Ms. Preeyaporn Suwanaged, Director General of the Pollution Control Department (PCD), announced that following the 2024 haze and PM_2.5 season, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, through the PCD, reviewed and summarized the results and lessons learned from the prevention and resolution of forest fires, haze, and particulate matter in 2024. They also collaborated with agencies, experts, and academics to gather feedback in order to enhance operations, measures, and mechanisms for handling forest fires, haze, and particulate matter in 2025.

Ms. Preeyaporn stated that on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, the National Environment Board approved the 2025 forest fires, haze, and particulate matter management measures and a management framework designed to prepare for particulate matter-related situations in line with government policies led by Ms. Paetongtarn Shinawatra. This year’s measures are upgraded from 2024, including the development of a preliminary burn and particulate matter risk map. These measures focus on targeted management of large forest areas, especially along borders of fire-prone zones, with an emphasis on integrated cross-regional operations. The measures also include managing fires in rice, maize, and sugarcane farming areas under a registration system, rewarding good actions, enforcing the law against offenders, negotiating with neighboring countries before the haze season begins, utilizing both public and private budgets to support these efforts, and ensuring rapid communication of information.

The 2025 objectives include establishing indicators aimed at reducing the impact on people, including: (1) further reducing burned areas from 2024, with 25% of forest areas and 10-30% of agricultural and target crop areas; (2) ensuring 100% compliance with laws and regulations to control particulate matter from vehicles and factories in urban areas; and (3) setting a target to control the 24-hour PM_2.5 level to remain below the health impact threshold, Ms. Preeyaporn said.