The writer, a Canadian-born PhD candidate at the Australian National University, has edited Voices From the Forest, Integrating Indigenous Knowledge into Sustainable Upland Farming (2007, RFF Press, Washington, 880 pages). Numerous scholars and indigenous farmers contributed to the book.

CHIANG MAI, Thailand – In recent weeks, much of northern Thailand vanished under a thick blanket of smoke and became an “environmental disaster zone” as the amount of fine particles in the air rose to levels several times higher than the maximum considered safe for human health.

People were advised to stay indoors more. Face masks appeared. Hospitals became crowded with patients suffering respiratory problems. Poor visibility forced airlines to cancel flights. The smoke became a big national news story, although local governments tried to downplay the problem for fear of frightening off tourists.

Officials and the media like to blame the burning habits of shifting cultivators. As the world worries about global warming and other environmental problems, we may hear more calls for shifting cultivation to be outlawed.

Actually, we lack data on why the smoke turned so bad this year. True, this is traditionally the burning season for shifting cultivators, but also for wet-rice farmers burning stubble from their last crops, for anyone clearing brush to prepare for fruit orchards or rubber plantations, for cattle-owners intent on replacing old, dry grass with lush, new growth, and for thousands of rural residents cleaning up backyards. I’ve never seen data assessing all sources of the smoke problem.

While living in Laos, I sometimes walked at dusk through smoke thick enough to cut with a knife along the streets of Vientiane. It all came from backyard fires, not shifting cultivation.

It’s always expedient to accuse shifting cultivators who aren’t prepared to retort. At the 1992 Earth Summit in Brazil, a delegation from Thailand argued that poverty forced its people to “cut down the forests”, but land speculators and loggers probably inflicted the most damage.

Why is the smoke problem so bad this year? I’ve heard several theories. For several months, Chiang Mai hosted a major floral exhibition. Officials discouraged burning then so the air would stay clearer to please tourists. When the exhibition finished, everyone made up for lost time and northern Thailand vanished under a haze.

Some people suggest that extra-dry weather contributed to more forest fires. Others say that the “mango rains” that usually help to clear the air didn’t materialize. Nor has there been much wind to disperse the smoke.

Shifting cultivators probably burned no more than in previous years. Real responsibility for the extra smoke rests elsewhere.

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