Just as Chiang Mai prepares to celebrate the Songkran holiday, the province’s annual wildfire battle has come roaring back.
Officials today reported 231 hotspots across 18 districts, with Chiang Dao taking the lead with 65 hotspots. The jump comes after a brief dip in numbers over the past three days, when hotspot counts had fallen below 100 and offered a flicker of hope that the worst may have passed.
It hadn’t.
Instead, fires have surged again across the province, sending teams from multiple agencies back into the hills in a renewed effort to contain the blazes before the holiday period gets fully underway.
Kritsayam Khongsatri, Director of the 16th Protected Areas Regional Office, has ordered a full mobilisation of personnel, coordinating with units across Chiang Mai’s protected areas and national parks. Reinforcements have been drawn from Doi Suthep–Pui, Pha Daeng, Mae Ping, Ob Luang, Si Lanna, Mae Takhrai, Ob Khan, the Chiang Mai Forest Fire Control Centre, and Doi Inthanon National Park.
In total, 290 officers have been deployed to support wildfire suppression and control operations across the province.
And because even firefighters need breakfast, Chiang Mai Governor Nirat Phongsitthithaworn and Pichai Lertpongadisorn, President of the Chiang Mai Provincial Administrative Organisation, received a donation of more than 30,000 eggs from private sector supporters and the Chiang Mai–Lamphun Egg Farmers Club.
The eggs will be distributed to frontline crews working in affected areas, offering a small but meaningful boost to those spending the run-up to Songkran battling flames instead of celebrating.
