Thailand’s Battle to Breathe: Clean Air Act
Air Pollution and Urgency for Reform
Air pollution has become a major national health threat. Northern provinces such as Chiang Mai have repeatedly recorded hazardous air quality, ranking among the world’s 15 worst cities, while Bangkok and surrounding areas placed 16th globally in early 2025.
Just this week, new data from the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) showed PM2.5 levels in Bangkok ranging from 32.2 to 41.9 µg/m³, exceeding the national safety threshold of 25 µg/m³. The same report confirmed that 20 provinces are also facing unsafe air conditions, with the highest readings in Don Mueang and Nonthaburi (Bangkok Post, 10 Nov 2025).
PM2.5 levels in many urban centres continue to exceed safe limits, increasing the risk of stroke, COPD, cardiovascular illness, and lung cancer. The main sources are construction dust, industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust, and agricultural burning. Transboundary haze from neighbouring countries further intensifies pollution, particularly along borders with Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam, where large-scale burning linked to maize and sugarcane farming remains common.
Toxic haze covers Bangkok
From Crisis to Collective Action
Each dry season, Thailand’s air turns into a public health emergency. The smog that shrouds Bangkok and northern cities carries fine dust particles small enough to enter the bloodstream, damaging lungs and hearts.
For years, responses were limited to emergency measures, such as spraying water from aircraft, restricting outdoor activities, and temporary bans on burning. None of these addressed the root cause.
In 2018, a small group of citizens decided to act. Among them was Weenarin Lulitanonda, a World Bank consultant who began to experience severe headaches from exercising outdoors. Joined by Dr Kanongnij Sribuaiam, a legal scholar from Chulalongkorn University, and Dr Wirun Limsawart, a public health doctor, they formed the Thailand Clean Air Network (Thai CAN).
Their goal was to turn air pollution from a seasonal crisis into a national rights-based agenda (Hard Stories, Mar 2025).
Over seven years, Thai CAN built the case for legislative reform. They gathered more than 10,000 signatures by hand during the pandemic, organised consultations, and wrote the first draft of what would become the Clean Air Management Act. What began as volunteer activism is now on the verge of becoming law.
Key Provisions of the Draft Clean Air Management Act
The Draft Clean Air Management Act establishes Thailand’s first integrated legal framework for air-quality governance. It recognises clean air as a fundamental right and places public health at the centre of national priorities.
The Act seeks to prevent, mitigate, and eliminate air pollution from major sources, including PM2.5, forest fires, agricultural burning, industrial emissions, and transboundary haze from neighbouring countries.
Economic and Legal Mechanisms
The Draft Act adopts the Polluter Pays Principle, combining economic incentives with penalties under a “carrot and stick” approach.
It introduces enforceable sanctions for individuals or entities responsible for generating air pollution, encouraging both prevention and behavioural change. The framework also aims to harmonise environmental and trade standards, making Thai industries more competitive in ESG-conscious global markets.
Management Committee
Implementation and oversight will be led by a National Clean Air Management Committee, chaired by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, with the Director-General of the Pollution Control Department serving as both a committee member and secretary.
The committee will coordinate across ministries and provinces to ensure unified, science-based policy execution.
What the Law Does
The Clean Air Act is Thailand’s first comprehensive framework for air-quality management. It consolidates responsibilities previously scattered across fifteen agencies and introduces measures that address both prevention and accountability.
Key provisions include:
Integrated Source Control: Targeting pollution from five domestic sectors with cross-border control (dubbed “5+1 sectors”):
forestry, agriculture, industry, transport, and urban activity, plus one cross-border category dealing with regional haze.
Clean Air Fund: A financial mechanism applying the polluter-pays principle. Industries and major emitters contribute fees based on emissions or product value, capped at 10%. The fund compensates affected communities and supports farmers shifting away from crop burning.
Local Authority Empowerment: Provincial governors will chair clean-air committees with power to declare pollution zones, enforce corrective orders, and manage local initiatives.
Public Rights: Citizens gain access to environmental data, the right to participate in decision-making, and the right to seek justice when standards are violated.
Preventive Planning: Government agencies must act eight months before the smog season, focusing on early reduction rather than reaction.
It applies the precautionary principle, prioritising early planning and long-term prevention of air pollution instead of reactive crisis management.
Photo Credit: Hard Stories
A Political and Economic Test
The House of Representatives approved the Act in October 2025 with 309 votes in favour, none against, and four abstentions which was a rare show of unity (Bangkok Post, Oct 2025; The Nation Thailand, Oct 2025).
The next step is the Senate, where timing and political will remain uncertain.
Coalition instability, short legislative sessions, and pressure from business groups could still weaken or delay the law (Nikkei Asia, Oct 2025). Some industry voices warn that emission fees might erode competitiveness.
Advocates counter that inaction is costlier: Dr Witsanu Attavanich of Kasetsart University estimates annual economic losses of 1.14 trillion baht, or six percent of GDP, from pollution-related illness and lost productivity. “If people are spending their income on medical bills, no one benefits,” he said (Hard Dtories, Mar 2025).
The challenge now is enforcement. Without institutional capacity and consistent funding, observers caution the Act could become a paper tiger or well-intentioned but ineffective (Bangkok Post, Oct 2025).
Governance and Implementation
The Act’s central test lies in unifying Thailand’s fragmented bureaucracy. For decades, overlapping mandates and limited budgets have stalled progress: the Pollution Control Department monitors air quality but lacks enforcement power, local authorities struggle with funding, ministries work in isolation.
