Villages Getting 10 Million Thb To Fight Fires

[Lite Beer]

Villages Getting 10 Million THB To Fight Fires

The Department of Forestry will distribute 10 million THB among 100 Thai villages to help prevent and fight forest fires. Each village will receive 100,000 THB to spend on equipment and hiring local volunteers. An estimated 10,000 volunteers would be recruited as part of the plan.

THAILAND – January 25, 2013 [PDN]; an ambitious plan to help prevent forest fires was discussed at a meeting of organizations responsible for protection against forest fires and hazardous smoke. The chairman of the meeting was Mr. Boonchob Sutthamanuswong from the Department of Forestry, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

As part of the plan, the Department of Forestry will distribute a total of10 million THB among 100 villages, which will each receive 100,000 THB to spend on equipment and training and personnel costs for fire prevention.

Villages were selected by the Forestry Department to keep them safe from burning, and they will receive training manuals that describe effective methods to prevent and also fight forest fires. With its share of the money, each village will make its own budget to purchase equipment and set the training schedule for volunteers.

In choosing the villages to be protected from forest fires, the Department of Forestry used the ratio of incidents that occurred in certain “hot spots” where fires are more likely to occur, based on several factors. The Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Plodprasop Surassawadee, has indicated that hiring local people to assist to take care of the forest and in assisting to fight forest fire is the trend of thinking that has evolved.

In many provinces, the locals who live there know who are the people that are likely to cause forest fires, so the government must let local residents assist to take care of the forest, and the Department of Forestry should be hiring local residents who live in the targeted areas of prevention, he said.

In the budget year 2013, the Department of Forestry had received 103 million THB to help solve the problem of forest fire and smoke. However, there is an additional budget request of 200 million THB from the Committee for Managing for Water and Flooding. This money would be used to hire 10,000 people to patrol more than 1,000 high-risk forested areas to help prevent fires for a duration of 90 days to take care of the area.

The Department of Forestry said that such people would be the first line of defense to stop any fires, with about 10 people assigned to any given point who are able to react as a fast-moving unit to solve problems in any area as quick as possible. The committee is still waiting for its additional budget request to be approved by the government.

Since January 21, the Department of Forestry has begun the first steps in its plan to protect against forest fires, by emphasizing to the officers of Department of Forestry to coordinate with the local villages and soldiers that will join together to solve this problem, according to the policy of the government.

The Deputy Minister Mr. Plodprasop Surassawadee, Deputy Minister, said there will be the setting up of a central command center to stop forest fires in 9 provinces. The Department of Forestry will be responsible for the four provinces of Chiagrai, Phayao, Phrae and Narn.

The other five provinces will be overseen by the Department of the Park of Wild Animal and Plant Breeding, which will responsible for the provinces of Chiangmai, Maehongsorn, Tak, Lamphoon and Lamparng.

Full Story: http://www.pattayada...to-fight-fires/

--Pattaya Daily News 2012-01-27

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[chooka]

New motor bike for the village elder to ride around and try and recruit, doesn't leave much money.

[Thailand]

Wouldn't prevention be a better approach as perhaps they would have to create fires to get the money?

[Pimay1]

New motor bike for the village elder to ride around and try and recruit, doesn't leave much money.

And don't forget the new hand phone.

New motor bike = B48,000

New iPhone 5 = B22,900

[Locationthailand]

Another populist decision. How many forest fires have there been in the last five years near these 100 villages? Just milking the coffers of more funds.

[HeavyDrinker]

4 zinc buckets per village and the rest on a huge bender down the fishbowl....

[chrisrazz]

Sounds good! New job creation scheme. Start a fire then get paid to help put it out! Pyromaniacs paradise, especially as thais have a penchant for burning anything. I saw some monks torching the bushland around their temple the other day! These forest fires are often started by hunters trying to flush out whatever it is they can find, we have a mountain behind us and is often lit up at night with the local army and volunteers doing their best to put it out. A couple of years ago I saw a fire truck watering the plants on the median strip, this was a day after some poor bastards house burnt to the ground.

[puck2]

.....The Department of Forestry said that such people would be the first line of defense to stop any fires, with about 10 people assigned to any given point who are able to react as a fast-moving unit to solve problems in any area as quick as possible. The committee is still waiting for its additional budget request to be approved by the government. ....

In general, the idea is laudable.

