Varawut offers solutions after surveying forest fires in Chiang Rai

Forest fires are one of the main causes of PM2.5, or fine dust particles in the air that can be easily inhaled and badly affect people with chronic lung and heart problems.

On Sunday, Varawut also discussed the scourge of forest fires and air pollution with Chiang Rai governor Puttipong Sirimat, provincial forest office and disaster prevention and mitigation department chiefs, as well as local farmers’ representatives.

After the meeting, the minister and his team took a helicopter to check the conditions of forests burning over the past week in Mae Sai, Mae Chan, Muang and Mae Sa-ruai districts.

The minister said forest fires in Chiang Rai have been extinguished thanks to rains over the past few days.

However, the province is still covered with smoke from fires in Myanmar and Laos.

As a short-term effort, Varawut urged villagers and local authorities to patrol risky forest areas during the peak hours of 2am to 5am when hot spots are usually detected. This should help officials put out the fires early, he said.

As a long-term solution, Varawut said his party, Chart Thai Pattana, will propose that the government punish Thai companies in neighbouring countries that contribute to the pollution.

He also proposed that farmers who do not clear their fields by burning farm waste be offered an incentive like larger loans from the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives.

On Monday, the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (Gistda) said the Suomi satellite detected 867 hotspots in Thailand, down by several spots from last week thanks to rain in many areas.

Of the hotspots, 256 are in protected forests, 233 in national forests and 210 in agricultural areas.

The provinces with the highest number of forest fires are Phetchabun with 98, Phrae with 59 and Nan with 57.

The satellite also detected 3,139 hotspots in Laos, 888 in Myanmar, 463 in Vietnam, 160 in Cambodia and 56 in Malaysia on Monday.