It has been two weeks since new PM2.5 emissions standards took effect.
The new tolerance levels prescribed by the Pollution Control Department are encouragingly more stringent and cap the permissible daily average PM2.5 fine dust level at only 37.3 microgrammes per cubic metre (µg/m3) of air, a significant reduction from the previous 50 µg/m3. The new annual target is an average of just 15 µg/m3, against the earlier 25 µg/m3.
These tough new standards should be good news for people − especially in big cities like Bangkok and Chiang Mai -- who have borne much of the brunt of the smog. Yet, environmentalists continue to wonder aloud whether the tough standards alone can solve a problem that seems to get worse every year.
Their doubts are warranted. So far, the government and responsible state agencies have not introduced any new measures or taken significant steps to convince people they are up to the task.
Above all, it remains a mystery what kind of campaign the government will roll out to make polluters comply with the stringent new standards. Despite being launched four years ago, the National Masterplan on PM2.5's short, medium, and long-term goals and action plans all seem to have involved band-aids such as water-spraying machines in cities and artificial rain to tame wild forest fires. The other predominant tactic, which, although generally effective, cannot be considered a long-term solution, has been ordering people to stay inside, issuing curfews and mandating quarantine for travellers.
It is not that the government does not know that PM2.5 pollution must be solved on a more fundamental level and, despite some good policies such as producing cleaner gasoline and other green energy sources, making people use more public transport and limiting trucks from entering inner parts of the capital city, these good measures have rarely gathered enough steam to turn into full-blown national policy.
A plan to limit trucks' operations in Bangkok failed because operators refused to comply. The industry ministry has also constantly postponed its plan to force refineries to invest in making cleaner fuels for vehicles. Calls to force farm companies to purchase only zero-burning farm products have also led to nothing.
What is more worrying is that even if the government implements these policies, the PM2.5 problem will never go away. Regional forest fires and open burning in farms in Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia have now joined a formidable list of sources of haze in the Mekong region. This is ultimately due to an absence of legal proceedings from the Thai side to discourage its neighbours from causing fire and air pollution, not to mention paying compensation. All these countries suffer from haze, and meetings can be held that end up with the sharing of data and cooperation.
The onus will now fall on the next government. Ministries and lawmakers have to become bold enough to enforce zero-burning and green supply chains despite their cost to industry. The public must also be told to leave their cars at home more often.
The goal is as clear as the air we need and deserve -- PM2.5 must be lowered. Anything less would be unforgivable.
