Chiang Mai: "Sea of Fire" engulfs Doi Samoeng - fires lit when officials went to monitor elections

[webfact]

Picture: Thai Rath

 

Thai Rath reported that firefighters were battling huge blazes on the mountain of Doi Samoeng in Chiang Mai.

 

They said the fires had turned the area into a sea of fire. 

 

They further reported that the fires had been set when officials in the area were absent while monitoring local elections on Sunday.

 

 

Firefighters were facing a difficult job to contain the fires as it was hilly and characterized by being an area of dense bamboo thickets. 

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

Firebreaks were being put in place to save local communities. 

 

Two helicopters from the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment had dumped water in 20 sorties.

 

The hashtag #faipachiangmai (forest fires in Chiang Mai) was trending on Twitter as netizens offered support to firefighters and donations to their cause. 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2021-03-30

 

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[cardinalblue]

Until the gov takes burning seriously and prosecute vigorously, this silly cat and mouse game will continue to play out...

 

and the local communities continue to suffer on many fronts...

[adam1]

Rain and storms forecast for the weekend. Let's hope they materialize. 

[Yorkshire Tea]

1 minute ago, adam1 said:

Rain and storms forecast for the weekend. Let's hope they materialize. 

And give us a couple of days of clean air...

[lordblackader]

The Thai post you link to says nothing about officials being involved in the election and even using basic logic, why would they be? 

[Rimmer]

An inflammatory post has been removed

[chickenslegs]

1 minute ago, Rimmer said:

An inflammatory post has been removed

Pun-tastic.

[RichardColeman]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

They further reported that the fires had been set when officials in the area were absent while monitoring local elections on Sunday.

Could have transferred a few of the million or so officials currently in 'Inactive posts' to monitor the land burning. Then again they might have taken a back hander to let it burn

[wombat]

curious asks...is bamboo a plant that needs fire through it to generate the next crop of bamboo shoots for sale?

[Guderian]

I really feel for you guys up there, Pattaya was bad enough when the AQI was around 150 or 160, but look at the AQI in the north at the moment:

 

[vandeventer]

50 minutes ago, Yorkshire Tea said:

And give us a couple of days of clean air...

I knew my mask was good for something other than covid!

[Wuvu2]

This is all Nancy Regan's fault!  The mountain folks used to grow opium, but had to turn to more destructive ways to make a living when the opium trade was eradicated. It's not surprising that fires are worse in a year of hard economic impact from covid.  Let em grow opium again and I bet the sky gets a lot clearer ????

[stephenterry]

Mushroom farming season???

[nahkit]

1 hour ago, lordblackader said:

The Thai post you link to says nothing about officials being involved in the election and even using basic logic, why would they be? 

"officials in the area were absent while monitoring local elections".

 

Seems pretty self-explanatory. Someone has to be at the polling booths to monitor whats happening. 

[Antonymous]

Everyone loves Chiang Mai for its natural beauty, surrounded as it is by hills and forests with abundant flora and fauna. But every year the forests burn. Right now it is the turn of Samoeng.

 

Couple of weeks before the trees along the 1001 Chiang Mai to Phrao road were set alight.

 

Last week, for three full days and nights, the Sri Lanna national forest was ablaze, just as it was at this time last year and the year before (I posted photos then too). As far as I am aware these abominations weren't even reported in the media.

 

So here is the Sri Lanna forest view one evening last week. This photo taken at a safe distance with a telephoto lens. It is actually several kms across. The fires lit up the sky. According to the locals I talked to, the fires this year were started on the Chiang Dao side and swept across and over the peaks east towards Mae Tang and Phrao. "They were not set by Thai people" I was told. Make of that what you will.

 

 

[Card]

40 minutes ago, Wuvu2 said:

This is all Nancy Regan's fault!  The mountain folks used to grow opium, but had to turn to more destructive ways to make a living when the opium trade was eradicated. It's not surprising that fires are worse in a year of hard economic impact from covid.  Let em grow opium again and I bet the sky gets a lot clearer ????

You mean the Nancy whose husband was a notorious dope runner for the contras? You mean that Nancy?

[Pilotman]

Just face the truth, the Thais don't give a monkeys about the environment, or how their actions negatively  impact other people, or indeed themselves and their families, they are clueless. They don't care, they never will care and it will never stop.   

[outsider]

44 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

Just face the truth, the Thais don't give a monkeys about the environment, or how their actions negatively  impact other people, or indeed themselves and their families, they are clueless. They don't care, they never will care and it will never stop.   

 

Ditto the Indon plantations (some of which are owned by Malaysian businesses, allegedly) that do the same almost annually, sending plumes of smoke across the Malacca strait that engulf the western states of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. Every time it happens, the circus goes into action - Malaysians and their authorities cry foul, while the Indonesian side vows to take affirmative action. Ad infinitum.

Edited March 30, 2021 by outsider

[Sydebolle]

I am absolutely appalled by the fact, that the government is undertaking exactly NOTHING about it; the culprits are oligarch elitarian congregations of gargantua proportions and hence even the Prayuts and Prawatchs are keeping their big mouth shut. 

I assume that it takes a complete incineration of an entire village of Thais until someone is moving their backsides. It was precisely that reason why I decided NOT to move to Chiang Mai, Mae Rim or Samoeng. 

