Burning fire all around

[DinoSabanovic]

Hello.

Im very curious why thai people keep making fire, more smoke than fire actually, in the evening mostly?

I live in Korat province and when I go out of my house for 1 hour of cycling, sometimes I cannot breathe how much smoke is around.

I really don't get it.

[pinkpanther99]

I'm sure this topic will have been covered before but I really don't get it either. I guess it must be a combination of a lack of proper rubbish disposal/recycling plants and education maybe?? I know in Chiang Mai they burn away the rice fields but near me guys just seem to be burning rubbish on the side of the road. Some nights where I live it is really bad.

[pastafarian]

The worst thing is they seem to purposely make fires that mainly generate smoke and therefore take a very long time to burn, surely a fire with real flames would burn quicker and with less smoke!

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[Hedghog]

Yes burn the household rubbish.

I do it twice a week on average.

Around 6pm.

[DinoSabanovic]

The worst thing is they seem to purposely make fires that mainly generate smoke and therefore take a very long time to burn, surely a fire with real flames would burn quicker and with less smoke!

Yes! This is real problem.

[Hedghog]

The worst thing is they seem to purposely make fires that mainly generate smoke and therefore take a very long time to burn, surely a fire with real flames would burn quicker and with less smoke!

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The smoke probably comes from coconut husks,used to start the fire.

Also keeps mossies at bay.

[GuestHouse]

Worst of all they burn plastic.

Carcinogenic fumes wafting through the air.

[Thongkorn]

The worst thing is they seem to purposely make fires that mainly generate smoke and therefore take a very long time to burn, surely a fire with real flames would burn quicker and with less smoke!

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The smoke probably comes from coconut husks,used to start the fire.

Also keeps mossies at bay.

Correct

[khwaibah]

Check out http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/692704-smoke-smog-dust-2014-chiang-mai/

[wym]

Anyone point to that thread posted by the guy that organized a proper rubbish disposal regime for his moobaan?

I believe he had to give it up in the end. . .

Another data point in the rent not buy debate!

[kikoman]

Many people start fires at dusk, to drive the mosquito away from their cattle or buffaloes in the village!

Cheers

[Nignoy]

silly me thought it was fireflies

[Gumballl]

I'm sure this topic will have been covered before but I really don't get it either. I guess it must be a combination of a lack of proper rubbish disposal/recycling plants and education maybe?? I know in Chiang Mai they burn away the rice fields but near me guys just seem to be burning rubbish on the side of the road. Some nights where I live it is really bad.

In Korat, where my wife's family lives, it is common practice to dispose of trash by fire. There is no trash pickup by a private company or by the government. In the past, they used to burn plastic bottles and bags, but now there's a place they can go to recycle plastic and glass bottles. As for the bags, well, they are still burned.

As for burning the fires in the late afternoon/evening, it could possibly done because of the mosquitos, but I believe it is done for other reasons... 1) the laundry that's been hanging outside all day has been collected, 2) the winds are calmer in the evening, and 3) all trash generated in a given day has been collected for burning.

I've attached a pic of a small trash fire behind my wife's house. Typical scene in the countryside. Get used to it, or petition the gov't to send out a truck to collect trash.

[jackr]

We used to do it in the West, too, when we didn't know (or care) better... like 200 years ago. It'll be a while longer before they 'get it' here... like 200 years.

[canuckamuck]

We had a trash barrel when I was a kid, It was great fun to set it alight. Everything that could possibly burn was tossed into it.

Mind you this was a farm not the city.

I don't know if they ever stopped the practice, hard to enforce.

[maidee]

Air pollution and cancer

ignorance is bliss

lots of happy ignorant people in this country

[meatboy]

I'm sure this topic will have been covered before but I really don't get it either. I guess it must be a combination of a lack of proper rubbish disposal/recycling plants and education maybe?? I know in Chiang Mai they burn away the rice fields but near me guys just seem to be burning rubbish on the side of the road. Some nights where I live it is really bad.

In Korat, where my wife's family lives, it is common practice to dispose of trash by fire. There is no trash pickup by a private company or by the government. In the past, they used to burn plastic bottles and bags, but now there's a place they can go to recycle plastic and glass bottles. As for the bags, well, they are still burned.

As for burning the fires in the late afternoon/evening, it could possibly done because of the mosquitos, but I believe it is done for other reasons... 1) the laundry that's been hanging outside all day has been collected, 2) the winds are calmer in the evening, and 3) all trash generated in a given day has been collected for burning.

