Thai activists champion a landmark Clean Air bill to tax polluters and guarantee breathable air, facing delays after parliament’s dissolution
BANGKOK: A finance specialist and a doctor are among the activists spearheading landmark air pollution legislation in Thailand, aiming to hold polluters accountable despite political uncertainty.
Each winter, large parts of the country are plagued by haze from seasonal burning, vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions. Years of efforts to tackle the problem have done little to alleviate the issue.
Now, there is hope for fresh action in the form of the Clean Air bill. The legislation would enshrine the right to breathable air, tax emitters and offer public information on pollution sources.
Wirun Limsawart, a doctor with the Thailand Clean Air Network (CAN), grew up in southern Nakhon Si Thammarat. He only realised the scale of Thailand’s pollution problem after returning from a decade abroad in 2018.
He began to worry about the impact of the dirty air on his three children. “It made me question my role as an anthropologist and a doctor,” he told AFP.
His life has been marked by illness, having been diagnosed with a brain tumour in his early twenties. After eight years as a general practitioner in remote regions, he now works at the Ministry of Public Health.
Wirun’s pollution worries led him to a panel discussion in Bangkok in 2019. The conversations evolved into CAN, which has spent years advancing clean air legislation.
More than 20,000 people backed the group’s call for action, surpassing the threshold for public-initiated legislation. A draft bill passed the Thai parliament’s lower house in October.
“We need to make emitters responsible,” Wirun said. That goal is facing a new hurdle after Thailand’s prime minister dissolved parliament this month, putting the bill on hold.
The measure could be brought back after general elections early next year, if there is political will. “Right now, honestly, it’s anyone’s guess,” said CAN’s co-founder Weenarin Lulitanonda.
An outdoor run in 2018 drew Weenarin into clean air activism. The experience left her with a piercing headache she later learned was caused by Bangkok’s seasonal smog.
More than 10 million people required treatment for pollution-related health problems in Thailand in 2023. Having studied finance and worked at the World Bank, Weenarin began contacting experts to understand the problem.
“How is it possible that (in Thailand) someone has no information about what they are breathing?” she said. She said her motivation is simple: “If there were an alternative to breathing, I wouldn’t care.”
Clean-air reforms rarely start with governments or businesses, Weenarin said. She worries too few Thais see the crisis as their problem.
“Don’t vote for anybody who doesn’t have clean air legislation as a key political manifesto,” she urged. She is determined to keep fighting so “enough Thais wake up and say this is my problem too”.
