Deputy Thai PM Pridiyathorn to discuss smog remedies with governors

[webfact]

Pridiyathorn to discuss smog remedies with governors
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- DEPUTY Prime Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula will meet with eight governors from the North in Chiang Mai tomorrow in a bid to find ways to combat wildfires that are partly to blame for severe haze in the region.

Pridiyathorn said the smog situation was improving, although some provinces like Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai still had high air pollution levels.

He thanked the Singaporean Air Force, which sent manpower and a Chinook helicopter to aid fire-fighting operations, and anyone else who has provided assistance.

The Singaporean team yesterday joined their Thai counterparts, who used a MI17 helicopter, to extinguish a wildfire at a difficult to access forest bordering Chiang Mai's Doi Saket district and Chiang Rai's Wiang Pa Pao district.

The Pollution Control Department said yesterday that readings of small particulate matter of up to 10 microns in diameter had decreased in almost all northern provinces but some readings were still at unsafe levels.

They were Mae Hong Son (244 micrograms per cubic metre), Chiang Rai (161 micrograms) and Tak (139 micrograms). The safe level is 120 micrograms.

In Chiang Rai's Mae Suay district, a wildfire surveillance and protection centre was set up yesterday in front of the Tambon Padaed Administrative Organisation Office after the district was labelled a wildfire-prone area.

Up to 100 officers from the 31 Ranger Regiment Task Force and the Pha Muang Task Force have joined personnel from the Royal Forestry Department and the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department as well as local authorities in manning the centre for 24 hours.

The centre has an investigation unit charged with bringing arsonists to justice.

In Nan, three people suspected of causing a wildfire have been arrested. Baanjerd Suthampang and Luagu Sailaemthong were arrested by Pua district police, while Yai Akkara was arrested by Bo Kluea district police. They were fined Bt200 each.

The wildfires and notably the annual cornfield burns are major factors behind the smog problem.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Pridiyathorn-to-discuss-smog-remedies-with-governo-30256538.html


-- The Nation 2015-03-23

[chooka]

Oh goody, more talks means more free food, drinks and a chance to catch up then it's see you again next year.

[NongKhaiKid]

Let's wait until the problem is well established then have a meeting about it.

They're to discuss ways to combat wild fires ! A possible start would be to give up asking people not to burn and enforce the law but maybe thats too much trouble.

[angiolo]

Fined 200 Baht.. well that'll learn em.

[Bung]

200 baht fine..... Hey! I know a way to help stop the pollution and all it took was a paragraph read and a moments thought! It didnt need a lengthy meeting, hours spent droning a thank you speach for a hundred different people, a slap up lunch, extravagant floral arrangements, police escorted vip buses, an army of assistants (read family members) and a promise to be more vigilant lest we have to set up another probe.

[Ricardo]

Keep the talks going for another five weeks, then declare success has been achieved, the day after the monsoon-rains arrive ?

[ezzra]

Stop the burning forthwith and than discuss... people are getting sick over there and he want to

'discuss' I'm sure that if his house would have been engulfed in smoke day and night, he will

be wasting time on ' discussions'......

[Johnsen]

Can you imagine being a fly on the wall in these 'meetings'.

[Balance]

"THEY WERE FINED BHAT200 EACH"

No wonder nothing as been down about this for past several years. Causing thousands of people medical distress and putting many at risk of death is not the the same f....g thing as riding your motorbike without a helmet.

Clearly, the vice PM should demonstrate that he is serious about stopping the fires.

[Chicken George]

Keep talking for long enough and the smog will go on its own in about 2 months time! Useless as useless is. They all know the answer.

! Ban the <deleted> burning! Its killing your children! Stupid as stupid is. You will still be able to kill your children when Song Cran comes around!!! Alternatively known by many as the Fedtival of Death..

