Thai govt scrambles to contain wildfires and haze

[webfact]

Thai govt scrambles to contain wildfires and haze

BANGKOK, 24 February 2016 (NNT) - The Thai government is scrambling to contain wildfires and haze in the country and will establish understanding and cooperation among ASEAN countries to contain haze problems in the region.

Wildfires in Thailand this year started earlier than in past years and were mainly due to climate change. In the last two weeks, Lampang province had had the highest PM10 value of 208 micrograms per cubic meter which exceeded the safety standards but it has now decreased to normal level.

The Thai government is yet to control and suppress the burning of forests to reduce pollution which might adversely affect the country’s economy.

If Thailand could control wildfires and haze, it would be the first country to be able to do so in the ASEAN Economic Community.


-- NNT 2016-02-24

[trogers]

Haze. First thing first. Have the govt seriously eradicate burning in farmlands that causes most of the haze?

[shirtless]

Why are they scrambling it happens every year, if you stop this stupidity, you will need more hospitals.

[ianf]

Haze. First thing first. Have the govt seriously eradicate burning in farmlands that causes most of the haze?

Not just farmland: the deliberate burning of thousands of km of roadside verges by the local tambons. They even burn their own signs that says 'no burning'. When burning the verges: a) the fire escapes into adjoining woodland and ((b.) they burn all the plastic waste which increases the toxins in the air. When will they put an end to this wanton destruction? If Thais love their country so much why do they keep burning it?

Edited February 23, 2016 by ianf

[johnnybgood]

Meanwhile northern european pensioners pay extra on their domestic bills for green energy...........

Coal is banned and priced out of many budgets, wood stoves are regulated too much, car emissions blah blah blah

Global warming taxes for the western world................. but as usual Asia just does what it wants

Check out YouTube https://youtu.be/CDSOIspSTP4

Edited February 24, 2016 by johnnybgood

[worgeordie]

It occurs EVERY YEAR,its not like its like a natural disaster ,like a Tsunami,Earthquake,

Volcano,but the Government does not take it seriously,maybe because its not in Bangkok,

but up here in the North,its starting to look bad.

regards Worgeordie

[selftaopath]

Haze. First thing first. Have the govt seriously eradicate burning in farmlands that causes most of the haze?

Not just farmland: the deliberate burning of thousands of km of roadside verges by the local tambons. They even burn their own signs that says 'no burning'. When burning the verges: a) the fire escapes into adjoining woodland and ((b.) they burn all the plastic waste which increases the toxins in the air. When will they put an end to this wanton destruction? If Thais love their country so much why do they keep burning it?

I doubt burning and ignorance will be lessened in our lifetime.

Thais are proficient at talking e.g. ... love Thai/Thailand, but maybe they throw trash everywhere for the same reason they pollute the air and water of this country.

[Srikcir]

"Thai govt scrambles to contain wildfires and haze"

Also in related news, "Thai DDC scrambles to eradicate Aedes dengue outbreak"

It seems that the word for the day at NTT is scrambles.

[bheard]

Haze. First thing first. Have the govt seriously eradicate burning in farmlands that causes most of the haze?

Factually incorrect. The vast majority of haze comes from burning forests to use the land for farming, principally corn planting.

I read that in the BKK Post, so it must be correct!

Does sound reasonable.

However, the practice of burning stubble in paddys - seen on Thailand - should be discouraged as it takes away valuable organic matter to help regenerate the soil. The stubble is a valuable resource, but many Thai farmers prefer to see that resource go up in smoke . . .

[johnny49r]

Different year, same stupidity.

Thais burn because there is no other choice open to them. They burn everything including plastics, used batteries, and old tires.

That smoke you see obscuring your view is a toxic cocktail of just about everything you can imagine.

When a burn gets out of control, do they call their local FD? Nope - doesn't exist. Or if it does, nobody's there to answer. Mai pen rai...

.

[spidermike007]

Haze. First thing first. Have the govt seriously eradicate burning in farmlands that causes most of the haze?

Not just farmland: the deliberate burning of thousands of km of roadside verges by the local tambons. They even burn their own signs that says 'no burning'. When burning the verges: a) the fire escapes into adjoining woodland and ((b.) they burn all the plastic waste which increases the toxins in the air. When will they put an end to this wanton destruction? If Thais love their country so much why do they keep burning it?

