Asst. Prof. Dr. Helmut Durass, Lecturer of Physics Program physical science Faculty of Science, PSU, is looking at the smog in the region and the agricultural and forest fires as sources of such smog in Thailand and the region using satellite images.

It was found that the PM2.5 smog situation in southern Thailand is currently influenced by the burning of agricultural and forest areas in the northern and northwestern regions of Southeast Asia, including Thailand, and the neighboring countries such as Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Myanmar.

Only during the Southwest Monsoon – when the wind is coming from southwest – smog from Indonesia can be transported to Southern Thailand. However, currently we have not yet Southwest Monsoon conditions. Further, satellite images reveal that the smog is covering larger parts of the Bay of Bengal and the Gulf of Thailand. Due to the transition phase between the Northeast and Southwest Monsoon the wind is not blowing strong, so the smog is not going away easily and fast.

There was previously published an opinion about the haze situation in Betong District, Yala Province that it was caused by Indonesia, but this is not true. These days, there are comparable only few fires there.