to the fields one afternoon, there was a battered old pick up with a large spray boom on the back, a tote tank and a pile of unmarked bottles on the back. This was Somchai the bugman providing a service for x baht per rai as a pest controller. He would take his bottles put it into a cubic metre of water and drive up and down the road spraying willy nilly onto the fields for a fee.

Now, ask a farmer, who growing our crop actually made a pretty dam_n good return, why he did it. "Keekiat". Can't be bothered. Pure and simple. Not this guys error was to have done it too close to harvest time which prevented it degrading in the sun, but it became apparent that thousands of our farmers were doing this, irrespective of GIVING them back packs, lock boxes, product, instruction, it was just wasn't apparent to them that they should give two hoots, because their feeling of supplying to companies anything they produced was the buyers didn't give two hoots about them.

I can easily believe that the levels are way above what they should be, but this is a legacy of having to deal with so many small hold farmers who are barely making a living. The costs they face to buy better, safer products are prohibitive, the money they make on their small hold is barely enough to get by, and they have little or no mechanisation to help. I have walked 10 rai or farmland spraying pesticide by hand, it is a shitty job.

The only way this changes is with the inevitable change to larger scale farms, with fewer "farmers" managing more land who can afford and understand the consequences of their actions. Unfortunately, of course, this will change Thai society massively.

But if I am faced with cypermethrin for x per bottle, or safer stuff that works a bit more slowly at 5x per bottle, I understand entirely why they go with cypermethrin. What is the consequence to them? Zilch.

[cloudhopper]

Phuque as the say in France ! I didn't know about the formaldehyde usage. Does any body have any information..real info, not rumour or urban myth...I want to know..

http://www.thaivisa....ken;-thai-food/

There is a Thai language video clip on how to spot it in the market on vimeo you can google if you speak Thai. Cabbage and melons are also anecdotally notorious.

edit- from wikipedia. Hmmm now where have I recently read about similar symptoms in mysterious deaths?

Scandals have broken in both the 2005 Indonesia food scare and 2007 Vietnam food scare regarding the addition of formaldehyde to foods to extend shelf life. After a four-year absence, in 2011 Indonesian authorities have again found some foods with formaldehyde being sold in markets in a number of regions across the country. Besides using formaldehyde, they also use borax, but not combined together.^[65] In August 2011, at least at 2 Carrefour supermarkets, the Central Jakarta Livestock and Fishery Sub-Department found a sweet glutinous rice drink (cendol) contained 10 parts per million of formaldehyde.^[66] Foods known to be contaminated include noodles, salted fish, tofu, and rumors of chicken and beer. In some places, such as China, formaldehyde is still used illegally as a preservative in foods, which exposes people to formaldehyde ingestion.^[67] In humans, the ingestion of formaldehyde has been shown to cause vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness, and in extreme cases can cause death; in addition, there is limited evidence of a carcinogenic effect.^[4][35] Testing for formaldehyde is by blood and/or urine by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Other methods include infrared detection, gas detector tubes, etc., of which HPLC is the most sensitive ^[68] In the early 1900s, it was frequently added by US milk plants to milk bottles as a method of pasteurization due to the lack of knowledge regarding formaldehyde's toxicity.

In 2011 in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, truckloads of rotten chicken were exposed to formaldehyde in which "a large network" including 11 slaughterhouses run by a criminal gang were implicated.^[69] In 2012, 1 billion Rupiah (almost 1 million USD) of fish were imported from Pakistan to Batam, Indonesia were found laced with formaldehyde.^[70]

[bartender100]

Hate to burst the bubble but it don't work that way, vegetables are different from lab glassware. In particular pesticides like methornyl are systematic rather than contact so the pesticides migrate and washing has limited effect.In fact if the residues are anywhere near as high as stated above, then even if the wash procedure was to be as effective as the research link I'm posting you would still be way above EU safety levels.

http://kasetsartjour...91322516718.pdf

Thanks for the link roamer, it was very informative. Other than growing your own vegetables, there are no methods to rid the pesticides totally. If you are thinking reducing the level is better than nothing. It appears potassium permanganate (KMnO₄) (ด่างทับทิม) is a much better method of reducing the pesticides than Baking Powder (NaHCO3) (ผงฟู).

According to the linked research, I would also rinse with water a few times after the potassium permanganate treatment and finish with an acetic acid wash.

I have not yet attempted this and I wonder what the vegetables would look like after these treatments, especially when potassium permanganate produces a red colour and is an extreme oxidant. Now my vegetable has a smaller amount of toxins and looks like red slime, Aroy! Does it have any nutrients now? What’s the point?

I wondered that was, I asked in Friendship and the lady actually knew what I was talking about, and directed me a small tube of, what I now know is called potassium permanganate KMnO₄. I did make the mistake of putting a tiny bit on my tongue.

I love greeny vegetables, but this has really put me off. Maybe its better to look for the stuff that has leaves chewed by insects

I don't know about just using Bi-Carb to wash, but cooking with it destroys all the Vitamins

[PoodMaiDai]

Food and Agriculture Organisation figures for 2007 show Thailand had 27,126 agricultural chemical brands registered for use - more than China (20,000), Vietnam (1,743), Indonesia (1,158), Malaysia (917), Burma (818) and Laos (100) combined.

