Last week, the House of Representatives voted unanimously to pass the Clean Air bill, which would impose regulations to reduce pollution and improve air quality. If approved by the Senate, it would be the first law on air pollution management in Thailand.

The bill proposes to put penalties and incentives in place to push polluters into reducing carbon emissions and air pollution. It also proposes to give local governments a larger role in air quality management by appointing Provincial Administrative Organization (PAO) Chief Executives to head provincial clean air committees authorised to issue orders regarding air quality control.

The bill is a composite of 7 similar bills earlier proposed by political parties, the Cabinet, and civil society groups. In January 2024, the House of Representatives passed all 7 bills in their first readings. An ad-hoc drafting committee was then formed to work on a combined version.

The bill will now be forwarded to the Senate. According to iLaw, since the bill is considered a finance-related bill as it proposes the formation of several committees and a Clean Air Fund, the Senate must go through all three readings in 30 days, excluding days when it is not in session. The current session will end on 30 October, and the next one starts on 12 December. If the Senate proposes amendments to the bill, it will be delayed further since the amendments would need to be approved by the House before the bill can become law.

And if parliament is dissolved, the bill would be automatically dismissed. The new Cabinet would then have 60 days to request that the bill be reinstated.