![]() ![]() ![]() She said the country lacked a database for pollutant emissions into the air, water and soil, which means authorities don't know exactly what the main source of air pollution is. A minimum of 10,000 signatories from Thai nationals is required for the citizen-driven PRTR bill to be submitted to parliament. She said backers of the PRTR bill are collecting signatures. The PRTR Bill, meanwhile, is driven by Earth and its alliances such as Greenpeace Southeast Asia and EnLaw. The Clean Air Bill was drafted by the Thailand Clean Air Network (Thailand CAN) which raised 24,000 signatures in its support. They are a Clean Air Bill, and the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) bill, which would improve air quality management. It should approve at least two bills related to clean air. ''The next government should regard the issue of haze pollution as its priority policy,'' said Ms Penchom of Earth. Gistda said wildfires and hotspots would be followed by unsafe levels of PM2.5 dust while smoke from hotspots in neighbouring countries could also be blown over the border into Thailand, worsening the PM2.5 problem. Out of those 2,656 hotspots, 1,196 hotspots were detected in conservation forests, 1,071 in national forest reserves, 159 in agricultural areas, 127 in areas for agricultural land reform, 100 near communities and three by highways. In Thailand, most hotspots were in the North: 338 in Lampang, 321 in Tak, 318 in Nan and 249 in Chiang Mai provinces. Satellite thermal imaging from the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (Gistda) recently detected 2,656 fire-danger hotspots in the kingdom and more in neighbouring countries including Myanmar (2,321), Laos (1,422), Cambodia (664) and Vietnam (542). The hazardous smog is no longer merely an environmental issue but also a problem concerning public health and the economy, she said.Īccording to the Pollution Control Department, the major sources of the annual smog are emissions from the agriculture, transport, and industrial sectors. ''It is a hopeless situation if the government has not set clean air policy as the priority,'' she said. She said the air pollution caused by PM2.5 has never been solved. ''People have a right to live in a clean environment and this is guaranteed under the constitution,'' said Penchom Saetang, director of Ecological Alert and Recovery-Thailand (Earth). People with breathing and heart problems, children and the elderly are particularly sensitive to PM2.5 ultra-fine dust. Long-term exposure will increase a person's risk of diseases such as stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cancer. Early this month it said the number of patients jumped from 163,000 cases in December to 376,000 in January.Īccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), short-term exposure to high levels of PM2.5 can lead to eye, nose and throat irritation, reduced lung function, respiratory infections and aggravated asthma. The Ministry of Public Health says the number of patients suffering from respiratory diseases caused by air pollution is increasing. The amount of PM2.5 is intense in many parts of the country, especially 17 provinces in the North and Bangkok, which every year ranks as having some of the world's worst air pollution. ![]() People expressed concerns over their exposure to air pollution which occurs every year during the dry season, especially January to April. She posted the photo on her Facebook and it went viral on social media last week when the air quality index in the northern province reached 317 and the concentration of fine dust particulate matter (PM) 2.5 in the atmosphere was 207 microgrammes per cubic metre (µg/m³), four times higher than the safe threshold of 50µg/m³. Forest fires are one of the leading causes of air pollution during the dry season.Ī white mask looked dusty and had turned grey as if it had been left in a dustbin when in fact it had been worn for just one day by a resident in Lampang. No respite: White smoke covers the forest area of Phu Sanao mountain in Loei after soldiers from the 28th Military Circle's disaster relief centre and the Internal Security Operations Command put out a fire on Wednesday. ![]()
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