The air force has provided aircraft to help disperse the haze and smoke from forest fires hanging over many of the northern provinces, air force spokesman Monthon Satchukorn said on Thursday.
ACM Monthon said the deployment is in response to the government's order that military personnel and civilians join together to help solve the problem.
The air force sent representatives to a meeting with officials from the 3rd Army and other agencies in the North to plan an operation involving both land and air resources. The joint operation began today.
For its part, the air force has assigned a BT-67 transport plane to spray water to reduce the haze and smoke over northern provinces.
In addition, a UH-1H helicopter is being used to fly over trouble areas to pinpoint hot spots, and to transport reporters to make news reports.
Wing 41 in Chiang Mai province has also been ordered to instruct pilots of L-39 training aircraft to make aerial observations in addition to regular training flights, and to report any hot spots immediately to ground units.