Pollution from fiery ‘hot spots’ in northern Thailand linked to health concerns

Thai firefighters have been busy over the last two months attempting to contain fiery “hot spots” that have caused hazardous pollution, leading to health concerns among locals in the northern provinces.

Over the last week, firefighting helicopters drained a reservoir in Chiang Mai province of 800 gallons of water during each of more than 120 missions to douse hot spots in Lam Pang and other provinces. According to Thailand’s Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency, the region at one point had more than 4,000 hot spots.

“This year the smog and wildfires have been worse than last year,” Col. Worachak Tepin, chief of the northern region wildfire operation, told BenarNews.

Residents have complained of coughing, sneezing, nose bleeds, sore throats and other ailments. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has set the hazardous level of pollutants at 25 micrograms per cubic meter, while Thailand’s standard is 50. As of Thursday, pollution levels in northern Chiang Mai were much higher than the Thai standard.

Officials blamed the burning of crop waste as well as man-made and natural wildfires for the pollution levels. Many Thai farmers are unable to turn crop waste into fertilizer for their fields so they end up burning it, according to authorities and academics.

Last week, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha unsuccessfully called on citizens to stop burning. Varawut Silpa-archa, minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, said a petition to the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Transboundary Haze calling on neighbors to cut back on pollution had not been successful.