DE FACTO Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra said today (Jan. 24) that his daughter/Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has ordered measures to reduce PM2.5 pollution in the country from Europe where she is attending the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, during Jan. 20-24 with a key step being free train and bus rides for seven days in Bangkok in order to reduce car use, TV Channel 7 said.
Speaking in Sisaket where he is helping Pheu Thai candidate, Mr. Wiwatchai Hotrawisaya, in campaigning for the upcoming Nayok Or Bor Jor or head of provincial administration election, he said Paetongtarn had also ordered strict control of black smoke emitting from construction sites.
In addition, she ordered the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry to mount a royal rainmaking operation to reduce the toxic dust.
As crop residue burning is still taking place in the provinces, with 83% attributed to rice, maize, and sugarcane, farmers were warned that those doing so will not get assistance from the government while all sugar mills were told they have to take responsibility for this pollution as children are getting sick.
Thaksin mentioned that when he was the prime minister he had advised farmers to not burn but soak rice stubble in water as this increases microorganisms in the soil and will improve yield while crop residue burning ruins it.
The PM2.5 reading for Bangkok at AQICN.org at 2 p.m. was 167 micrograms per cubic metre which is unhealthy.
For the standard value of PM 2.5 dust, the average over 24 hours should not exceed 37.5 µg/m³. If it exceeds this, it is considered to have an impact on health.
CAPTIONS:
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra giving a speech at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland and part of a group photo. Top photo: Thai Public Relations Department, Front Page photo: Thai Rath
Insert: De facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra in Sisaket today, Jan. 24, 2025. Photo: Thai Rath
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