Thailand seeks regional joint effort to tackle haze

BANGKOK – Thailand yesterday called for efforts to create constructive and concrete approaches to tackle the region’s transboundary haze problem.

This came as Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha hosted an online trilateral meeting yesterday with Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone and the head of Myanmar’s military government, Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing, reported Xinhua.

At the meeting, Prayut proposed a strategy to effectively address the issue by leveraging relevant mechanisms at all levels.

“Thailand supports efforts of exchanging information and experience, as well as legal actions from each country to control and contain the sources of the pollution,” Prayut said.

The worsening air quality this year is a result of an increasing number of hotspots from open-air burning and dry weather conditions, according to Pinsak Suraswadi, director-general of Thailand’s Pollution Control Department.

The overall number of hotspots detected in Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos during the first three months of this year rose 93% from a year earlier, Pinsak said.

The Thai government has prioritised air pollution mitigation as a national agenda. It has attributed smoke from traffic, industrial plants, forest fires, and agricultural burning as the main sources of pollution. – Bernama, April 8, 2023