Thai Government expects northern haze crisis to end by April

BANGKOK, 15 March 2012 (NNT) – The Government is hopeful that the ongoing haze crisis in Thailand’s northern region will be resolved in a month’s time.

Acting government spokesperson Anusorn Iamsa-ad said that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has been updated on the latest situation concerning the haze crisis by governors of 9 smog-hit northern provinces.

All related provincial governors joined the discussion with the PM through the teleconference meeting on Wednesday.

At the meeting, the Deputy Public Health Minister, the Natural Resources and Environment Minister and the PM’s Office Minister whom the Prime Minister has assigned to oversee the crisis, reported that the latest test food that small dust particles of 10 micrometers or less (PM10) in all troubled provinces, but Mae Hong Son, are below the safety level of 120 micrograms per cubic meter.

Moreover, the number of wildfire hotspots in the haze-affected region also decreased from 44 to 35.

Meanwhile, PM’s Office Minister Woravat Auapinyakul said that the government is initiating a new campaign to build an anti-wildfire and agricultural burning awareness in affected areas, in hopes of putting an end to the haze problem.

It has also collaborated with authorities in neighboring Myanmar and Laos to tackle burning activities in their own areas.

In Thailand, anyone found guilty of agricultural burning will face a maximum fine of THB150,000 or a maximum jail term of 15 years, or both, according to Mr. Woravat.

In addition, the government is considering a plan to set up a 1-million-baht village fund and a new SML fund to help concerned villages tackle future forest fires.

The PM’s Office Minister said that he expects the current wildfire and haze crisis to end by April.