35 years ago it was not an issue but now money talks only. Good luck to all those with respiratory issues and the impossibility of moving away. 

Shame on the government, what a pharse ........ 

[Wuvu2]

54 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

Just face the truth, the Thais don't give a monkeys about the environment, or how their actions negatively  impact other people, or indeed themselves and their families, they are clueless. They don't care, they never will care and it will never stop.   

The people that burn the mountains are some of the poorest people in Thailand. It's not selfishness - it's hunger that drives them. Laws and Fines will never stop hungry people from doing what they must to feed themselves. The solution is for the government to create alternate economic opportunity. Blaming these folks for burning the mountains is the same as blaming slum dwellers for the awful stench where they live. Nobody chooses to be dirt poor. 

[ChipButty]

9 minutes ago, Wuvu2 said:

The people that burn the mountains are some of the poorest people in Thailand. It's not selfishness - it's hunger that drives them. Laws and Fines will never stop hungry people from doing what they must to feed themselves. The solution is for the government to create alternate economic opportunity. Blaming these folks for burning the mountains is the same as blaming slum dwellers for the awful stench where they live. Nobody chooses to be dirt poor. 

It was mentioned above, let them grow opium again

[Pilotman]

3 minutes ago, Wuvu2 said:

The people that burn the mountains are some of the poorest people in Thailand. It's not selfishness - it's hunger that drives them. Laws and Fines will never stop hungry people from doing what they must to feed themselves. The solution is for the government to create alternate economic opportunity. Blaming these folks for burning the mountains is the same as blaming slum dwellers for the awful stench where they live. Nobody chooses to be dirt poor. 

With respect that is a cop out that doesn't bear scrutiny. Yes some are poor, but even the less poor, or not poor at all do it.  There are known alternatives to burning that would take effort and  planning rather than cost, as in many parts of Africa and South America,  such as crop rotations, ploughing in and composting.  They take the easy road because they are allowed to do so. They even burn the road side verges because they can't be arsed to cut them.  That is indeed an issue for government and local authorities who in their turn don't care enough do anything about it.  

[Wuvu2]

17 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

With respect that is a cop out that doesn't bear scrutiny. Yes some are poor, but even the less poor, or not poor at all do it.  There are known alternatives to burning that would take effort and  planning rather than cost, as in many parts of Africa and South America,  such as crop rotations, ploughing in and composting.  They take the easy road because they are allowed to do so. They even burn the road side verges because they can't be arsed to cut them.  That is indeed an issue for government and local authorities who in their turn don't care enough do anything about it.  

Burning of fields is agriculture, and yes agree there are alternate practices, and that burning on owned land is a lot easier to govern than wildfires. But the purpose of burning of the mountains is to reveal mushrooms for foraging which done by mostly landless super poor people. I read that the most recent big fire was intended to drive wild game to kill zones...another hunger inspired fire. Just sayin...it would help the situation alot if those folks had better ways to make money where they live. 

Edited March 30, 2021 by Wuvu2

[Pilotman]

1 minute ago, Wuvu2 said:

Burning of fields is agriculture, and yes agree there are alternate practices and burning on owned land is a lot easier to govern. But burning of the mountains is to reveal mushrooms for foraging which done by mostly landless super poor people. I read that the most recent big fire was intended to drive wild game to kill zones...another hunger inspired fire. 

Jack hammers to crack nuts.  That is even more depressingly stupid than the farmers doing it. That's not the actions of poor people, it's the actions  of dumb as a brick people. 

[dallen52]

23 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

It was mentioned above, let them grow opium again

Or cannabis.

Soon to be legal.

At least everyone will get high if it's burned.

[wealthychef]

3 hours ago, cardinalblue said:

Until the gov takes burning seriously and prosecute vigorously, this silly cat and mouse game will continue to play out...

 

and the local communities continue to suffer on many fronts...

 

Until all governments take population seriously, we will get worse and worse problems like this going forward.  

[colinneil]

23 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

With respect that is a cop out that doesn't bear scrutiny. Yes some are poor, but even the less poor, or not poor at all do it.  There are known alternatives to burning that would take effort and  planning rather than cost, as in many parts of Africa and South America,  such as crop rotations, ploughing in and composting.  They take the easy road because they are allowed to do so. They even burn the road side verges because they can't be arsed to cut them.  That is indeed an issue for government and local authorities who in their turn don't care enough do anything about it.  

Not much idea what goes on in the mountains have you?

It is not fields they are burning, crop rotation !!!!! What are you on about?

Ploughing? You avin a laff, it is mountain sides that are being burned.

[KKr]

41 minutes ago, Wuvu2 said:

it's hunger that drives them. Laws and Fines will never stop hungry people from doing what they must to feed themselves.

maybe some basic education might help ?

[Bangkok Barry]

48 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

I am absolutely appalled by the fact, that the government is undertaking exactly NOTHING about it

The government bigwigs are based in Bangkok so they don't give a rat's fart. Out of sight, out of mind. If the smoke and fires were endangering health and home of the PM and that of his fellow minsters it would be a different story.

[TheFishman1]

The air in Chiang Mai it’s terrible and the government does nothing about it T I T