Thai editorial: Taking the sting out of the North

[webfact]

EDITORIAL
Taking the sting out of the North
The Nation

To clear the annual smog, we need to put a stop to the burning of farmland

BANGKOK: -- The smog that periodically envelopes parts of northern Thailand is back worse than ever this year, fed by the uncontrolled burning of scrub and forest.

Residents and tourists in many northern provinces are reporting health problems after inhaling air thick with hazardous particles. The authorities have urged children, elderly people and pregnant women to spend less time outdoors.

The problem is worse than in previous years, with pollution levels remaining dangerously high for several consecutive days.

Thickening the already soupy air is smoke drifting from neighbouring Myanmar and Laos, where it's also common at this time of year to burn off stubble to clear fields for planting crops.

The haze is taking a toll on health and daily life in the North, where thousands have sought medical treatment for respiratory problems over the past two weeks. Low visibility due to the haze has disrupted airline flights and been blamed for road accidents.

Citizens and visitors are complaining of irritation to eyes, noses and throats and many have taken to wearing facemasks as protection. Hospitals have been instructed to prepare medical supplies for the expected influx of patients suffering problems related to the polluted atmosphere.

The air quality has dipped well below acceptable standards in several northern provinces, as seen in recent tests by the Department of Pollution Control. The worst affected are Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son, Lampang, Lamphun, Phrae, Phayao and Nan - some of which are popular tourist destinations.

Business operators have reported a slight fall in the number of visitors to the North - mostly due to cancellations by Thai travellers - since the haze hit the region earlier this year. Isara Sathapanaset, director the Tourism Authority's Chiang Rai office, says the trade has not suffered because we are now in the low season. Mae Hong Son Chamber of Commerce chairman Thanit Thaitrong has said the haze isn't a major factor in the tourism decline.

However, Wipawan Woraputhipong, president of the Chiang Mai Chamber of Commerce, has expressed concern that lingering smog could damage the North's popularity as a destination. She called for urgent measures to tackle "this worrying crisis".

Of course we have been here before, many times.

Setting fire to field stubble and forest to prepare for the rainy-season crop of rice, rubber or palm trees is an annual and longstanding practice. For farmers, fire is the cheapest and easiest way to clear land. The wildfires that flare up during dry season pour even more smoke into the atmosphere, adding to a haze problem that can no longer be ignored.

The authorities have tried various measures, including fountains from water trucks to clean the air and strict enforcement of the outdoor-burning ban. But such efforts fail to address the root cause.

The authorities in this country and its neighbours must together enforce laws against burning and polluting. They must do better at persuading the public of the direct link between burning off land and the haze now endangering everyone's health. People are far more likely to discontinue the practice if they have concrete evidence of the danger posed to health as well as the economy.

Farmers should be encouraged to use less damaging ways of eliminating weeds and stubble. Rather than burning, for instance, they could churn the unwanted material into organic fertiliser, which would also save them money in cultivation costs. In the long run, more sustainable approaches like these would benefit everyone.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Taking-the-sting-out-of-the-North-30256310.html

-- The Nation 2015-03-19

[khwaibah]

Got news for you sunshine..Its may be the worst up north BUT it has the whole country is covered all the way to the Cambodian border. Thats 1000km from CNX.

Edited March 19, 2015 by khwaibah

[Fat Haggis]

They could churn it ? Which would mean using machinery which means it's an additional cost.

Box of matches for 1 baht for dozens of rai or hiring machinery and people 300 baht per day minimum, it's a bit of a no brainer really.

[siamike]

The only way clearing farmland with fire will ever stop is through strict enforcement combined with fines so financially painful that the farmers choose to never do it again.

[trogers]

The only way clearing farmland with fire will ever stop is through strict enforcement combined with fines so financially painful that the farmers choose to never do it again.

Enforced by who? Village heads?

