- Northern Thailand is trapped in a cycle of air pollution driven by maize cultivation for the animal feed industry, with field burning each year choking the region in hazardous haze.
- Government crackdowns and “zero-burn” policies have failed because impoverished farmers see no viable alternative to burning amid falling yields and mounting debt.
- Deforestation, soil erosion and flooding linked to maize farming have devastated ecosystems and rural livelihoods across Chiang Mai province.
- Even as some communities ban maize cultivation to fight haze, new coal projects threaten to undo their gains, revealing Thailand’s conflicting approach to environmental governance.
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“I feel like those people who blame us for air pollution are the ones who eat the meat and the eggs that come from animals fed on our maize,” Sprite said, though he acknowledged that some maize farmers in Mae Cham had continued to burn their fields without care. “If I could tell the public anything, I’d say if you stop consuming, I’ll stop producing.”
There it is, straight from the source.