On Saturday, Chiang Mai City was listed as the most air-polluted major city on Earth for the second straight day, according to IQAir app. Some say it was part of the “seasonal” unhealthy air inevitably facing residents and visitors over the past few months.
Little or nothing has changed under the new elected government: the Bangkok-appointed governor is still there, Public Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew, himself former leader of the ruling Pheu Thai Party, suggested a week ago those who are sensitive to the dangerous air quality should build a dust-free room at home, as if everyone could afford it and could simply lock oneself inside the room round the clock. PM Srettha Thavisin, meanwhile, pretends this is not a national emergency that requires the government to think outside the box and do something drastic and in a sustained fashion.
Chiang Mai is the unofficial heartland of Redshirt supporters of the ruling Pheu Thai Party and ex-convict-cum-former-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, hails from the province. This means many government supporters in the province are willing to breathe hazardous air much longer without complaining and be more forgiving to the government.
Some government supporters told me this is just “seasonal” and buy into Srettha’s insistence the situation is better than the last dry season, no matter the worst independent figures reported over the past three to four months through various channels. Others simply hope that the rainy season will arrive soon and all will be good.
There are also some who think the problem is too complex for the government to be able to solve as it involves not just forest fires and agricultural waste burnings in northern and other parts of Thailand, but also across the border in Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
Yes, the rainy season will probably arrive within weeks and the media (including this writer) will probably stop writing about it and get distracted by other breaking news – but what about the accumulated long-term impact on the health of the people of Chiang Mai (and even Bangkok?) Who will put a price on lung cancer, respiratory problems, asthma, eye irritations, and more?
Will we just wait for another dry season to arrive, say by mid-November, to start complaining and bearing the costs of this chiefly man-made health crisis anew?
We have seen little or no progress on how the government is dealing with major Thai agro-businesses to discourage or penalize them and their contract farmers from being part of the problems, not just inside Thailand, but in neighboring countries as well. There is no breakthrough in talking with Thailand’s neighbors as to what can be done to lessen forest fires and fires caused by the burning of agricultural waste.
Given the high health costs that is hard to put a price on, it is time the government make the issue of PM2.5 particulates a national agenda as it affects not just Chiang Mai, but many provinces in the North, Bangkok, and beyond. As of the morning of Saturday, April 20th, while Chiang Mai was ranked as number one, Bangkok was at 22.
A committee or even a new organization is needed with the sole purpose of tackling the issue, and with the power to mobilize resources and manpower from different state agencies, and they must work during the rainy season as well and prepare the kingdom for the next dry season.
Clean air is not a privilege for those who can escape the worst of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai or Bangkok, by flying off to Singapore or Europe. Clean air is not a privilege for those who can afford to build a dust free room or install air purifying machines in all the rooms at home and office.
Clean air is a basic right and there is no justification for the people of Chiang Mai, Bangkok, and elsewhere to believe or pretend otherwise.