I've attached a pic of a small trash fire behind my wife's house. Typical scene in the countryside. Get used to it, or petition the gov't to send out a truck to collect trash.

in korat where i live the bin men empty the rubbish on the floor then sort out what they can sell[you will see the big bags hanging on the back of the lorry] then set fire to whats left.

[wayned]

It's sugar cane harvesting season guys, from now until Songkran. The sugar cane fields are burned the night before they are harvested to get rid of the dead foliage and unwanted varmints. It's then cut the next day, loaded and taken to the mill. The fields are then raked and the remainder is set on fire again. I live in the middle of sugar cane fields and it's a 24/7 operation until it's harvested. Not only smoke, but black soot that turns everything black when there is any dew in the air. To the Thais, the smoke and soot means that there is money in the air. It can be harvested without burning but is more labor intensive if cutting it by hand and not using a combine. We, and most around, us burn and cut by hand since the fields are relatively small and it produces jobs.

[jackflash]

As a kid in the west, we would burn everything as we didn't have a rubbish collection..

There was little plastic in those days, so plastic wasn't a problem.

Tin cans were burnt for hygiene, then the burnt cans were buried and they would quickly rust away.

I expect that that LOS is much the same. Sad about the plastic though.

[canopy]

Im very curious why thai people keep making fire

Simple answer: because they enjoy it. Why do people smoke cigarettes? Because they enjoy it. No need to search for a deeper explanation.

I have lived near Thai's for years. I watch them make their daily fires. No leaf, twig, plastic bag, or even blade of grass escapes being swept into smoke and ash. They enjoy burning things, especially their land, and take great pride in building the heap of the day. I've never made a fire even once. I recycle and compost what I can and haul what's left to the nearest dumpster. And I am the only one i know of in the whole area who does 2 of those 3 things. They enjoy burning.

[tim armstrong]

I'm tempted to say 'bring it on' as I like the smell of smoke and watching fires - well my Scottish ancestors were supposedly into pillaging and reaping. But yes, it does pollute everything. With the sugarcane it does have a real purpose and is part of the harvest process in country areas.

[Card]

They burn stuff because they have absolutely no idea how it affects the environment or their health and that of their family and neighbours (or whole village). They do it because they don't see that piling it in the garden (if organic) somewhere in a corner, where they could turn it into humus, is infinitely better than burning it. But mostly they burn it because it's easy and they don't care about these things. They don't do it anymore in my garden when I am in my partner's village home.

Edited January 8, 2014 by Card

[h90]

I'm sure this topic will have been covered before but I really don't get it either. I guess it must be a combination of a lack of proper rubbish disposal/recycling plants and education maybe?? I know in Chiang Mai they burn away the rice fields but near me guys just seem to be burning rubbish on the side of the road. Some nights where I live it is really bad.

They make it here in the west border of Bangkok as well. But the waste collectors come every week and take just anything you want to get rid of. From everyone, registered or not, just put it outside and they take it. Even sand, broken concrete, liquids, old flowers/wood.....just everything.

Still some idiots burn plastic (that could be sold as well) and rubbish, sometimes in evening it is raining ash....and of course smells from the burned plastic.

So it here no problem of disposal.......

Education? I don't know how much education you need for not burning the rubbish....people complain several times but they don't care.

[thesetat2013]

Mosquito repellent

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[jsflynn603]

Think things are bad? Wait a month or two until the entire section of the continent burns the fields. It's an age old tradition. When undergrowth is burned it sets off a chain of events that include mushroom blooms and bamboo shoot blooms. So families for eons systematically burn several acres, wait a week, burn several more, wait a week...and so on. Then systematically they return and harvest the flora to sell. I wish I had kept a copy of a satellite photo which included part of Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. It really is not an exaggeration to say that there were tens of thousands of fires. Most of that part of the continent is burned annually. Even the forest "type" that exists is related to the burning.

It's a severe health problem and deaths each year are in the hundreds if not thousands--but are usually attributed to cardiac or other issues. It's not likely to change in our lifetime.

Oh, by the way, if you're in Chiang mai (and I imagine other places) just off Chang Clan Road is a fairly crude crematorium that is used weekly and when in use there is a layer of smoke haze that covers that part of town though when I lived on the eleventh floor near there I never noticed a smell associated with it.

