Thailand seeks help from Myanmar, Laos to tackle haze, hotspots

THAILAND urged leaders of Myanmar and Laos to take urgent steps to tackle hotspots that’s worsened air pollution in some of the South-east Asian nation’s popular tourist destinations.

Thai Premier Prayuth Chan-Ocha held a virtual meeting with Laos Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone and Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing on Friday (Apr 7) and discussed measures to tackle the menace of transboundary haze, government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said in a statement.

Bangkok and other Thai cities have grappled with poor air quality in recent years, with pollution tending to get worse in the dry season around December to April due largely to agricultural burning, forest fires and higher vehicular emission. More than two million people have been diagnosed with respiratory illnesses since the beginning of this year, according to the Health Ministry.

“We need to join forces to help each other solve this problem,” Prayuth told the meeting. The haze is so severe that it’s become a serious health hazard and threatening tourism and revenue from it, he said.

The worsening air quality this year is the result of an increased number of hotspots from open-air crop burning and dry weather conditions, according to Pinsak Suraswadi, director-general of Thailand’s Pollution Control Department. Overall hotspots in Laos, Myanmar and Thailand rose 93 per cent between Jan 1 and April 5 from a year ago, he said.

Air quality in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in northern Thailand, both popular with foreign tourists, was classified as unhealthy and hazardous respectively on Friday by IQAir. The region, which was also hit by forest fires in recent weeks, reported particulate dust particles levels, known as PM 2.5, of more than 250 micrograms per cubic metre of air, IQAir data showed. BLOOMBERG