The Ministry of Public Health says it plans to provide "dust-free" hospital rooms for at-risk patients in 30 provinces following a rise in the number of people affected by PM2.5.

The Public Health Ministry's Dr Opas Karnkawinpong said more than 10,000 patients were reported to have been affected by PM2.5 over the past four months, with 1,407 needing emergency care.

Dr Opas said the ministry plans to introduce "dust-free" rooms in 30 high-risk provinces, including Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Lamphun, Mae Hong Son, Phitsanulok and the Bangkok Metropolitan Region.

The rooms will accommodate vulnerable patients, including the elderly, young children, pregnant women and people with chronic diseases.

Dr Opas said the PM2.5 situation in the country worsened this week, with Tuesday's data on PM2.5 levels showing 44 provinces saw levels higher than 37.5μg/m³.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) said the recent increase of PM2.5 to an unhealthy level in 26 Bangkok areas is caused by outside factors, especially burning smoke from Cambodia.

Data shows burning activities in 49,983 locations in Thailand's neighbouring countries this year, a 93% increase from last year's 25,856 locations.

Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt meanwhile said farmers are among the people most blamed for the PM2.5 problem as they do a lot of burning as they cannot afford machines that allow them to avoid burning activities. He revealed a BMA plan to lend machines to farmers.