But, ... they have never been in the mountains of the Mae Hong Son Province. Fire on the rocks!

How would they like to solve problem without any reoads to the fire?

[Terry Newman]

100k is just enough to keep the local head-man happy to say vote for Yinluck to the locals he hold extreme power over !!!!

Anyway, this is ops normal, so not to worry.

Thailand, LOS or LOC Land of Corruption

[OzMick]

I hope the fire engine burnt by Chiang Mai red shirts has been replaced. Or did they use the money for bail for the arsonists?

[mca]

My dad always used to say "Lad, you've got to fight fire with fire"

I guess that's why he lost his job with the Fire Brigade.

[EyesWideOpen]

An odd headline , since the villagers are the one starting the fires....... To me it is purely an economic issue.

The villagers are burning off the forest to make a few million baht, and meanwhile Chiang Mai is losing billions

of baht from tourism and health issues created by the burning. Better idea to have SEVERE penalties for burning,

and then have some sort of compensation program to assist the villages for lost revenue. A personal issue

to me, as the endless burning is why I left Chiang Mai after spending years living there.

Edited January 27, 2013 by EyesWideOpen

[Pimay1]

An odd headline , since the villagers are the one starting the fires....... To me it is purely an economic issue.

The villagers are burning off the forest to make a few million baht, and meanwhile Chiang Mai is losing billions

of baht from tourism and health issues created by the burning. Better idea to have SEVERE penalties for burning,

and then have some sort of compensation program to assist the villages for lost revenue. A personal issue

to me, as the endless burning is why I left Chiang Mai and spending years living there.

No way they are going to introduce severe penalties for burning. There goes the PTP voter base in CM.

[Thai at Heart]

An odd headline , since the villagers are the one starting the fires....... To me it is purely an economic issue.

The villagers are burning off the forest to make a few million baht, and meanwhile Chiang Mai is losing billions

of baht from tourism and health issues created by the burning. Better idea to have SEVERE penalties for burning,

and then have some sort of compensation program to assist the villages for lost revenue. A personal issue

to me, as the endless burning is why I left Chiang Mai and spending years living there.

The pollution in Chiang Mai during burning season is truly horrendous.

[Thailand]

An odd headline , since the villagers are the one starting the fires....... To me it is purely an economic issue.

The villagers are burning off the forest to make a few million baht, and meanwhile Chiang Mai is losing billions

of baht from tourism and health issues created by the burning. Better idea to have SEVERE penalties for burning,

and then have some sort of compensation program to assist the villages for lost revenue. A personal issue

to me, as the endless burning is why I left Chiang Mai and spending years living there.

No way they are going to introduce severe penalties for burning. There goes the PTP voter base in CM.

Impose severe penalties on the owners of the land not the farmer/ workers leasing the land.If the owners are hit in the pocket they will soon put a stop to it.

Worked in another country I lived in,fines the equivalent of THB 300,000 on the landowners,no excuses.Put a stop to it almost overnight.

[EyesWideOpen]

An odd headline , since the villagers are the one starting the fires....... To me it is purely an economic issue.

The villagers are burning off the forest to make a few million baht, and meanwhile Chiang Mai is losing billions

of baht from tourism and health issues created by the burning. Better idea to have SEVERE penalties for burning,

and then have some sort of compensation program to assist the villages for lost revenue. A personal issue

to me, as the endless burning is why I left Chiang Mai and spending years living there.

The pollution in Chiang Mai during burning season is truly horrendous.

Agreed !!! I have a child, so there is no way in the world I would subject my child to that level of pollution. Was sad

to leave there after such a long time, but I had no choice. The government there makes noises of sympathy

every burning season, but never actually does anything. Maybe if tourists start keeling over in the streets from respiratory failure,

something might be done.

[Thai at Heart]

An odd headline , since the villagers are the one starting the fires....... To me it is purely an economic issue.

The villagers are burning off the forest to make a few million baht, and meanwhile Chiang Mai is losing billions

of baht from tourism and health issues created by the burning. Better idea to have SEVERE penalties for burning,

and then have some sort of compensation program to assist the villages for lost revenue. A personal issue

to me, as the endless burning is why I left Chiang Mai and spending years living there.

The pollution in Chiang Mai during burning season is truly horrendous.

