With PM2.5 pollution under increased public scrutiny, sugarcane farmers, often blamed as major polluters, have been under growing pressure to stop burning cane fields. Many growers have complied with new government measures, contributing to a marked reduction in open-field burning.  In the process, however, they have had to deal with higher costs, increased operational risks, labour shortages, and limited governmental support.

Sugarcane farmers, often targeted as a major source of PM2.5 pollution, have significantly reduced field burning practices to comply with government regulatory measures. Despite the consequences they have suffered - higher costs, labour shortages, increased operational risks, and volatile cane prices - governmental support measures have been underwhelming.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has ordered public transport in Bangkok to be free for a week from 25-31 January in order to reduce soaring toxic smog.

In the vibrant and bustling centre of Bangkok, PM 2.5 readings are soaring to hazardous levels. The city’s most vulnerable residents, the homeless, are left exposed. Living their lives on the streets, their already precarious health is exacerbated by the pollution. Despite promises of action to control pollution, the air quality crisis shows no sign of abating. 

Chiang Mai residents have declared their province an air pollution zone after the government failed to exercise its legal powers to announce an air pollution crisis to address the problem in the northern region. Meanwhile, a significant increase in respiratory diseases is reported in the region.

<p>PM2.5 has gained wide public awareness amongst Thais for nearly a decade. Many probably have questioned how much longer we need to live with the health crisis brought on by the annual recurrent problem of ultra-fine dust particles which the World Health Organization (WHO) claimed causes 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide each year. &nbsp;</p>