People living in 17 provinces in the North and Bangkok will continue to experience haze pollution until the middle of next week, according to the Pollution Control Department (PCD).

The PCD said on Thursday that all parts of Thailand, except the southern region, are now facing poor air quality caused by PM2.5, which is impacting people's health.

The department found the level of PM2.5 had reached 119 microgrammes per cubic metre (µg/m3) in the North, 158 µg/m3 in the Northeast, 110 µg/m3 in the Central and Western regions, and 139 µg/m3 in Bangkok. Levels above 50 µg/m3 are considered unsafe in Thailand.

The haze pollution in the North and the capital would reach a moderate level on Feb 5-6 and fall back within safe levels on Feb 7-8.

The department said 1,200 hotspots were detected countrywide yesterday in forest and farming areas. More have been found in neighbouring countries, including 1,713 in Cambodia, 1,072 in Myanmar, 927 in Laos, 522 in Vietnam and four in Malaysia.

All 17 governors in the North have been holding daily meetings to provide updates on the situation and find ways to reduce the number of hotspots while farmers who want to burn their fields must get approval from local authorities.