Fire that sparked a revolution
After a devastating blaze, one community has become very strict on backyard burning, writes Supoj Wancharoen
For years, Pichayaporn Aphichocknithi-chat has found it hard to sleep. Night after night she is haunted by memories of the blaze that swept through her community, sending residents fleeing for their lives as their homes erupted in flames.
The haunting scene took place 20 years ago. “I often have restless nights and bad dreams about fires,” she says.
The fire provided a valuable lesson for residents of Lat Krabang district’s Fuennakorn Romklao Community about backyard burning of household rubbish.
“We now take [the burning issue] seriously,” Ms Pichayaporn said.
A campaign called “Zero burning” was launched in 1997 to raise awareness of the dangers of burning trash and the health and environmental impacts.
The Fuennakorn Romklao Community recently won an award under the “Zero Burning” campaign. It was held by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s Environment Department (EP) under the category of environmental protection.
The community was one of the 19 from 13 districts that entered the competition. The competition is divided into two main categories: active involvement of residents and sustainable environmental management. Award presentations to the winners will take place at City Hall on Monday.
Ms Pichayaporn said her community didn’t plan to win the competition or even enter it.
“We simply wanted to participate in the contest as a way to make residents become more aware of the impact of burning trash,” she said.
Under t he campaign, a group of volunteers was set up to promote the programme among the locals. They used several approaches to discourage people from burning anything in the community. The volunteers started to educate the community by knocking on people’s doors to pass on the information and put up signboards.
Some residents were sent to attend a rubbish sorting and effective microorganisms programme held by the National Housing Authority and Lat Krabang District Office, she said, adding they then passed the knowledge they learned on to others.
The participants, who included herself, learned from the workshop that burning trash creates air pollution, and that the smoke and odour could affect their health, Ms Pichayaporn said.
“The class helped broaden our horizons of the impact,” she said, adding most residents’s concern was limited to potential fires caused by burning trash.
The campaign has been very successful, she said, as there had been no burning in the community in the two years since. EP deputy director Suwanna Jungrungrueng said the contest is aimed at educating people about the consequences of backyard burning of household trash; making people aware of the dangers of air pollution caused by burning activities, and promoting community involvement.
“On top of that, we can build up a network of green advocates to pass messages on environmental protection from the government to locals,” Ms Suwanna said.
Fuennakorn Romklao Community chief Booma Sanpudcha said backyard burning was a common method used by locals to dispose of trash and household waste, particularly in remote communities including his, which is located in Lat Krabang district where rubbish collection is scarce.
The community, now home to 1,952 people from 387 families, was founded in 1991 when residents who originally lived in Bon Kai community on Rama IV Road were relocated to the area due to termination of a land rental contract.
In his community, a designated garbage spot has been organised, and residents are urged not to burn household rubbish in their backyards.
In the past, residents hired a community member to carry household garbage from their homes to the spot in front of the community and each family was charged 20 baht per month.
In 2006, Lat Krabang District Office arranged classes about waste segregation and management, helping residents to manage their household waste effectively.
Under the same competition, Wat Klang Community won first prize for sustainable waste management system.
Located in Bang Kapi district, Wat Klang is a densely populated community which is home to 349 families who are made up of Buddhists and Muslims.
Peeranuch Teerattanachawalit, a Wat Klang Community committee member, said residents feel uneasy about burning garbage in deserted areas as it poses a potential risk of fire.
Garbage collectors who hang around the community often burn electric cables to get the copper wire inside for sale, and that is a constant source of worry, she said, adding a campaign is being run to wipe out all burning and illegal activities.
“Their activities have been a worry for all of us,” she said.
Residents are also urged to look out for and report any unusual activity in the community, she added.
“So we have made friends. We are closer. It’s good to see people caring for other people,” Ms Peeranuch said.
She said residents were not well versed in waste management and the majority of them relied on burning household garbage in their backyards when they wanted to dispose of waste.
There was a limit to garbage collection services in her community, she added.
After residents attended the garbage sorting programme provided by the district office they gained a better insight into the potential solutions to the burning problem.
To strengthen the residents’ commitment to end burning, she said the community committee had set up a garbage bank which buys recycled waste from residents and sells it to a junk shop, providing convenience for residents.
“That helps residents to sort different kinds of waste that is easily managed. They can generate income from selling garbage. We can turn trash into treasure,” she said.
A resident, Chamlong Samitchart who backs the campaign, said the burning of household garbage affected health and the environment.
He urged the committee to find more creative ways to draw residents into taking part in the campaign.
Raising awareness is an ongoing process and needs a collaborative effort, he said.