Clean air is more important than animal feed
(Athawit Ketsak / Shutterstock.com)
The poor air quality that plagues Thailand is a recurring topic of conversation and the government has long promised to tackle the problem. However, Prime Minister Srettha's government also wants Thailand to play an important role in the international animal feed market. That is problematic, according to the following opinion piece by journalist Anchalee Kongrut in the Bangkok Post of Sunday, May 12.
Clean air is more important than animal feed
As toxic smog chokes the country with no signs of clearing, the government aims to become the world's largest animal feed exporter. This is a slap in the face to the population, who have been suffering from the harmful effects of this industry on health and the environment for two decades.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has instructed the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation to use knowledge and technology to improve the quality, safety and cost-effectiveness of animal feed, said Prime Minister's spokesperson Chai Wacharonke. He further said these measures would strengthen Thailand's industry and position as a major food exporter, potentially generating 300 billion baht in earnings.
The government has its priorities wrong. To give people clean air again, the government should regulate the burning of fields in corn plantations, the source of animal feed production, instead of expanding these businesses further at the expense of health and the environment.
PM2.5 air pollution has gotten worse this year due to long dry spells, global warming and lack of rain to clean the air. This puts more than 56 million people in 58 provinces at risk, especially the elderly, young children, pregnant women and people with lung and heart diseases, public health authorities said. According to the National Economic and Social Development Council, more than 10,5 million people were sickened by air pollution last year, up 115% compared to 2022. People in the north are hit hardest with higher rates of lung cancer, pneumonia, asthma and heart disease due to the poisonous air.
Chiang Mai was once called the Rose of the North because of its cool climate and beauty of nature. Now it is one of the most polluted cities in the world when the fire and smoke season arrives. Losing families, losing loved ones and society are valuable resources. But the tragic deaths from dangerous PM2.5 continue, harming tourism and burdening taxpayers with high health costs. But the government is only concerned with fighting forest fires and arresting a few small-time arsonists. The government is failing to curb the burning of corn fields, which is the main source of the toxic haze in the north and subsequently affects the rest of the country.
The rapid expansion of corn cultivation to supply the animal feed industry has led to massive deforestation, field fires and toxic haze.
While rainforests are crucial to combating global warming and preserving biodiversity for the survival of people and the planet, the government is advocating policies that allow large agricultural companies to destroy precious rainforests to produce animal feed. That is unacceptable. And while the government blames the mountain people for deforestation and forest fires.
The government condemns their traditional rotation system with managed fires. It issues a limited time frame for burning agricultural fields, which often leads to rushing and uncontrollable fires in extremely dry weather. Meanwhile, the toxic haze has become increasingly intense as corn plantations have spread to neighboring countries, cutting down more forests while air pollution knows no bounds.
In the past decade, 11,8 million rai of rainforest in the Mekong River basin was converted into corn plantations for livestock feed, according to Greenpeace. The largest areas are in northern Laos with 5.7 million rai, the Shan State in Myanmar with 3.1 million rai and northern Thailand with 2.9 million rai. The total area of maize plantations in the Mekong River Basin increased from 13.015.940 rai in 2015 to 18.095.317 rai last year.
The number of hotspots in these areas was also 10% higher last year than the previous five years, showing that corn field burning is a major cause of the toxic air. The pet food industry is not only associated with deforestation and air pollution. It has also been linked to the depletion of the seas through the use of cheap “waste fish” supplied by environmentally destructive trawlers for the production of animal feed. The pet food industry is competitive on the global market because it uses natural resources for free and does not pay for the damage it causes to the environment and human health. This cannot continue.
The PM2.5 air pollution problem is Thailand's most serious environmental and public health problem due to its scale and severity. A responsible government must prioritize people and the environment to solve this problem. If export success comes from human and environmental tragedies, then government is part of the problem, not the solution.
Source: Bangkok Post – Clean air comes before animal feed
About this blogger
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Born in 1944 in Delfzijl as the son of a simple shopkeeper. Studied in Groningen and Curacao. Worked as a doctor in Tanzania for three years, then as a general practitioner in Vlaardingen. A few years before my retirement I married a Thai lady, we had a son who speaks three languages well.
Lived in Thailand for almost 20 years, first in Chiang Kham (Phayao province) then in Chiang Mai where I liked to bother all kinds of Thai with all kinds of questions. Followed Thai extracurricular education after which a diploma of primary school and three years of secondary school. Did a lot of volunteer work. Interested in the Thai language, history and culture. Have been living in the Netherlands for 5 years now together with my son and often with his Thai girlfriend.