Agreed !!! I have a child, so there is no way in the world I would subject my child to that level of pollution. Was sad

to leave there after such a long time, but I had no choice. The government there makes noises of sympathy

every burning season, but never actually does anything. Maybe if tourists start keeling over in the streets from respiratory failure,

something might be done.

This idea of a local brigade might actually achieve something, even of it's only a partial improvement.

[siampolee]

Would this move perhaps suggest that a certain political hue group are getting ready for another fun filled demonstration in Bangkok ?

Perchance the authorities have got wind that practice conflagrations are being kindled in certain enclaves which may have a political hue.Thus the funds allocated are to ensure damage from over enthusiastic amateurs is limited in the areas at risk.

Gods and politicians indeed move in mysterious ways..

[glegolo]

We have a huge rain now today over Chaiyaphum in Isaan. And this is probably making a LOT of people extremely sad here all over Isaan. The thai population here goes out in the morning lit fires all over Isaan in order to burn down grass on the ricefields and grass on the sidewalls to the ricefields and also burn out bushes.

They are too dam_n lazy to do any kind of work when it comes to clean out, so burning is the big thing. The airpollution is hard and severe up hereand certainly not good for our health, but that is secondary, nobody cares about that at all... I think the there are now two thingsactually that can be seen from outer space and that is the Chinese wall plus the burning of isaan grasslands......

And now they think that 100.000 baht shall make a difference.........

Glegolo

[seminomadic]

Set the whole 10,000,000B aflame in one big pile up north. It starves the air of oxygen so that the clearing fires can't be started by locals.

Nobody can argue that this approach will not be at least AS effective as the current strategy.

[maddas]

My dad always used to say "Lad, you've got to fight fire with fire"

I guess that's why he lost his job with the Fire Brigade.

burning back is a valid firefighting technique, dunno why ya ol man got the boot?

[canopy]

They should make payment incentives based. For each 10% increase in air quality a village gets 10% of the allotted budget. Villages that do nothing get nothing.

[puck2]

........

Impose severe penalties on the owners of the land not the farmer/ workers leasing the land.If the owners are hit in the pocket they will soon put a stop to it.

Worked in another country I lived in,fines the equivalent of THB 300,000 on the landowners,no excuses.Put a stop to it almost overnight.

Maybe will work in another country. Here in National Parks of Mae Hong Son the goverment had to fine itself

It seems to me that some people - and even the government - don't know the geography here in some parts of the North.

http://www.thailandh...e-Hong-Son.html --> 10 Facts about Mae Hong Son

• Is the most mountainous province in Thailand, with approximately 90% of terrain being jungle and thick forest
  
• Mae Hong Son is the least densely populated province in Thailand with a population of approximately 250,000. Approximately 60% of the population is made up of hilltribe groups such as the Karen, Lawa, Hmong and Lahu, with the 'Shan' (an ethnic minority group who originate from Southern China) making up most of the remainder
  
• The Mae Hong Son Loop - a popular route for travelers to explore the province, is a 600km circuit that starts from Chiang Mai and goes through Mae Sariang, Mae Hong Son capital, and Pai
  
• The Mae Hong Son Loop claims to have 1,864 curves
  
• Mae Hon Son is the 8^th largest province in Thailand (there are 76 provinces in Thailand)
  
• Mae Hong Son has a small Muslim community who are mostly made up of descendants of migrants from Bangladesh who then crossed over to Myanmar then Thailand
  
• Due to its wild and remote location, it was previously known as the ‘Siberia of Thailand' and a place where unfavourable government officials were transferred to
  
• In the 19th Century Mae Hong Son became famed as an elephant training area, where the Royal family in Chiang Mai hired Shan people to capture wild elephants and train them in the mountainous terrain and Jong Kham Lake (today a main tourist attraction in the center of Mae Hong Son town) was the bathing spot. The old name of Mae Hong Son was ‘Mae Rong Son’ which means ‘a place suitable for elephant warfare training'
  
• Mae Hong Son’s vast natural reserves of teak wood made it a boom town for teak logging until this was outlawed in the early 20^th century when it became evident teak was being depleted. Now it is illegal to fell teak
  wood trees, and the government is trying to conserve this resource through growing teak plantations many of which can be seen from the main road on the the Mae Hong Son Loop
  
• Mae Hong Son is called the ‘land of 3 mists’ due to the year round mist. During the summer months there is cloud from forest fires, during the rainy season there is a wet mist and during winter season there is a foggy mist