[sendbaht]

They just want their yards to look super clean like a park for the family. So they burn away

the leaves and weeds they have picked.

I think Thai's naturally love to garden.

[willyumiii]

There are a few reasons for all of the smoke and burning that goes on.

Two that I strongly disagree with:

1) Burning rubbish and garbage that should be collected and disposed of or even burred rather than burning and polluting the air.

2) Thais burn yard and garden debris, ( sticks, leaves and weeds ) that should be composted and returned to the soil to replace what is used up in the growing process.

Other reasons they burn:

1) Rice fields must be burned after harvest before the next planting. The rice "stubble" does not break down fast enough and burning it makes planting possible.

2) Charcoal production. Charcoal is produced by covering wood with dried grass that is then made damp. It is ususlly lit once in the morning and again in the evening. The burning damp grass smells terrible all day and al night when this is being done. Just about all Thais cook with charcoal and do not want to buy it. This is also the time of year it seems most are making charcoal

I don't know what is worse, the smoky rural areas or the urban areas like Bangkok with the air so polluted with high concentration of high emission, uncontrolled, smog producing internal combustion cars, buses, trucks, tuk tuks and motor bikes.

I guess some people like to see what's in the air they breath.

Not me!

[IMA_FARANG]

It's sugar cane harvesting season guys, from now until Songkran. The sugar cane fields are burned the night before they are harvested to get rid of the dead foliage and unwanted varmints. It's then cut the next day, loaded and taken to the mill. The fields are then raked and the remainder is set on fire again. I live in the middle of sugar cane fields and it's a 24/7 operation until it's harvested. Not only smoke, but black soot that turns everything black when there is any dew in the air. To the Thais, the smoke and soot means that there is money in the air. It can be harvested without burning but is more labor intensive if cutting it by hand and not using a combine. We, and most around, us burn and cut by hand since the fields are relatively small and it produces jobs.

--------------------

In areas that grow Sugar Cane it is burned just before the Cane is cut. for harvesting.

That kills off such insects as Spiders, Tarantulas, and such and drives away the snakes that often live in the Cane fields also.

It also makes the cane easier to cut. Without burning the fields first the Cane cutters won't go into the fields.

To many creepy-crawlies that will bite them when they try to cut the Cane.

The Cane itself has so much sugar in it that the stalks don't burn.

The leaves may burn, but that's not important, it the Sugar Cane stalks that are wanted by the Sugar Mill.

From 1973 until 1975 I lived and worked in a Sugar Cane growing area in Puerto Rico ..... and every year just before Cane harvesting/cutting time they always burned the fields first.

At least that is what the custom was in 1973 and 1974 in Puerto Rico ..... may no longer be done .... but it was then.

[TerrylSky]

The burning of trash, grass, and whatever is disgusting. I have lived in a beautiful northern little village for 13 years. I have never burned garbage or grass; only a "campfire" sometimes so we can keep warm etc. As a teacher, I proudly compost for my garden, and recycle and "show it off" to my neighbours. Burning is totally unnecessary and stupid. Children and elders have annual respiratory problems during the dry season; the the smoke especially with breeze contaminats freshly laundered clothes drying and clean homes. I asked a wealthy neighbour why she is burning on the ski one morning and mentioned that it is unhealthy and not polite. Of course all she could say was "mai bpehn rai" and continued. People that burn their garbage - especially plastics are stupid, ignorant, lazy, impolite, shortsighted, rude and perhaps all of the above. Burning is totally not necessary. It is easier to not burn. (cough cough cough). Recycle, compost, and feel better that you are not contributing to Thailand's worsening air pollution (and garbage) problem. )) and hey, I think I checked some years ago, and burning is actually illegal! - but "mai bhen rai nakhrap!"

[masuk]

It's done all around Asia. Seems they've never heard of composting anything, and every evening around Indonesia, every leaf in the garden would be raked up and a fire started; the air would be thick with smoke from burning leaves and toxic plastics.

In West Java it was common for road side vendors to set fire to an old tyre or two to keep warm in the cooler altitudes, and the smoke was still hanging around in the morning.

I was in Guangzhou, China in December, and it was amazing what some control can do. No fires, no gasoline powered motorbikes (all electric), all the buses (and there were hundreds) powered by LPG or LNG, no diesel cars or trucks that I could see. The air was amazingly clear and way better than 2 years back.

Thailand might get the message eventually. A pity they've adopted so many ideas from the West, but not the environmental part.