By Tossapol Boonpat | 28 April 2019
More than 100 forest fires are raging in Mae Hong Son province, half of which reportedly stemmed from people’s attempts to clear farmlands to prepare the soil for the early sowing of seeds before the rainy season.
A satellite image reported that as of 1.47am on Sunday, Mae Hong Son had 152 hotspots (49 in Pai, 36 in Sop Moei, 36 in Khun Yuam, 18 in Mae Sariang, 12 in Pang Mapha, and one in Mae La Noi).
There were no fires in Muang district. Officials and volunteers are working day and night to put out the forest fires but they have been able to reach only those inaccessible areas while the fires in the steep mountain areas continued to blaze, resulting in hundreds of rai of forestland being destroyed.
A fire that had occurred since Saturday in the Mae Surin Waterfall National Park spread to consume a roadside pavilion, a nearby building for receiving visitors, 100-meter-long power lines, as well as wooden signs and flowers at the entrance to the waterfalls on Sunday, park chief Preecha Thajakan said.
Park officials and volunteers built firebreaks to contain the fire in the morning.