Thailand and its neighbouring countries must work together to address the problem of PM2.5 haze pollution, Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said on Thursday.
He said Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was very concerned about the issue and has pledged measures to tackle it.
"This is a big issue, and it must be addressed at an international level while all parties involved in the country must also work together to solve it," said Mr Phumtham, who also serves as defence minister.
He said he attended a meeting in Vietnam a few weeks ago and learned more about how the neighbouring country was struggling with the worsening haze pollution.
Mr Phumtham said several hotspots have been detected in neighbouring countries and that the Foreign Affairs Ministry must coordinate efforts with Thailand's neighbours to combat transboundary haze pollution.
Asked how the Defence Ministry and the armed forces can help tackle the problem, Mr Phumtham said he instructed the armed forces to have equipment, such as drones, ready to support efforts to combat fires caused by slash-and-burn practices.
He added the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has allocated a budget of more than 400 million baht to local agencies to deal with man-made forest fires.
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt said the PM2.5 pollution problem in the capital is primarily caused by exhaust fumes, compounded by smoke from waste burning in nearby provinces and poor air circulation in the capital.
All the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) can do is to control vehicle emissions, he said, adding that one measure is to ban non-registered six-wheeled trucks or larger ones from entering low-emission zones in nine of the capital's districts. This policy became effective yesterday.
A total of 259 security cameras equipped with AI technology will be used to watch for trucks flouting the ban. He said that more than 2,000 trucks have been registered so far. From midnight to 6am yesterday, 779 entered the zones. Of them, 725 were not registered, and the owners will be fined, Mr Chadchart said.
The BMA's air quality data centre said PM2.5 concentrations across the capital remained at unhealthy levels yesterday, averaging 71 microgrammes per cubic metre.
