Environmental news from Thailand — climate, air quality, conservation and sustainability, in English from Thai PBS World.
Tokyo, Japan – A magnitude-6.0 earthquake struck off northeastern Japan’s Fukushima region on Thursday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, but no tsunami warning was issued. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries after the earthquake, whose epicentre had a depth of 40 kilometres (25 miles) and which was also felt in Tokyo. TEPCO, the
Chiang Mai is ranked as the city with the third highest level of PM2.5 dust in the atmosphere today, measured at 128.2µg/m³, and an air quality index of 188 on the US AQI, according to the Geo-Informatics and Space Development Agency (GITSDA) and Iqair.com. Only in Lahore city in Pakistan and New Delhi in India
Airborne PM2.5 dust reached the health-threatening Red level in eight northern provinces Thursday morning, with Mae Hong Son being the hardest hit. According to real time satellite-derived air pollution data via the “Check Foon” application, PM2.5 readings in the eight northern provinces are: 211.9 microns (µg/m³) in Mae Hong Son, 132.3µg/m³ in Chiang Mai, 111.5µg/m³
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and its public and private sector networks managed to save 24.65 megawatts of electricity, by reducing unnecessary lighting and power consumption between 8.30pm and 9.30pm Saturday night, in observation of the “60+ Earth Hour 2024”. However, the electricity saved this year in Bangkok was less than last year, when 36
The Bangkok governor has urged the Thai public to join the “Earth Hour” campaign by switching off lights for one hour tomorrow. Chadchart Sittipunt said the World Wide Fund for Nature campaign has set March 23 as the day people worldwide turn off their lights to help reduce the impacts of climate change. People in 7,000
Many people in and around Bangkok reported the smell of burning late Wednesday night, as the city became shrouded in smog, with the amount of PM2.5 exceeding the 37.5 micron (µg/m³) threshold in 47 of the capital’s 50 districts. The three districts most affected by PM2.5 dust were Don Mueang (143.5µg/m³), Lak Si (143µg/m³) and
The Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) has sought approval for a Bt350 million budget for activities and projects which have nothing to do with national security, Move Forward MP for Bangkok, Chayaphon Satondee claimed today. During the first day of debate on the second reading of the 2024 Budget Bill, the MP admitted that ISOC’s
Airborne pollution in Chiang Mai, which was ranked the most polluted city in the world by the real time Air Quality Index (AQI) last week, has become a topic of widespread criticism in Xiaohongshu, a popular Chinese life-style social media. According to Ai Chong’s Facebook post on events and life styles in China, the hashtag
Prime minister Srettha Thavisin obtained first-hand experience of forest fires today, as he visited the northern province of Phayao. He was traveling in his motorcade along rural road No. 120, linking Chiang Mai and Phayao, when he passed a group of firefighters and volunteers trying to extinguish a forest blaze. His motorcade stopped, so Srettha
As forest fires rage in several northern provinces, resulting in the accumulation of PM2.5 in the atmosphere, former deputy prime minister Plodprasop Suraswadi has offered some advice, based on how he successfully fought forest fires when he was the director-general of Forest Department over two decades ago. Writing in his Facebook post today, Plodprasop said
Seventeen sub-districts in the northern provinces of Nan, Phayao, Phitsanuloke, Lampang, Lamphun, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son are affected by health-threatening levels of PM2.5 today, ranging between 79.5 µg/m³ and 178.4µg/m³, according to the summary of air quality by the Air Pollution Mitigation Centre (APMC) at 7am today. Chong Kham sub-district in
Thailand may have to take tough action and ban the import of maize from neighbouring countries next year, if they refuse to control the burning of farm waste and forests, contributing to transboundary air pollution, said Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin today, during his tour to observe the haze problem. He said that he has previously
