Thousands of hotspots across Thailand

A wildfire fighter uses a blower to clear the ground and create a buffer zone in a "hot" district of Chiang Mai, which had 249 deetected hotspots on Monday. (Photo: Panumet Tanraksa)

Satellites detected 2,656 fire-danger hotspots in Thailand on Monday, more than were found in neighbouring countries.

Trailing behind Thailand's 2,656 hotspots were Myanmar (2,321), Laos (1,422), Cambodia (664), Vietnam (542), and just one in Malaysia.

In Thailand, there were 1,196 hotspots in conservation forests, 1,071 in national forest reserves, 159 in agricultural areas, 127 in areas for agricultural land reform, 100 near communities and three by highways.

Most of the hotspots were in the North - 338 in Lampang, 321 in Tak, 318 in Nan and 249 in Chiang Mai provinces.

Wildfires and hotspots are normally followed by unsafe levels of PM2.5 dust. Hotspots in neighbouring countries could also be blown over the border into Thailand, worsening the PM2.5 problem.