Thailand seeks regional cooperation to tackle haze problem
08 Apr 2023 11:07am
People wearing face masks ride their motorcycles along a road near a market area in downtown Chiang Mai on April 7, 2023. - Thailand's Chiang Mai was ranked the world's most polluted city on April 7, with authorities urging people to work from home to avoid the hazardous air - AFP
This came as Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha hosted an online trilateral meeting Friday with Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone and Myanmar Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, reported Xinhua.
At the meeting, Prayut proposed a strategy to effectively address the transboundary haze pollution 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 2023 rose 93 per cent 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