[seajae]

how ignorant are these people really, every year people die form this "smog" caused by the farmers trying to save money yet they still persist in doing it. How about big fines and jail time, even charges of manslaughter as they are well aware this does kill people. The excuse that "we have always done it this way" doesnt hold water, there are modern practices that can avoid it, if the farmers cant afford to do them then maybe they should give farming away, claiming you are poor so you need to kill people to make a living is simply wrong. Unfortunately I doubt anyone will ever have the balls to actually do something hard about it, a govt controlled division with the right machinery to remove and utilize the stubble to then sell back as fertilizer would be a goods way to slow it down and keep the costs down, too.

[canopy]

claiming you are poor so you need to kill people to make a living is simply wrong

Well said. There's only one air supply we are all sharing. A lot of people don't seem to realize is this is a modern problem developed in our generation rather than an ancient one. One reason is the population has swelled and deforestation has advanced rapidly so the amount of land being burned today is enormous in relation to what's not being burned tilting the balance way over and we can predict the future will become progressively worse. And think before the chemical age when every single farm was organic--last seasons stalks were valued for the soil rather than being a waste product like today that is a nuisance to be burned. I can only imagine how nice Thailand would have been before entering the burning and loud speaker age.

[Fat Haggis]

Did the farmers actually state they'd be happy killing people to make a living ? Hyperbole much? I thought that was against forum rules?

The problem is worse this year because if the drought.

[Srikcir]

Rather than trying enforcement of the laws, to which the authorities have repeatedly failed regardless of how government regimes came to power, the government needs to be proactive to eliminate burning agricultural wastes. Nothing gets the public's interest better than easy money.

Perhaps the government in partnership with some private industries can PURCHASE agricultural fiber waste from farmers for use as either a biofuel for electrical energy generation, steam processing applications, reprocessing into natural fertilizers, and/or processing into end products like copy paper. All uses of which benefit the farmers with ultimately lower operating costs and higher profit margins while keeping air quality high with the benefit of lower healthcare costs.

[MisterTee]

Rather than trying enforcement of the laws, to which the authorities have repeatedly failed regardless of how government regimes came to power, the government needs to be proactive to eliminate burning agricultural wastes. Nothing gets the public's interest better than easy money.

Perhaps the government in partnership with some private industries can PURCHASE agricultural fiber waste from farmers for use as either a biofuel for electrical energy generation, steam processing applications, reprocessing into natural fertilizers, and/or processing into end products like copy paper. All uses of which benefit the farmers with ultimately lower operating costs and higher profit margins while keeping air quality high with the benefit of lower healthcare costs.

Creative ideas are always welcome, and the reduction in smoke haze will be achieved - if it ever is - as a result of them.

What seems to be missing is the will to solve the problem.

Law enforcement is needed, but it is only part of the solution.

[Balance]

What are these farmers growing?

What are the alternatives to burning?

Do the farmers have to plow to get the next crop in?

Are the farmers burning for a reason unrelated to getting the next crop in the ground?

Does the equipment exist to plow? Is the terrain too steep to plow?

Will the Government subsidize the cost plowing.

I have not seen any sentient discussion about the facts of the situation for the four years I have been in Chiang Mai. Just mai bpen rai and complaining.

There are Agricultural Extension Offices all over Thailand. What are they doing?

Bottom line, the Government has the money to find a solution, but there seems to be a lack of political will to get it done.

[lifeincnx]

This and other recent articles fail (avoid) to mention the new root cause: a handful of large national companies who use contract farmers to grow livestock feed, especially corn, and replant at a feverish pitch. It's far easier to blame hill tribe farmers and back yard rice field burn off rather than imposing strict controls on the companies who gain tremendous wealth without paying back into the lives of the communities they endanger.

[piewarmer]

Don't expect farmers or government to put money in, neither have any.

[Toknarok]

Here in Buriram at the moment the problem is the burning of sugar cane. Vast areas of what were rice paddies have been turned over to this crop.Every evening you can hear the crackle of burning cane a huge plumes of black smoke rising into the air. The whole place becomes smothered in black smutty residue from burnt cane leaf. The Thais call it 'heema si dam - black snow'.

[zydeco]

Residents and tourists in many northern provinces are reporting health problems after inhaling air thick with hazardous particles.

Another benefit of preferring Chinese tourists over Westerners, I suppose. The Chinese will feel right at home amid all the pollution.