The Clean Air Fund and national committee are intended to create a single, accountable structure but success will depend on transparent fund management, accurate data, and strong judicial access for citizens. Without these, clean air will remain an aspiration rather than a guarantee.
Regional and Global Relevance
Thailand’s reform echoes regional precedents. Japan’s Air Pollution Control Act (1968) and South Korea’s Clean Air Conservation Act (1990) began as crisis responses but evolved into catalysts for cleaner industry and technological progress.
Thailand’s version emerges in an era when global trade, ESG standards, and climate policy are intertwined. By coupling environmental regulation with economic mechanisms, the country aligns its domestic policy with international expectations.
The polluter-pays principle and Clean Air Fund mirror European and East Asian models and could, if applied effectively, improve both public health and investor confidence.
The Clean Air Act is more than an environmental statute. It is a stress test of Thailand’s political will, institutional capacity, and economic model.
First, the risk is real that this becomes a clean, ambitious text with weak delivery. The Clean Air Fund, enforcement powers, and local authority mandates are where the law will stand or fall. If the fund is under-capitalised, if data is patchy, or if penalties are negotiated away in practice, polluters will treat the Act as optional.
Commentaries have already warned of this trajectory, noting efforts to dilute fiscal tools essential for implementation.
Second, the economic argument has shifted. The World Bank estimates that PM2.5 has cost Thailand about 6 percent of GDP in health and productivity losses, with local research suggesting even higher social costs in some years.
The choice is no longer between “growth” and “regulation,” but between managed transition and unmanaged loss. Companies that resist this shift are not protecting competitiveness; they are shifting their costs to public budgets and future labour capacity.
Third, global pressure is closing in. Instruments such as the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and tightening ESG expectations treat unmanaged emissions and opaque supply chains as financial and trade risks.
The Clean Air Act gives Thailand a framework to signal seriousness, but failure to enforce will weaken its position with regulators, rating agencies, and buyers who have better data than ever on emissions, sourcing, and hotspot regions.
For serious actors in Thailand, this creates a clear set of strategic questions:
Policy makers and regulators must decide whether the Act will be used to coordinate ministries, empower provinces, and ring-fence Clean Air Fund revenues with real transparency, or whether fragmentation will continue behind a new label.
Industrial and energy players need credible emissions baselines, abatement roadmaps, and grievance mechanisms before those are imposed externally through litigation, conditional permitting, or trade measures.
Agribusiness and contract farming networks must engage beyond blaming smallholders, by reworking procurement models, field practices, and traceability in maize, sugarcane, and other high-risk crops.
Investors, lenders, and insurers should start treating non-compliance with the Act, or reliance on haze-linked value chains, as a priced risk, not a CSR footnote.
The Clean Air Act should be viewed as a live policy instrument that will reshape incentives across sectors over the next three to five years. Its practical impact will depend on how regulation, political dynamics, and market access intersect.
Success requires understanding how enforcement priorities will be set, which agencies and committees hold real influence, and how secondary regulations, standards, and funding mechanisms will be designed.
Useful recommendations include:
Mapping authority and influence — identifying how national and provincial bodies will exercise new powers, set thresholds, and allocate resources.
Stress-testing operations and supply chains — evaluating exposure to enforcement, CBAM-linked trade pressures, and community scrutiny, then building compliance strategies that stand up to review.
Building cross-sector coalitions — aligning government, business, and civic actors to implement the law through structured cooperation rather than reactive measures.
Shaping credible public communication — ensuring disclosures and engagement are evidence-based, transparent, and policy-aligned.
Treating the Clean Air Act as a procedural obligation would be a strategic error. Used effectively, it can protect competitiveness, secure market access, and demonstrate regulatory maturity. Used passively, it will reveal which institutions and industries are still waiting for the smog to clear on its own.
References
The Standard NEWS DIGEST #264 (2025) “พ.ร.บ. อากาศสะอาด จะทำให้อากาศสะอาดได้อย่างไร?”
Hard Stories (Rebecca L. Root 2025; Ken G. Weber 2025) “When Breathing Became Dangerous in Thailand, They Rewrote the Rules”; “Time Grows Short for Thailand’s First Air Quality Law”; “What Is Thailand’s Clean Air Act.”
Bangkok Post (Oct 2025) “Senate Paves Way for Vital Clean Air Act.”
Nikkei Asia (Oct 2025) “Thailand’s Political Turmoil Shrouds Long-Awaited Law to Tackle Smog.”
The Nation Thailand (Oct 2025) “House Passes Clean Air Bill with Overwhelming 309 Votes.”
World Bank (2024); Kasetsart University Environmental Economics Research.
Q&E International (Thailand) “เปิดที่มาของมลพิษทางอากาศ PM2.5 เพราะเหตุใดถึงไม่ลดลงและเกิดขึ้นซ้ำทุกปี.”
กรุงเทพธุรกิจ (30 Jan 2025) “ค่าฝุ่นเชียงใหม่ – ค่าฝุ่นกรุงเทพ PM2.5 วิกฤต ติดท็อป 20 อากาศแย่ที่สุดในโลก.”
The Nation Thailand (Oct 2025) “House Passes Clean Air Bill with Overwhelming 309 Votes.”
Bangkok Post (10 Nov 2025) “Ultrafine Dust Levels Unsafe in Bangkok, 20 Provinces.
European Commission (2023) – official reference on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and trade-linked environmental regulation frameworks.