Chiang Mai is opening clean-air facilities to aid people endangered by the intensifying fine dust pollution in the northern province.
This comes as Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said the government was not taking the severe haze problem ravaging much of the North, especially Chiang Mai, lightly.
He said the government was doing everything in its power and is taking a multi-faceted approach to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.
"I'm well aware of the plight people are facing from the PM2.5 pollution," Mr Srettha said via social media.
"I've asked the Public Health Ministry and the Interior Ministry to manage the situation and offer the necessary support in the impacted localities," he said.
On Monday, Chiang Mai governor Nirat Phongsitthithawon held a press conference at Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital to explain public health measures.
The governor said public health units in Chiang Mai are dispatching mobile medical teams to disseminate health advisories and provide check-up services for residents in vulnerable groups, including the elderly and those suffering chronic illnesses.
Mr Nirat said the local administrative organisations (LAOs) have been told to designate at least three clean air rooms per LAO.
Where the extent of haze pollution reaches an intense level and lingers for five days or longer, clean air rooms must be set up in communities where there is a large population of people from vulnerable groups. Also, clean air rooms must be established at hospitals and health promotion clinics.
Mr Nirat said authorities in Chiang Mai are not ignoring the haze problem, although he admitted there is a lack of communication between agencies over how to handle the situation.
The province's public health office is working with service networks in all sectors and the LAOs to deliver medical care to those considered part of the vulnerable group, which numbers around 420,000 individuals.
These individuals suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, and heart or vascular diseases.
Meanwhile, Mr Srettha said he has also imposed measures to detect the residents' risks of developing lung cancer.
He added that the government has employed all measures to prevent wildfires and burning activities in forests, including deploying royal rain-making aircraft and offering rewards to anyone who can catch culprits responsible for burning the forests.