Pattaya residents have expressed concern over air pollution, as the eastern coastal city finds itself engulfed in smog. The Pattaya News reports that the deterioration in air quality has been ongoing for a number of days, with a cloud of haze obscuring the bay and neighbouring islands.
Residents are advised to wear masks when outside and to limit outdoor exercise, according to officials, who have so far not clarified what the cause of the pollution might be. It comes as mass sugar cane burning is taking place in farming communities around the country, an activity that has caused air pollution problems in the past. While sugar cane burning is technically illegal, residents say the law is not strongly enforced, resulting in an annual rise in air pollution levels.
PHOTO: The Pattaya News
Netizens are urging the government to do more to prosecute farmers and large companies found indulging in the practice. They are also calling on sugar cane customers to reject burnt produce, in the hope it will force producers to use cleaner harvesting methods.
In the past, officials have pointed to tourist traffic, including airplanes, boats, and buses, as being a possible cause of the pollution. However, with air quality continuing to deteriorate, despite the current significant decline in air travel and tourist numbers, that hypothesis seems unlikely.
SOURCE: The Pattaya News
“ In the past, officials have pointed to tourist traffic, including airplanes, boats, and buses, as being a possible cause of the pollution.“ – hahaha why of course they did.
Shame on that and all previous governments! 20 mln people every year dies around the world because of air pollution and Thailand has one of the worst air in the world.
Start subsidizing those farmers who not burn and penalize those who do.
Love Thailand and it’s people but doing nothing is not good for them and they children!
IFerangs are not to blame. Naw they must be. They always have been to blame according to the Thais.
If the farmers are burning sugar cane and not being stopped, they could be paying some people not to be stopped. That hippopotamus is likely.
“that hypothesis seems unlikely.”
Uhuh… better look into your own backyard.
Rice, sugarcane, corn, waste disposal. They LOVE to finger point while that statistics and maps easily show different Thai causes.
This government does absolutely nothing to handle the yearly problem that made way more casualties and health issues than uhmm… let’s pick one… covid-19.
Why not start with a national educational campaign? What is the official budget available to handle this urgent problem? Any journalist willing to ask?
Then again, traffic accidents also are continuing without any effort to improve the situation.
Effective law enforcement, education and investment/maintenance.
There is an awful lot of things that the tourists got the blame for that they can’t do now? Now you have them begging for them to come back because millions of Thai’s are now unemployed and living on handouts.
At least there is now have a genuine reason to be wearing diapers/nappies/muzzles on one’s face! 55!
Yes blame the white guy…
Not only farmers burn crops. Every evening if starts to smell burnt something mostly wood and household garbage, but very often plastic is burned. That smell isn’t pleasant, and closing doors and windows doesn’t help that much in a Thai house… I live centrally in a pretty big city, not out in the woods…
Funny this never happens during daylight. How about a Burn seeker drone patrols 😉
Thai National Past Time: Ignore unpleasant realities.
Its Thai people vurning leaves crops and trash – in Phuket everyday 5pm dozens of bonfires on the horizon with awful smell
It’s foreign air, brought in on purpose by foreigners, is it? lol
Imagine all the Weekenders from bkk will feel perfectly at home now.
We burn the cane here in oz also….as a country boy I can give you the reason, its simple snakes. In oz it could be the Taipan in Thailand the cobra, also you need to see what you are doing. Even though we have used mechanical harvesters for years you still need to get rid of the trash