How is it possible that all of Thailand's neighbors have come to their senses, but Thailand still has her head in the sand? The entire rest of the world is doing it differently. All just stupid foreigners to the Thais I'm sure, but are they really that thick?

I'd like to see the entire world stop buying Thailand food products tomorrow. A ban on them. Nothing going out. Maybe, just maybe, they would come to their senses. Or, they would raise their prices and use more chemicals. Hard to tell with them.

[Thai at Heart]

Food and Agriculture Organisation figures for 2007 show Thailand had 27,126 agricultural chemical brands registered for use - more than China (20,000), Vietnam (1,743), Indonesia (1,158), Malaysia (917), Burma (818) and Laos (100) combined.

How is it possible that all of Thailand's neighbors have come to their senses, but Thailand still has her head in the sand? The entire rest of the world is doing it differently. All just stupid foreigners to the Thais I'm sure, but are they really that thick?

I'd like to see the entire world stop buying Thailand food products tomorrow. A ban on them. Nothing going out. Maybe, just maybe, they would come to their senses. Or, they would raise their prices and use more chemicals. Hard to tell with them.

Is this a trick question. Why doesn't Thailand reform the pesticide market?

Answer

Bribery.

[Valentine]

So all the certifications and the labellings are false if not unreliable! So i thought i had been eating organic veggies but they could be pesticide-laden stuff!! I already cut down on meat, fish, shrimps, seafood here as they are all sprayed with chemicals for preserving corpses! Gosh amazing thailand!

any advice on cleaning the veggie from pesticde will be appreciated.

Invest in a small ozone generator & when you bring your produce home put them in a tub of water then run the ozone generator by placing the tube with diffusing stone on the end in the water. Machine is also good for getting rid of unwanted smells & I also use it to sterilize water for drinking by running mains water through a filter first.

[Valentine]

Food and Agriculture Organisation figures for 2007 show Thailand had 27,126 agricultural chemical brands registered for use - more than China (20,000), Vietnam (1,743), Indonesia (1,158), Malaysia (917), Burma (818) and Laos (100) combined.

How is it possible that all of Thailand's neighbors have come to their senses, but Thailand still has her head in the sand? The entire rest of the world is doing it differently. All just stupid foreigners to the Thais I'm sure, but are they really that thick?

I'd like to see the entire world stop buying Thailand food products tomorrow. A ban on them. Nothing going out. Maybe, just maybe, they would come to their senses. Or, they would raise their prices and use more chemicals. Hard to tell with them.

Is this a trick question. Why doesn't Thailand reform the pesticide market?

Answer

Bribery.

Google Monsanto & you will see the rest of the world is also embroiled in this pesticide debacle along with their efforts to enforce the use of GMO foods such as corn. There will be far too many vested interests making big money through the use of pesticides. Just think about all those poor farmers that go through their fields with a tank on their back spraying cancerous chemicals without using any proper safety mask.

[Thai at Heart]

Food and Agriculture Organisation figures for 2007 show Thailand had 27,126 agricultural chemical brands registered for use - more than China (20,000), Vietnam (1,743), Indonesia (1,158), Malaysia (917), Burma (818) and Laos (100) combined.

How is it possible that all of Thailand's neighbors have come to their senses, but Thailand still has her head in the sand? The entire rest of the world is doing it differently. All just stupid foreigners to the Thais I'm sure, but are they really that thick?

I'd like to see the entire world stop buying Thailand food products tomorrow. A ban on them. Nothing going out. Maybe, just maybe, they would come to their senses. Or, they would raise their prices and use more chemicals. Hard to tell with them.

Is this a trick question. Why doesn't Thailand reform the pesticide market?

Answer

Bribery.

Google Monsanto & you will see the rest of the world is also embroiled in this pesticide debacle along with their efforts to enforce the use of GMO foods such as corn. There will be far too many vested interests making big money through the use of pesticides. Just think about all those poor farmers that go through their fields with a tank on their back spraying cancerous chemicals without using any proper safety mask.

The local guys are extremely powerful and influential, then throw in the multinationals and there is just to much controversy in banning the cheaper local stuff to benefit the foreign guys.

[PoodMaiDai]

Food and Agriculture Organisation figures for 2007 show Thailand had 27,126 agricultural chemical brands registered for use - more than China (20,000), Vietnam (1,743), Indonesia (1,158), Malaysia (917), Burma (818) and Laos (100) combined.

How is it possible that all of Thailand's neighbors have come to their senses, but Thailand still has her head in the sand? The entire rest of the world is doing it differently. All just stupid foreigners to the Thais I'm sure, but are they really that thick?

I'd like to see the entire world stop buying Thailand food products tomorrow. A ban on them. Nothing going out. Maybe, just maybe, they would come to their senses. Or, they would raise their prices and use more chemicals. Hard to tell with them.

Is this a trick question. Why doesn't Thailand reform the pesticide market?

Answer

Bribery.

I get that. Corruption and so on. But Laos, Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam... they are equally corrupt. Yet they have the smarts to at least try not to kill everyone with an overload of food poisons.

