According to H.E. Mr. Srettha Thavisin, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand discussed with H.E. Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia on 7 February 2024, about transboundary haze pollution. Both parties agreed to establish a joint working group, hotline, cooperation for emergency response, information exchange and warning of hotspots, capacity building and sharing best practice about open burning management. Thailand invited Cambodia to joint the action plan under CLEAR Sky Strategy to promote cooperation on solving problem at the regional level.
On 8 March 2024, Pol. Gen. Patcharawat Wongsuwan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Natural Resources and Environment assigned Mr. Jatuporn Buruspat, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) to be the chairman of the meeting to discuss solutions for transboundary haze pollution between Thailand and Cambodia with the representative of Cambodia, Pollution Control Department (PCD), Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Royal Forest Department, and Department of East Asian Affairs via video conference system.
Mr. Jatuporn said that transboundary haze pollution situation between Thailand and Cambodia will occur during December – April every year. MNRE needs to coordinate closely with Cambodia to prevent and solve transboundary haze pollution problem. With awareness of health care and reducing the impact on public health in both countries, the meeting has concluded the following: 1) Coordination via Hotline between 2 countries at 2 levels, ministry level and department level,2) Participating in the joint action plan under CLEAR Sky Strategy of Cambodia and preparing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on additional environmental cooperation between Thailand and Cambodia, 3) Training on air quality management for Cambodian officers at the end of April in Thailand and 4) Hold a meeting of the working group to prevent and solve transboundary haze pollution problem between Thailand and Cambodia at the same time.