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It seems to me that this problem can only be tackled internationally. Myanmar and Laos (to stay close) will be in the same boat as polluters and victims of PM2.5 nuisance. Because the corn market is international, the three countries have a competitive position in this regard. As far as pm 2.5 nuisance is concerned, they are virtually colleagues, although the nuisance in Chiang Mai in Thailand is the first and heaviest due to its geographical situation (the mountain ranges). is affected. Ideally, all short- and long-term measures in the entire region of the three countries should be “controlled” by the pm 2.5 in the region.
of Chiang Mai to ensure lasting improvement.
This certainly means that expansion of smog-causing corn production is out of the question.
The text of the article lists those measures necessary to regulate fires in Thailand. It is not said that these will cause less nuisance. But the fires can be kept under control. The problem is not enforcing the measures. As we often see, naming a problem is often the solution for a Thai.
The background to all problems is the proliferation of the world population. There were and are already many of us, more and more are joining us. There is a huge need for animal proteins. Despite the fact that chickens are completely stressed, there are insufficient eggs to meet the protein requirement. About 100 million tons of eggs are already produced worldwide. And still not enough. Other animals will have to step up their game. We are already hauling tons and tons of corn and soy to all those animals needed to provide our people with those proteins. It is expected that 10% more corn will be produced worldwide. Soy production has increased by almost 10% over the past 50 years and will grow by another 10% in the next 15 years.
Thailand is somewhere at the bottom of the lists of grain feed producers, and because Thailand values money over health, that will not clear the air. https://pala.be/nl/artikel/smog-chiang-mai-luchtvervuiling-breekt-records Doi Suthep completely disappeared from view in recent months, so will solutions.
And what do you think of the role of the Netherlands in the whole? The Netherlands innovates in all areas because of the increase, and is certainly not in favor of decrease. https://www.groentennieuws.nl/article/9601142/nederland-derde-op-wereldranglijst-agrarische-export/
Of all European countries, the Netherlands imports the most soy every year. From 2017 to 2021, the Netherlands imported an average of 8,1 million tons of soy per year. About 90% of this is ultimately used as animal feed, both in the Netherlands but also in other European countries to which the Netherlands exports the soy (processed or unprocessed). 13% of the soy that the Netherlands imports is consumed in the Netherlands, mainly through animal feed in the form of meat, eggs and dairy. Be that as it may - the more growth, the bigger problem.
CP's financial interests are more important than the health of the population. This is also reflected in various opinions on Bangkokpost.
Ten days later it rains again and the smog problems resolve spontaneously. In a few weeks there will be flooding again and then it will pass for a while. Nothing new, everything at the expense of the people in the affected areas and if things do improve, the speculators, and also the Dutch speculators, will ultimately earn the most from it. Farmer still has to recover from the damage of previous years and pay off the loan. Tie can look forward to the bonus.
As a plaster on the wound, there will be another free money distribution campaign from the government. Without any sense and without any understanding, another test balloon is thrown into the air while it should be about something completely different.
When I burn weeds, stuff gets into the air that is not healthy. In the Netherlands (cutting) maize is also grown
cultivated, the remains of which do not go to waste. It is therefore not the fault of its cultivation, but of the person who uses the wrong method to dispose of the remains. How do we do that in the Netherlands? Cut off and plow under? That's also possible in TH, right? In my area in TH, remains of rice plants are chopped up and plowed under.
So it is a matter of discipline and government control. Both fail in TH and neighboring countries. You should not expect anything from Myanmar, a country at war, in that respect, but Laos could well join in... That is the crux, not in the type of cultivation.
You are absolutely right, Erik. The problem is not so much the cultivation of corn itself but the burning of the crop residues. Why do farmers burn the residues? A lot of corn grows on slopes, which makes cleaning up difficult. Most farmers have little financial space and time to clean up. And the ash from burning provides a certain fertilization.
This major problem can only be solved within cooperatives in which all farmers are required to participate and receive financial support from the government.
Just like in the Netherlands, the farmer only has 'three' people to whom he is accountable.
Me myself and i
The Thai government needs to have the political voice of these types of people professionally, so they look the other way even if they want to exercise good control.
Where should those inspectors and burden of proof come from?
In the Netherlands, since my youth, and that was a while ago, there has been land consolidation, so that by changing the structure of the company you can implement modern business operations and carry out government control.
That also fails.
If there is no will from government and farmers to change this, it will be on the stage.