The Pollution Control Department predicts that PM 2.5 dust in Bangkok and its vicinity will spike from Oct 24 to 27. They are preparing long-term measures nationwide until early 2025. They believe that it will not be as severe as early 2024. They are expediting the clearance of dust in Mae Sai District, Chiang Rai Province by October.
Ms. Priyaporn Suwannaket, Director-General of the Pollution Control Department (PCD), revealed that in the near future, dust particles will start to rise in the Bangkok and surrounding areas. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has prepared ‘Measures to Deal with the Situation of Forest Fires, Haze, and Dust in 2025’, with the National Environment Board approving the measures and management mechanisms in its meeting on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. The measures in 2025 will be driven through 3 levels of management mechanisms: national, regional or cross-forest or administrative boundaries, and provincial levels. The operations are as follows:
Preparation phase:
Create a risk map for burning, a risk map, a forest fire management action plan according to time, a fuel management plan, data on areas at risk of burning and farmer data by province.
Fire management in conservation forests and national reserve forests by setting up checkpoints/blockades/surveillance points in risk areas, forest fire extinguishing teams, fuel management, announcing restrictions on entering forest areas and related areas, using community forest areas without burning, including agricultural areas on government land, and focusing on changing monoculture.
Fire management in agricultural areas by announcing the registration of farmers who need to use fire and managing fire in agricultural areas only as necessary and with control, controlling sugarcane burning into factories. If violated, law enforcement will be enforced, the right to receive assistance from the government, the right to not be given or the right to revoke the right of the Agricultural Land Reform Office (ALRO)/Cooperative Sett
lement Office to farmers who do not cooperate will be
revoked, including helping farmers adjust their production patterns and issuing measures for rights and benefits for farmers who do not burn. Control of dust in the city, issue an announcement prohibiting large trucks from entering the city during the crisis, support travel by public transport, have a policy to reduce the fare of public transport, accelerate the conversion of BMTA buses to electric trains, detect black smoke cars, trucks, construction areas, and traffic offenders by imposing the highest fine, strictly inspect and enforce the law on factories and business establishments, control/arrest those who illegally burn in communities and along the roads.
Cross-border haze management, promote the production and trade of agricultural products without burning, organize ministerial discussions before the start of the haze season, establish a data center and command center for monitoring, controlling and extinguishing fires in neighboring countries.
Overall management will accelerate the request for central budget support, provide benefits to the private sector, enhance law enforcement, announce the designation of nuisance control areas, announce the area for assistance to disaster victims, PM2.5, have a Work From Home policy, implement strict public health measures, and enhance communication and public relations at the national level, provincial level, risk areas and during the crisis.
In order to prepare for the situation that will occur in the Bangkok and surrounding areas, relevant agencies must work together to integrate operations according to the measures, especially controlling the release of dust from vehicles, industries, burning in communities and along the roads, which are important sources, both in terms of promoting and enforcing the law, including preparing public health measures, Work From Home, public relations communications to warn the public, and asking the public to closely monitor the dust situation via the website and the Air4thai
application.
However, the Meteorological Department assesses that after October 23, the upper part of Thailand will start to see less rain and a cold air mass will spread into the northern and northeastern regions of Thailand. This factor will cause the Bangkok and surrounding areas to tend to have higher dust values ??during October 24-27. In addition, during that time in the area, there will be a closed air condition, causing dust from the source to be unable to drain out of the area.
As for the situation in Mae Sai District, Chiang Rai Province, which is still in the recovery phase after the flood, it was found that the dry mud caused PM 10 dust to spread when there was traffic, affecting people in the area. The province used water spraying to help reduce the spread, and plans to remove the mud by October.
Dr. Sakda Tridech, Director of Air Quality and Noise Innovation Division, Air Quality and Noise Management Division, shared information on the dust situation in 2025, saying that the long-term dust si
tuation forecast by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States estimates that the period between September and November 2024 will be a transition into the ‘La Nina’ condition, which will result in more rainfall than usual on the western Pacific coast, including Thailand. This phenomenon will last until March 2025, which will result in the spread of biomass burning being less severe than the situation under the ‘El Nino’ phenomenon (drought). In addition, the implementation of measures to cope with the forest fires, haze, and dust situation in 2025, which will be able to control all significant sources, can therefore predict that the long-term dust situation will tend to improve and will not be as severe as in early 2024.
Source: Thai News Agency