Air quality in northern Thailand has been among the worst in the world for weeks. The issue has seeped into the national consciousness, with toxic air spreading to the capital city of Bangkok and beyond.
CHIANG MAI: The ring of scorched earth and blackened tree trunks runs almost to the doorstep of the modest house belonging to Charoen Thipkaew, in the rising agricultural hills outside Chiang Rai city.
Firefighting volunteers - equipped and coordinated by non-governmental organisation The Mirror Foundation - helped extinguish this blaze and have been on constant duty for more than a month.The work is exhausting in extreme hot temperatures - Thailand set record highs in April - on dangerous terrain and amid toxic air conditions.
The issue has worsened as food demands in Southeast Asia and China have grown. A majority of the maize produced in the region is used solely as animal feed to help raise cows, chickens, pigs and ducks.Far from only affecting rural residents, the issue has seeped into the national consciousness, with toxic air spreading to the capital city of Bangkok and beyond.
He claimed a landslide national electoral victory and became prime minister in 2001, winning over the northern region with a populist agenda that promised universal healthcare and to reduce rural poverty. The Pheu Thai Party is expected to sweep most of the seats across the upper north during this election, just like it had before. But there will be key battles, especially in urban districts where candidates, especially from the progressive Move Forward party are eyeing victory.
Nuttakorn said he believes the way candidates frame their policy on tackling the air pollution issue could be critical in close races. Jakkaphon says that a Pheu Thai majority government could deliver a Clean Air Act with urgency to end what he calls an “ugly cycle”. “We’re going to act fast and we’re going to be able to do it right away, to kill the PM2.5 problem,” he told CNA.
As part of a wider agenda, the party wants provincial governors directly elected - instead of being appointed by the central government - to decentralise key decisions and budgets and put them in the hands of local administrators instead. Those on the front line - like Nattapon Singtoen, head of the wildfire volunteer team of the Mirror Foundation - agree more resources to deal with the annual problem need to be provided on a local level by whoever is in office.
The city is one of Thailand’s most popular tourist destinations but its credentials have taken a hit when going outside meant breathing toxic air. The winter season, a time when visitors typically rush to the mountainous city for cooler temperatures, has become the smog season. “No one is listening to that anymore,” said Somporn Chantara, the head of the Environmental Science Research Center at Chiang Mai University and the chairperson of the Academic Centre for Air Pollution in Northern Thailand.
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