The problem with the burning season in Chiang Mai is something that we deal with every year. The government tries to make it seem as though it is just something that happens on its own because of it being dry and what not but we all know what is really going on here: Every year people intentionally burn their crop waste and also the undergrowth on land that is and also isn't actually theirs in the search for mushrooms.
The Doi Suthep-Pui National Park is a relatively massive area where we do a lot of our gatherings but now it has been closed because of "during the dry season of every year there are often forest fire problems resulting in smog and dust in the air that exceed the standard, causing air pollution."
They fail to even acknowledge that these fires are started by people intentionally and that every year they say that they are going to put a stop to it, but they never do.
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I sympathize with people that are poor and are simply searching for a way to make money. I think everyone can agree to that but the damage that these fires cause to the area and all of the people that live in Chiang Mai because they have to breathe the toxins from the fires is not acceptable, even if it is just people looking for a way to make some pocket money.
What's most upsetting is that the government refuses to accept any responsibility to for this even though last year one of these fires got out of control and even threatened to damage the main city areas.
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When we go on our runs we very often encounter scorched earth situations and will even sometimes come across areas that are in the process of being burned by people that are doing so illegally.
That's the crazy thing about laws in a general sense. If they aren't enforced in any meaningful way people tend to ignore them. The entire time I have lived in Chiang Mai the authorities promise every single year that they are going to do something about it but they never do anything other than talk and then tell us that we are not allowed in certain areas because of these "natural forest fires." Everyone in this community knows damn well that these are not natural and that they are started intentionally - the government knows this as well yet they lie about it every year.
So now not only is the air quality in the region screwed for probably another month or so, but now one of the major areas that we do our runs in is off limits. The government even tried to pull something that we see often in the west and tried to blame it on "global warming" and the "climate crisis" when everybody knows that these things are started by people with some kerosene and a lighter.
Every year we have hopes that it will be different this time, but here we are again an nothing has changed except the excuses. We can move our runs to other places, that really isn't that big of a deal but it is just so disappointing to see the government be so useless so consistently, year after year. I can't imagine why it is that the locals tolerate it.
We still do 3 runs a week and if you want to join us you are welcome to do so. Get full information at our official website
