Dept warns farmers over paddy-drying road accidents
Growers face B60,000 fine or 3-year jail term
The Rural Roads Department is warning farmers they will face legal action for piling paddy on roads following several accidents.
Wit Worawong, the director of the rural roads office in Buri Ram province, said farmers who use public roads to dry paddy are violating the Highway Act by obstructing vehicles. Violators are subject to a fine of up to 60,000 baht, a maximum jail term of three years or both, the official added.
His warning followed a number of road accidents in Buri Ram, including one that killed a 15-year-old student in Lam Pai Mat district on Nov 10.
The student lost control of his motorcycle on Road 3047 after running into a pile of paddy dumped on the road by farmers. The driver died at the scene while a pillion rider was seriously hurt and is being treated at Buri Ram Hospital in Muang district.
Thamenchai police said the boy’s parents had no intention of taking legal action against the paddy’s owners and took the body for a religious rite.
A woman was also hurt on the same day when her motorcycle slipped on a pile of paddy on a road in Nang Rong district.
Roads in several provinces have been used by farmers to dry their paddy amid unseasonal rainfall that could damage their crops. Spaces in their villages and near temples are already full of paddy.
Another woman was injured after her motorcycle slid on a pile of paddy on a road in Nang Rong district of Buri Ram province on Nov 10, 2018.
Paddy now covers almost half the road in some areas, including the locations of accidents in Lam Plai Mat and Nang Rong.
Prasong Sabrum, a farmer at Ban Nong Muang Noi, in Lam Plai Mat, said she and other locals were scrambling to find empty space to dry paddy at the end of the harvest season. Roads were a good option, she said, since the hard surface can help it dry within days, compared with about a week when paddy is dried in rice fields.
“Farmers knew what they were doing was against the law. They did not want to do it but they had no choice,” Ms Prasong added.
The Chum Phuang district office and police station in Nakhon Ratchasima province allow farmers to use their premises to dry paddy.
Suthep Kongmark, the Farmers’ Association president based in Ayutthaya province, thanked them for the assistance, saying it could reduce the number of farmers using roads for the purpose.
“Farmers have been advised to use only part of the road — such as the shoulder — to dry paddy if necessary and they should put up a sign to alert motorists,” Mr Suthep said.