With sugarcane plantations being a source of air pollution, viral images of farmers taking selfies while a field of sugarcane burns behind them have stirred public anger.
In a Facebook post that has gone viral and widely reported on by local media, an ageing female farmer also wrote a message thanking her friends for helping set fire to a sugarcane field.
She also posted images of herself and her friends with the backdrop of burning sugarcane behind them, belching black smoke.
Burning sugarcane before cutting -- known as pre-harvest burning -- was not part of traditional sugarcane harvesting in Thailand.
Harvesting methods have changed as sugarcane plantations have become big business in domestic and international markets. As sugarcane plantations have increased, capable harvesters have retired, resulting in a skilled labour shortfall.
Meanwhile, to meet strict deadlines, sugar farmers resorted to burning the sugarcane to make it faster and easier to harvest.
The viral images are the latest negative news about opening burning in the sugarcane industry. Last week, the industrial ministry reportedly ordered the temporary shutdown of a sugar mill in Udon Thani after it bought more burned sugarcane than a limit set by the government put in place to help curb burning.
Earlier this month, the Office of the Cane and Sugar Board (OCSB) revealed the names of 10 sugar mills that receive large amounts of burnt sugar yields.
Meanwhile, as sugarcane gets a large share of the blame for PM2.5, government agencies and policymakers are overly relaxed when it comes to other air pollution sources, such as factories and other commercial plantations, such as maize.
Part of the problem is that the measures the OCSB and related policymakers put forward have not been fully implemented.
For example, while financial incentives are given to farmers -- such as loans and reduced taxes -- the problem is that there are not enough incentives to prod factories to purchase sustainably harvested produce.
The problem of pre-harvesting burning reflects a broader lack of policy and strategy to tackle PM2.5.
For years, government and policymakers have relied on short-term and reactive measures, such as legal penalties, closing schools, and requiring officials to work from home.
There has been no real strategy or policy to clean the supply chain of the farm sector and industry, which are major sources of PM2.5.
But there are workable examples to follow.
For example, to reduce haze from palm oil plantations in Southeast Asia -- Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia worked together to create a sustainable palm oil scheme. Under this scheme, investors in public companies on the stock market must purchase and do business with green and sustainable suppliers.
Another good example is Bon Sucro, the global sustainability platform and standard for sugarcane. The scheme creates traceability through an audit system that records certificates issued to sugarcane plantations that act responsibly.
Through such projects, consumers and society can patronise only responsible farmers who work to reduce PM2.5.
It's certainly better than getting upset and looking for culprits.
