Air quality in Thailand

The document assesses Thailand's air quality challenges, noting that while numerous Acts and Plans exist, enforcement is hampered by a siloed ministerial approach and a prioritization of economic growth over environmental health. It identifies key pollution sources including road transport, coal-fired power plants, industrial zones, and seasonal crop burning. The paper highlights successful past initiatives such as the phase-out of leaded gasoline and two-stroke motorcycles, and suggests the need for an overarching national agency to integrate air quality management across sectors.

• Thailand's national air quality standards for particulate matter are less stringent than World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. For PM2.5, the daily standard is 50 μg/m3, which is double the WHO guideline of 25 μg/m3.
• Air pollution in Thailand is driven by diverse sources: road transport is estimated to account for over half of PM2.5 emissions in urban settings, while open burning of crop residue and biomass contributes over 30% of PM2.5 nationally.
• The regulatory framework is fragmented across different ministries, leading to a 'siloed approach' where agencies may not collaborate, and the Pollution Control Department (PCD) lacks direct enforcement capacity, acting instead as an advisory body.
• Orders from the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) in 2016 have weakened environmental protections by allowing certain large-scale projects to bypass Town and County Planning Act regulations and potentially remove Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) requirements.
• A primary barrier to effective air quality enforcement is the conflict between economic growth and environmental protection, resulting in a lack of political will and a tendency for the Ministry of Industry to prioritize investor returns over clean technologies.
• Thailand has successfully implemented specific pollutant phase-outs, including the complete removal of leaded petrol by 1996 and the transition from two-stroke to four-stroke motorcycle engines, the latter of which reached nearly 100% of new sales by 2007.
• Transboundary haze, particularly in the northern region from Myanmar and the southern region from Indonesia, remains difficult to control despite the ratification of the ASEAN Transboundary Haze Agreement.
• The government has set a target of 'zero burnt sugarcane' by 2022, implementing a plan that limits the proportion of burnt sugarcane mills can purchase, decreasing from 30% in 2019-2020 to 0-5% in 2021-2022.

APA

Nikam, J., Archer, D., & Nopsert, C. (2021). Air quality in Thailand. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/210212c-killeen-archer-air-quality-in-thailand-wp-2101e-final.pdf

Chicago

Nikam, Jaee, Diane Archer, and Chirat Nopsert. Air quality in Thailand. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2021. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/210212c-killeen-archer-air-quality-in-thailand-wp-2101e-final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Nikam |first1=Jaee |last2=Archer |first2=Diane |last3=Nopsert |first3=Chirat |title=Air quality in Thailand |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=February 2021 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/210212c-killeen-archer-air-quality-in-thailand-wp-2101e-final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{nikam2021air, author = {Nikam, Jaee and Archer, Diane and Nopsert, Chirat}, title = {{Air quality in Thailand}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2021}, month = feb, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/210212c-killeen-archer-air-quality-in-thailand-wp-2101e-final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }