LOP BURI: Students and teachers fled choking from their smoke-filled classrooms as farmers defied a ban on burning off their nearby cane fields to prepare the crop for harvest.
Facebook user Pakpoom Kuanfoong posted video clips of the fire near Banthongchaisamakkee School in tambon Bua Chum of Chai Badan district. It showed pupils and teachers scurrying out of smoke-choked classrooms into a hazy yellow gloom as flames leapt through nearby sugar cane.
Teachers and students said the burn-off occurred on Tuesday. The cane fields begin only 20 metres from the school, which is separated from the field by a small road.
They reported suffering severe eye and nose irritation from the ash-filled smoke.
The school has about 100 students.
Local residents recently complained again about rampant pre-harvest burning of sugarcane crops to clear them of trash growth. It occurs annually in Lop Buri, from December to April.
On Jan 2, Chai Badan district chief Chumpol Yindeepol announced a ban on burning of sugarcane fields to help curb the level of hazardous dust particles which have troubled Central Plains provinces, including greater Bangkok .
Environmental activist Srisuwan Janya recently blamed burning-off the fields for much of the problem, which is a cheap and convenient way for farmers to prepare their cane fields for harvest.