The Thai government is providing a mobile air quality monitoring unit to Burmese authorities to assist in the fight against air pollution.
On Monday, Atthasit Kanchanasinit, Secretary of Thailand’s Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, presided over the opening ceremony of the Air Quality Monitoring Project between Thailand and Burma held in Mae Sai District opposite Tachileik in Burma.
Atthasit said the project is aimed at enhancing collaboration between countries affected by smoke from the burning of forests in Thailand, Burma and Laos.
“The air polluted from smoke has been getting serious since February, with small dusk particles higher than safety standards found in several areas of Thailand, particularly in Mae Hong Son and Chiang Rai Provinces which border Burma. The project will provide more information for surveillance of the smoke problem in both countries,” he said according to a report on the Thai news website 76Nationchannel.
Previously, Thailand sent a mobile air quality monitoring vehicle to Laos for similar purposes.
Northern Thailand and parts of neighboring Burma are this year again suffering from a smoky haze caused by the burning of forest and agricultural waste. The smoke has become so bad in Tachileik that flights have been delayed due to poor visibility.
Chiang Rai authorities have asked local villagers not to burn forest and straw, particularly in February, fining those who disobey. Local Burmese authorities, for their part, have banned the burning of garbage after 5 p.m.
On Monday, rain in some areas of northern Thailand somewhat lessened the crisis.
Tawan Sirima, a villager in Mae Sai District, said the rain could help disperse the smoke and that the air is presently cleaner than it has been the previous two months.
Several years ago the Thai government established a national center to coordinate efforts to decrease smoke pollution in northern Thailand. The center cooperates with neighboring countries to fight the issue. Nonetheless, despite increased international cooperation smoke levels this year are again dangerously high.
Last week, Siripong Hangsapreuk, Thailand’s Deputy Permanent-Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said the ministry has proposed to raise the issue of the smoke problem during the First Mekong River Commission (MRC) Summit to be held in the first week of April in Thailand.
