Thailand and Lao PDR are working together to advance their efforts to fight transboundary haze pollution, under the CLEAR Sky Strategy, and to address the issue of environmental management on a sustainable basis.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Suchart Chomklin, together with Permanent Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Raweewan Bhuridej, visited Vientiane, Lao PDR, on 29 April 2026 for talks with Minister of Agriculture and Environment Linkham Douangsavanh on tackling transboundary haze issues.

Thailand, Lao PDR, and Myanmar joined hands in launching the “Joint Plan of Action – CLEAR Sky Strategy” on 29 October 2024. The Joint Plan of Action specifies concrete cooperation among the three countries for 2024 to 2030, including cooperation on fire control and suppression, the reduction of hotspots, strengthening forecast and monitoring systems, promoting sustainable agricultural management, strengthening law enforcement, and promoting inter-agency coordination. It was born out of the necessity and urgency in addressing the rising PM 2.5 levels in this region.

During the discussions between the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Thailand and the Minister of Agriculture and Environment of Lao PDR, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to implementing the Joint Plan of Action to deal with transboundary haze pollution.

The discussions include the development of platforms for weather reports, efforts to set up the national information center for air quality, the joint development of a fire risk map, the promotion of networks against forest fires, and the use of the traceability system for agricultural products, especially maize, to ensure that production and imports would not be involved with agricultural burning.

On this occasion, Thailand proposed that a new memorandum of understanding between the two ministries on the management of natural resources and environment be drafted to align with the evolving situation and structural changes in the Lao ministry.

Thailand attaches great importance to addressing the issue of transboundary haze pollution, especially PM 2.5, for the people’s better quality of life and for sustainable development in this region.