[newnative]

200 baht fine???!!! What a joke! Thailand needs to add at least 2 zeros to EVERY fine on the books. Pity this meeting is only looking at the problems in the North. Pattaya has been extremely smoggy the last 4 months or so. Even today you can barely see the islands and it seems to get worse every year. Almost every morning this winter when I woke up and went from my airconditioned bedroom to the balcony I noticed that the outside air had a strong burnt smell. I guess you get used to the smell during the day but it's very noticeable after breathing relatively clean inside air. There should be a nationwide ban against outdoor fires with a very stiff fine and maybe jail time for repeat offenders. And, of course, enforcement would be nice for a change! I know...dream on.

[JOC]

Burning down half of Thailand: 200 baht fine

Alleged LM: 5 years imprisonment

Makes sense...........................

[oneday]

There is ONLY ONE remedy guys. Make it illegal to burn crops with a 5000 baht fine. Then educate and assist the people in alternatives.

Edited March 23, 2015 by oneday

[Daniel Ingalls]

.....I said it before, and I'll say it again! Put a ban on the import, selling, hauling, or transferring Mushrooms from the mountains. Any mushrooms crossing the border into Thailand will be band. Produce found will be confiscated. Persons responsible will be fined or imprisoned for 6 moths. That should put a stop to the burring in the mountains.......Who, by the way eats them mushrooms anyway?

[chooka]

Burning down half of Thailand: 200 baht fine

Alleged LM: 5 years imprisonment

Makes sense...........................

taking mushrooms before they're burnt 15 years.

[Sydebolle]

Well, it seems that the corn growers benefit most; ever wondered who is in really big feed milling here in the land? They're not serious about it; the solution would be around the corner.
Fine the land owner THB 200'000 per burnt rai of land (4'800 m2) and wonder over wonder, nothing gets burnt anywhere. Where there is a will there is a solution. Pathetic how hopeless selfish stupidity combined with ignorance can destroy everything.

[JOC]

.....I said it before, and I'll say it again! Put a ban on the import, selling, hauling, or transferring Mushrooms from the mountains. Any mushrooms crossing the border into Thailand will be band. Produce found will be confiscated. Persons responsible will be fined or imprisoned for 6 moths. That should put a stop to the burring in the mountains.......Who, by the way eats them mushrooms anyway?

You clearly smoke them................

Magic mushrooms??

[Lupatria]

Oh goody, more talks means more free food, drinks and a chance to catch up then it's see you again next year.

Their proposal may turn out like this. The ultimate smoke remedy

[elgordo38]

Let's wait until the problem is well established then have a meeting about it.

They're to discuss ways to combat wild fires ! A possible start would be to give up asking people not to burn and enforce the law but maybe thats too much trouble.

200 baht fine WOW

[elgordo38]

Keep the talks going for another five weeks, then declare success has been achieved, the day after the monsoon-rains arrive ?

Cane them at the beginning of each burning season for the next 5 years. Put it on TV

[toybits]

Isn't it a bit too late for that? By the time they get around to a plan of action, the problem would have gone away already. Today is a clear day in Northern Thailand. Well - what can you expect but knee-jerk reactions to problem. No such thing as disaster preparedness.

[blazes]

Perhaps some Ministry in Bangkok, many years ago, did a cost-benefit analysis of this smog problem.

Two alternatives:

1. attempt to pursue arsonists, use thousands of troops and police to monitor forests etc, use hundreds of water bombers to douse flames, use judicial system to fine big landowners ....and many other extremely expensive remedies. Cost in the billions of baht.

2. Do nothing (except yakyak) and let thousands of citizens go to hospital for help with their respiratory problems. Cost to the hospital system? Unknown, but not billions, for sure. Other financial costs are minimal (possible tourist avoidance of CM?)

So, on balance, problem solved, each year.

[Strangebrew]

Let's see 2000 baht fine for throwing snuffed out cigarette butt 20 Rai fire 200 baht, Yeah let's run with that besides I have millions and easier to burn field And 200 baht won't cut into bottom line .