The love of country that you refer to is what is commonly known worldwide as blind nationalism. It does not translate into taking care of the environment, the land, the lakes and rivers, the forests, or the mountains. It does not translate into any sort of coherent environmental policy, any restrictions on plastic, institutional recycling campaigns, reef reveal campaigns, waste water treatment in areas like Samui, Phangan, and Dark Tao, which have fouled the Gulf to an astonishing degree. It does not translate into a government sponsored garbage pickup policy, in the rural areas, or the provinces. So, the garbage is put into local landfill, and people throw extraordinary amounts of trash onto the roadside. It breaks my heart every time I visit Issan, to see the extent to which the locals have fouled the land with trash, and continue to do so.

So, if you want to profess to me how much you love your country, I tend to be alot more convinced when you demonstrate that love, on a daily basis, by caring for your land. Don't talk about it. Just do it. Boys talk. Men act.

The government has been dealing with the pollution issues pertaining to burning for decades. That is the chief reason I have never considered the Chiang Mai area as a place to live. I would not tolerate that horrific air quality, nor the massive congestion. There is so much that could be done, to dissuade the farmers from taking the easy way out, and destroying the air quality in the process. Each and every farmer engaging in this heinous practice, is responsible for this mess. And Prayuth is also responsible, by not coming up with a proactive policy to deal with this. He should take responsibility, and apologize to the nation for failed agrarian policies. Give the farmers some incentive to NOT burn. There is so much that could be done. Do not go the way of Indonesia, the most irresponsible country in ASEAN, when it comes to burning, with perhaps the weakest leader in Boko.

[freedom4life]

....contain wildfires and haze in the country and will establish understanding and cooperation among ASEAN countries to contain haze problems in the region.

What does understanding and cooperation with this big-brother-extension-asean, have to do with combating wildfires?

[gandalf12]

Haze. First thing first. Have the govt seriously eradicate burning in farmlands that causes most of the haze?

Factually incorrect. The vast majority of haze comes from burning forests to use the land for farming, principally corn planting.

I read that in the BKK Post, so it must be correct!

Does sound reasonable.

However, the practice of burning stubble in paddys - seen on Thailand - should be discouraged as it takes away valuable organic matter to help regenerate the soil. The stubble is a valuable resource, but many Thai farmers prefer to see that resource go up in smoke . . .

Continual slash and burn will deplete the minerals in the soil. After 5 years of that nothing will be able to grow very well

[Nowisee]

Asia and India (mostly) are certainly the biggest polluters and destroyers of land, resources, environment, wildlife, etc, etc....

They as people and as a government just don't care about what they are doing or care for the future of the people or the planet.
It's greed.

Think of the air quality difference between Delhi, India and/or Haikou, China versus ... British Columbia or New Zealand.

It's suicide living in Haikou or Delhi.

[Captain_Bob]

Blah Blah Blah Blah government Blah Blah Blah haze Blah Blah scrambling to contain Blah Blah Blah wildfires my arse Blah Blah Blah due to climate change yeah right Blah Blah Blah. Seriously though I wish them every success, and yet how many times over and over year after year do the same "good intention" statements get made and then nothing is done. Gee wiz, didn't some Army chief say burning would be stopped after Valentines Day? Good news is you can still see Doi Pui from town, if only just barely.

[ratcatcher]

Asia and India (mostly) are certainly the biggest polluters and destroyers of land, resources, environment, wildlife, etc, etc....

They as people and as a government just don't care about what they are doing or care for the future of the people or the planet.

It's greed.

Think of the air quality difference between Delhi, India and/or Haikou, China versus ... British Columbia or New Zealand.

It's suicide living in Haikou or Delhi.

"Asia and India (mostly) are certainly the biggest polluters and destroyers of land...."

I think you meant to say Asia (India is in Asia) is the most populated and thus the most polluted continent om earth.

The first 98 most polluted cities in the world (according to this):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_polluted_cities_in_the_world_by_particulate_matter_concentration

are in Asia.

edit: oops, forgot Cairo, Egypt, Africa at #30 & Mauritius #49

Edited February 24, 2016 by ratcatcher

[jerojero]

Haze. First thing first. Have the govt seriously eradicate burning in farmlands that causes most of the haze?

Not just farmland: the deliberate burning of thousands of km of roadside verges by the local tambons. They even burn their own signs that says 'no burning'. When burning the verges: a) the fire escapes into adjoining woodland and ((b.) they burn all the plastic waste which increases the toxins in the air. When will they put an end to this wanton destruction? If Thais love their country so much why do they keep burning it?

