After the brainstorming gathering, General Surasak Karnjanarat said the committee would be monitoring the situation on a day-to-day basis. He explained that local authorities had been instructed to deal with and report on any forest fires or burning of waste.
The minister carried on by saying that residents of towns and villages in the north needed to avoid burning anything that was not absolutely necessary. As an addendum, he urged Thai people to obey any orders related to burning household, garden or farm waste issued by local council offices in their amphur-districts.
The committee also has the job of coordinating actions to deal with the smog as well as collating all the different data provided by government agencies. The smog is an annual problem that occurs in the months prior to the onset of the rainy season.
A lack of wind and low air pressure causes smoke to linger in northern valleys. Forests are also tinder dry and it only takes a spark to ignite a fire. The provinces affected are Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai plus Mae Hong Son, Lamphun, Lampang, Tak, Nan, Phrae and Phayao.
Thailand sets up committee to tackle smog in North
News in Asia
Thailand’s Environment Ministry has established a committee with the remit of coordinating action to deal with the haze that is covering the country’s northern provinces. The national Natural Resources and Environment minister presided over the first meeting of the group over the weekend.