[PoodMaiDai]

Food and Agriculture Organisation figures for 2007 show Thailand had 27,126 agricultural chemical brands registered for use - more than China (20,000), Vietnam (1,743), Indonesia (1,158), Malaysia (917), Burma (818) and Laos (100) combined.

How is it possible that all of Thailand's neighbors have come to their senses, but Thailand still has her head in the sand? The entire rest of the world is doing it differently. All just stupid foreigners to the Thais I'm sure, but are they really that thick?

I'd like to see the entire world stop buying Thailand food products tomorrow. A ban on them. Nothing going out. Maybe, just maybe, they would come to their senses. Or, they would raise their prices and use more chemicals. Hard to tell with them.

Is this a trick question. Why doesn't Thailand reform the pesticide market?

Answer

Bribery.

Google Monsanto & you will see the rest of the world is also embroiled in this pesticide debacle along with their efforts to enforce the use of GMO foods such as corn. There will be far too many vested interests making big money through the use of pesticides. Just think about all those poor farmers that go through their fields with a tank on their back spraying cancerous chemicals without using any proper safety mask.

Yes, the GMO issue is a big one. But people can make the choice to not by GMO food. It would be like going to the store to buy non-GMO corn, and it being legal for sellers to label their corn GMO free corn, even though it was a lie. That is more or less what Thailand is doing with the pesticides. I think people should be given a fair chance to purchase the food that they feel is right for them. Some don't care what they eat, but for those who do, it should be strictly enforced that labels are correct.

[rattler]

So all the certifications and the labellings are false if not unreliable! So i thought i had been eating organic veggies but they could be pesticide-laden stuff!! I already cut down on meat, fish, shrimps, seafood here as they are all sprayed with chemicals for preserving corpses! Gosh amazing thailand!

any advice on cleaning the veggie from pesticde will be appreciated.

soaking your veggies in a baking soda solution removes about 95% of the pesticides. I have friends here that work at a testing company, they test for this stuff, and they soak their lab equipment in a baking soda solution to prevent false readings. I buy more baking soda than anything else at the store because everything I eat doesn't come with a label other than produce from the royal projects.

Who would dare to test it?

And if they did they couldn't comment!! amazing Thailand

[bartender100]

As I mentioned before the problem with B-Carb is that it destroys Vitamin C in the vegetables

[Synastry]

Phuque as the say in France ! I didn't know about the formaldehyde usage. Does any body have any information..real info, not rumour or urban myth...I want to know..

Not a rumour! I have talked about this subject with my Thai wife. She is more concerned with the use of formaldehyde over the poisonous chemicals.

[Synastry]

As I mentioned before the problem with B-Carb is that it destroys Vitamin C in the vegetables

Agreed! Vegetables that have been treated/cleaned to rid the poisons would not only purge the vitamins, it would only rid SOME of the poisons. Why eat vegetables with no vitamins that still contain poisons? Better take multi-vitamin pills while you grow your own natural garden.

[moggie]

just sent an email to bayer in thailand and i quote!

i have retired to thailand

and have recently been concerned about the use of pesticides

there has been a very interesting exchange of information on a website called thai visa about chemical use in food production

and i quote

Germany has banned the use of neonicotoids Bayer still manufactures and distributes outside of the country.

why do u still sell?

do u supply these chemicals in any format to thai farmers to increase yields?

carbofuran, dicrotophos, methomyl and EPN

do u think they will reply?

No! Thais are notoriously bad at responding to e-mails anyway but one like this will definitely go in the too hard basket in my opinion

SUPRISE! SUPRISE!

no reply from bayer in thailand!

too busy pouring chemicals into unmarked bottles

so customers dont know what is in them !

but dont forget the ' buy one get one free sticker'

sad....... but could be true.............

[Synastry]

SUPRISE! SUPRISE!

no reply from bayer in thailand!

too busy pouring chemicals into unmarked bottles

so customers dont know what is in them !

but dont forget the ' buy one get one free sticker'

sad....... but could be true.............

Send an email asking to purchase their product for your new farming supply shop.

[puck2]

..............................

Once again we get back to the root of the problem. A poor education system.

.........

Especially the vocational education system. This could be a solution to the problem. But the usual Thai problem, do the influential people like it.?????

The farmers and rural people not in the know think like the mafia, tripple dosis of poison ( pesticides) will be more successful than a sufficient dosis. Killing three times is better than one time ......

As Thai people, glued to the television, don't mind the giant load of crap and downright nonsense they are watching, then it should be easy to feed them with some reasonable reports about all these different kinds of pesticides. At least, it should be the duty of the public channel/s.

Question mark, if it is wanted by the ... (repeat it). There is already a strong opposition by the swine industry to ban asbestos because of MONEY FIRST.

We will not hear: (public) health first, will we?

[Synastry]

I can't believe this topic is still going!

1. You cannot know if your vegetables are pesticide free, particularly the organic labelled vegetables.

2. You cannot treat/clean your vegetables to be pesticide free. If you do, there will be no vitamins, nutritional value in them.

3. Grow your own vegetables or take reputable multi-vitamins, or both.