Tech-equipped Indigenous firefighters protect Thai forests

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.