....... Because air is a free public good, as economists call it, so individuals don't have to care, no direct cost to them. Hence, it's not my problem and others do it, so can I.

[clockman]

If they could turn, white lies. And waffle, into action.?

[kartman]

https://www.facebook.com/sing.pong.98?fref=photo

[bangon04]

"Thai govt scrambles to contain wildfires and haze"

Also in related news, "Thai DDC scrambles to eradicate Aedes dengue outbreak"

It seems that the word for the day at NTT is scrambles.

"Scrambling" is a logical and inevitable symptom of the disease of too much "Mulling" and not enough "Planning"....

[Torrens54]

"Thai govt scrambles to contain wildfires and haze"

Also in related news, "Thai DDC scrambles to eradicate Aedes dengue outbreak"

It seems that the word for the day at NTT is scrambles.

Thailand could very well become, The HUB of Scrambles !

[halloween]

Asia and India (mostly) are certainly the biggest polluters and destroyers of land, resources, environment, wildlife, etc, etc....

They as people and as a government just don't care about what they are doing or care for the future of the people or the planet.

It's greed.

Think of the air quality difference between Delhi, India and/or Haikou, China versus ... British Columbia or New Zealand.

It's suicide living in Haikou or Delhi.

Could that air quality difference be because of the lack of population density in BC and NZ? Or do you put it down to the wind that blows 350 days per year?

[plachon]

Asia and India (mostly) are certainly the biggest polluters and destroyers of land, resources, environment, wildlife, etc, etc....

They as people and as a government just don't care about what they are doing or care for the future of the people or the planet.

It's greed.

Think of the air quality difference between Delhi, India and/or Haikou, China versus ... British Columbia or New Zealand.

It's suicide living in Haikou or Delhi.

"Asia and India (mostly) are certainly the biggest polluters and destroyers of land...."

I think you meant to say Asia (India is in Asia) is the most populated and thus the most polluted continent om earth.

The first 98 most polluted cities in the world (according to this):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_polluted_cities_in_the_world_by_particulate_matter_concentration

are in Asia.

edit: oops, forgot Cairo, Egypt, Africa at #30 & Mauritius #49

Interesting list, though I wouldn't take it too seriously, bar the fact that the first 98 (or thereabouts) most polluted cities are in Asia.

For example, where is Beijing and a dozen other heavily polluted cities in China, that would easily make the top 30? The list seems to be biased towards India, and I suspect is using official govt data, which in the case of China, is an absolute farce. People only know how badly polluted Beijing is from their senses first and foremost, but also the US Embassy monitor, because the govt refuses to acknowledge to their own citizens just how bad the air is.

And where is Bangkok in the list, or Chiang Mai, for that matter. I guess the Thai govt doesn't want to scare the tourists away by admitting to the scale of the problem with any official data. As far as I could make out, the worst city in Thailand according to the list was Chiang Rai at 256, with PM10 data supplied from 2012. But Chiang Mai has had far worse air quality than Chiang Rai for years, so why is it not included higher up the list? And where is Bangkok?

Another anomaly (or total joke) is the position of Mexico City at 461. For anyone who has visited Mexico City in the last 40 years would know the air quality is appalling and utterly toxic. It would make the top 20 for sure, so given this, I wonder if any of the ranking data is reliable?

But having just come back from Thailand and experiencing some of the worst air quality I can remember ever, all I can say is that I am very glad I don't live there any more. As my plane took off from Swampy airport, one could hardly make out Bangkok below, with visibility from smog down to less than 2 kms max. The plane ascended to about 4,000 feet and then suddenly, it broke through the layer of smog and we were into blue sky. It was such a clear line between toxic smog and clean air above, that I took a photo of it as a memento.

All I can say is good luck to you folks living in that toxic hell-hole - just try to avoid breathing in too often!

You know those shock photos on packets of fags, with the holes in the throat and diseased lungs etc? My recommendation to TAT is that they should be mandatory on all tourist brochures to Thailand!

[farmerjo]

I'm surrounded by national park and their burning is much worse for smoke than the farmers burning sugar or paddy fields.

This year was the worst but will put up with it as i know the importance of controlled burns.

[selftaopath]

If they could turn, white lies. And waffle, into action.?

Yea.... however action takes initiative/ energy etc. Soooooooooooooo common choice/decision/ sit down.... relax..... take a nap.... pull up a "hammock." :-)