Equipped Indigenous firefighters protect Thai forests

Hmong volunteer firefighter Mongkol Yingyotmongkolsaen flies standard and infrared drones to monitor for fires from above, track any flames that are spreading and detect heat at night
By Chayanit ITTHIPONGMAETEE
AFP-JIJI
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Chiang Mai, Thailand –
In the dry-season heat of northern Thailand, Hmong villagers zip through forested slopes, blasting tinder with leaf blowers and cutting through brush with machetes, while others scan for smoke on live feeds from their phones.Across about a dozen villages in the hills of Doi Suthep-Pui National Park, just above the city of Chiang Mai, Indigenous volunteers patrol on foot and clear firebreaks while also deploying drones and treetop cameras — all to detect blazes early and defend Thailand's second-largest city from wildfire smoke."The forest we protect is part of the national park — the lungs of Chiang Mai," said Mathaphan Phuchakritdapa, who started the firefighting volunteer force a decade ago and is chief of Suthep subdistrict.

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