Comprehensive review of the annual haze episode in Northern Thailand

Abstract

The mountainous part of northern Thailand is subject to an intense haze episode occurring almost every year between January and May. In the last couple of decades, this atmospheric phenomenon has been extensively covered in the media and is now a main concern for the population living in this area. In this review, we synthesized the information available from hundreds of publications on air pollution in Northern Thailand and surrounding regions. The review is tentatively comprehensive, including physical and chemical characteristics of air pollution, their emission sources and meteorological and climatological factors playing in the onset of haze. The effect on human health, the environment and development of agricultural, conservationist and technological practices is also covered. A significant part also focus on the socio-economical causes and solutions that have been brought by successive governments and organizations to solve this issue.