Phattharaphong, Chiang Mai MP of the Prachachon Party, urges Anutin to urgently declare the upper northern region a PM2.5 disaster zone, stating that the people's breathing cannot wait and warning of lung cancer risks due to the severe pollution.
On 27 March 2026, Mr. Phattharaphong Leelaphat, Chiang Mai MP from the Prachachon Party, posted on Facebook that he calls on the government to urgently declare a PM2.5 disaster zone in the upper northern region. He demands the cancellation of the current criteria, which he says were set by people in air-conditioned rooms, and to declare a level 3 disaster. He proposes that the Minister of Interior take the lead as commander, with an emergency plan addressing both the pollution sources within the country and reducing health impacts on the population. He urges immediate use of emergency funds from the government’s contingency budget. Aerial photos of Chiang Mai today show very heavy PM2.5 pollution, yet this still does not meet the government’s disaster declaration threshold, which requires a 24-hour average PM2.5 level above 125 micrograms per cubic meter for more than 5 consecutive days.
Mr. Phattharaphong stated that even after a recent adjustment, the previous government set the threshold as high as 150 micrograms per cubic meter. He criticized this standard as made by people in air-conditioned rooms who have never faced the real problem. He noted that he has long proposed lowering the threshold to two levels: the first step if PM2.5 exceeds 75 for three consecutive days to initiate preventive actions, and the second step if it exceeds 120 for three days to declare a disaster and mobilize additional support. Declaring a disaster would allow provinces to access emergency funds to address pollution sources, pay labor costs, cover fuel for firefighting, and provide protective measures for vulnerable groups such as purchasing masks or dust-proof nets, and creating clean air rooms especially for small children and bedridden patients. He emphasized that not everyone has an air-conditioned home with air purifiers.
Mr. Phattharaphong stressed that the current problem severely affects the upper northern region. He calls on the government to declare a level 3 disaster zone there, appoint the Interior Minister as the commander, and have each ministry fulfill its disaster responsibilities. The Ministry of Public Health should manage health impact responses; the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security should target vulnerable groups and risk mapping; the Ministry of Natural Resources should address forest fire sources using provincial contingency budgets; and the Ministry of Defence should assist in this effort. (The Ministry of Natural Resources lacks an emergency fund, while other ministries have sufficient resources.) He emphasized that all these measures must be implemented urgently because the people's breathing cannot wait. Delays only increase the risk of lung cancer among the population.