Thai health minister considers smoke haze as Asean issue

BANGKOK (Oct 2): Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has pointed out that smoke haze is a major issue that members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) would have to tackle seriously while their citizens should adjust their lifestyles to protect themselves.

Charnvirakul, who is also a deputy prime minister said Asean health ministers were discussing smoke haze problems as the number of hot spots in the region was soaring, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.

Smoke haze was not a new issue and the Public Health Ministry of Thailand was doing its best to urge people to protect themselves, he said.

“All people must be the doctors taking care of their own health. They should know what activities they should have and when they should do their activities for the sake of their own safety,” he said.

Meanwhile, City Clerk Silpasuay Raweesaengsoon said the Department of Environment at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) was closely monitoring the levels of particulate matter and officials of district offices were spraying water and cleaning roads to reduce the impacts of particulate matter in Bangkok.

As smog resulted from diesel engines, BMA tried to avoid using its trucks during rush hours and district offices were ordered to have garbage trucks finish their daily collection before 4am, she said.

People could monitor the real-time levels of particulate matter at www.bangkokairquality.com and www.air4bangkok.com, said Raweesaengsoon.