Thailand steps up efforts to combat fine dust pollution in the air

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15:9:26, 15/12/2022 In the context of fine dust pollution in the air becoming more and more serious in Thailand, the Center for Air Pollution Reduction of Thailand (CAPM) has just announced that it will introduce a variety of comprehensive measures to try to solve the problem. resolve this issue.

Air pollution is becoming more and more serious in Thailand.

On December 3, the Nation newspaper quoted the director of the Department of Pollution Control (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) Pinsak Suraswadi as saying that these measures will be applied in three areas that generate PM2. The largest .5 includes cities, agricultural areas and forests. Mr. Pinsak is also currently the head of CAPM.
According to Mr. Pinsak, in cities, PM2.5 fine dust is mainly generated from traffic and factories, so treatment solutions will focus mainly on these areas.
In the immediate future, agencies and businesses in both the public and private sectors will be instructed on how to best maintain their vehicle's engines to ensure that these vehicles do not emit any kind of waste. What fine dust?
Meanwhile, public buses and passenger cars will be inspected regularly to quickly remove those that emit black smoke and pollute the environment.
As for factories, by the end of October 2022, a total of 896 polluting factories have been included in the annual list of periodic inspection to ensure the minimum amount of fine dust emissions.
Another major source of PM2.5 fine dust is the incineration of wastes in agricultural areas. Mr. Pinsak said the authorities will increase education and persuade farmers to stop the habit of clearing fields by lighting fires. The initial target of this effort was 17,640 farmers in 62 provinces across Thailand, thereby cutting the number of “hot spots” by 10%.
Meanwhile, large fires in forests also generate a relatively large amount of PM2.5 fine dust. Mr. Pinsak said that to solve this problem, it is necessary to collect at least 3,000 tons of combustible materials in forests to reduce the number of "hot spots" of the risk of forest fires by 20%.
PM2.5 stands for particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less. According to Mr. Pinsak, the concentration of PM2.5 fine particles in Thailand often becomes higher at the end and beginning of the year, when the country is covered by high pressure air coming from China.