Chiang Rai Declares 80 Dangerous Days To Curb Haze Crisis

[hmj]

villagefarang #25

Your image shows how far the Thai farmers and ranchers are behind with other

parts of the world. It also shows that the Government agricultural advisers are

more than 'inadequate'.

The rice straw which is seen burning in your image is worth 1 Baht per kilogram.

Progressive thinking Thais have started to use straw/hay balers to press the straw

into bales. One bale weighs about 20 kg and sells for 28 Baht. The handling charges

are 8 Baht.

The straw is used to feed cattle and buffaloes. Feeding cattle is also a new concept

in Chiang Rai.

Most village people are still part time hunter-gatherers and cattle are expected

to search for their own food. Cattle are kept in the forests,the so called National Parks,

during the rainy season and are grazing on the rice stubble during the dry season.

These cattle do not produce much meat, they are bones and skin.

I took about 5 years for tractors to be used on a large scale in this part of

the world. Other farm implements will follow soon. Cattle feeding has started and

the burning of rice straw will stop.

The large scale introduction of rubber trees (and oil palms) will reduce the forest

fires. Rubber trees do not tolerate fires. Unfortunately to clear the plantation

areas more forest is being cut and burned.

Nobody in the Government/Administration is willing to do something, only give

a warning, because of loss in popularity. In the Western world they call this

"not politically feasible".

Expect the worst again this year.

[villagefarang]

Good post hmj, and I agree with your assessment. Things will change given enough time but we aren’t there yet.

Hunter-gatherer definitely fits the villagers around here, when they are not off working in the big city. More tractors every year and more machine power in general, as it is harder to find enough people to do a manual rice harvest.

Things are a changing.

[Radar501]

The technology is there, the desire to truly do something about it is not

Weekly I drive up to Mae sai and for the last month there has been hundreds of firs with nothing done about it

It is always someone-else's responsibility to save the world.

Stop driving up to Mae Sai weekly......If you truly desire to do something about it.

Edited January 27, 2013 by Radar501

[sunholidaysun1]

The debate about the burning of the rice fields etc has been going on for years with next to no change at all .

We all think we have the solution and I am sure the governments of all of the countries in S.E. Asia have had think tanks on how to stop the burning and pollution . Machinery will come in time to harvest the rice fields but what about the burning of corn fields ? After the wet season there is so much growth everywhere and it needs to be cut back and burnt or just set on fire and cleared without any manual work other than to manage the fires .What else can they do ? I dont see many farangs offering their services for free to help out with the cutting and clearing of anything here. Its a massive task each year to keep the jungle at bay. Fines were introduced to try and stop the burning and I know of one man from my village that was given a 5000 bht fine last year for burning the grass in his garden. The burning practically stopped in the day time but as soon as it was dark and the police had gone home, the fires were lit and the burning took place throughout the night.

Last years pollution was the worst I have ever seen here in the 13 years I have been coming to Thailand . The only other pollution that I have witnessed that was worse was in Dortmund in Germany , where the smog was orange in colour and a curfew put on all people living there . The city was a ghost town ,no people anywhere other than police in protective clothing making sure everyone stayed home until the industrial pollution had blown away .

Europe has their own pollution problems as does China and America , its everywhere and it will never stop .

If its a problem for you being here when the pollution is high , get on a bus and leave . We all have a choice .

[Big Gary]

The debate about the burning of the rice fields etc has been going on for years with next to no change at all .

We all think we have the solution and I am sure the governments of all of the countries in S.E. Asia have had think tanks on how to stop the burning and pollution . Machinery will come in time to harvest the rice fields but what about the burning of corn fields ? After the wet season there is so much growth everywhere and it needs to be cut back and burnt or just set on fire and cleared without any manual work other than to manage the fires .What else can they do ? I dont see many farangs offering their services for free to help out with the cutting and clearing of anything here. Its a massive task each year to keep the jungle at bay. Fines were introduced to try and stop the burning and I know of one man from my village that was given a 5000 bht fine last year for burning the grass in his garden. The burning practically stopped in the day time but as soon as it was dark and the police had gone home, the fires were lit and the burning took place throughout the night.

Last years pollution was the worst I have ever seen here in the 13 years I have been coming to Thailand . The only other pollution that I have witnessed that was worse was in Dortmund in Germany , where the smog was orange in colour and a curfew put on all people living there . The city was a ghost town ,no people anywhere other than police in protective clothing making sure everyone stayed home until the industrial pollution had blown away .

Europe has their own pollution problems as does China and America , its everywhere and it will never stop .

If its a problem for you being here when the pollution is high , get on a bus and leave . We all have a choice .

You say get on a bus and leave. I think you need a plane not a bus as I returned to Chiangrai from Koh Chang two weeks ago and I kid you not as smoke was every where once I hit the mainland and all the way to Chiangrai. We returned down here on Monday and in some parts(Nakon Sawan,Pretchabun,Lop Buri and Nakon Nayok) and more the smoke than two weeks ago. Some places we had only about 50 to 100 mtrs vision on the highway and I drove most of the way with all my lights on. We are heading back again to CR on the 10th Feb so it will be same same. I dont know where in Thailand there is no smoke!!!???

[pomchop]

It seems that at least where i live that thus far the smoke has been WAY less than this time of year previously...BUT...just when i thought it might stay clear a bit longer it appears this morning that a big haze is settling in. I do not think as many of my neighbors are burning as much as usual and the smoke could be just drifting in from elsewhere....but it does appear to be descending upon the surrounding mountains.....maybe the hot temps last few days also don't help.

[villagefarang]

Things got dramatically and progressively worse here in Phaya Mengrai yesterday and this morning.

[DonaldBattles]

Please remember that this is just the first phase of burning for those who have irrigation and will plant the second crop. THE WORST IS YET TO COME TO SUPPORT THE PLANTING FOR THE RAINEY SEASON. LOCALLY THERE ARE NO ATTEMPTS BY THE KHAMNAN OR PUYI BAAN TO SLOW OR STOP THE BURNING. THEY DO AN ANNOUNCEMENT ASKING PEOPLE NOT TO DO IT.

[villagefarang]

Yes, there are plenty of announcements but nobody pays much attention. What do you expect, this is Thailand, and they are going to do things their own way.(Shouting won’t help and only raises your blood pressure.)

[krobert6]

At the local village meeting they announced that the 2000 baht fine was back on again for burning in the garden