Authorities said they have found six 'hotspots' in a forest as farmers continued burning fields in northern Thailand.

Officials have urged residents to stop the illegal slash-and-burn agriculture practice as six fires were found ripping through the Mae Hat National Forest Reserve in Chiang Mai province on January 23.

The fires were reported to have razed at least 24 acres of woodland.

Doi Sak district chief Permsak Srisawat said local authorities were gathered at a meeting to address the perennial problem causing cancer-inducing air pollution in the country.

The fires were believed to be caused by farmers using fire to cheaply clear their lands.

Permsak said the Royal Forest Department has been requested to set up checkpoints around the Mae Hat National Forest Reserve. He added that officials have proposed establishing a patrol unit dedicated to stopping illegal agricultural burning.

Smoke has surged across Southeast Asia in recent years amid rising demand for food from a rapidly developing population with an increasing GDP.

Dangerous levels of deadly PM 2.5 particled are recorded every year in Thailand between December and April.

Despite paying lip service for several years, politicians have failed to stop individuals from burning their land due to it being cheaper and easier than modern farming methods.

In March 2023, the Public Health Ministry of Thailand reported that around 1.3 million people in the country had been unwell due to the rising levels of air pollution. Officials said 200,000 residents were hospitalised in a single week.

They warned hospitals in December 2023 to prepare for an influx of patients.

It came as researchers from Peking University in Beijing, China, also discovered that long-term exposure to particulate matter PM.25 air pollution is associated with an increased risk of lung cancer.

In December, Dr Krittai Thanasombatkul from Chiang Mai, Thailand, died of lung cancer. He had previously blamed PM 2.5 microdust particles for his condition.

The New York State Department of Health say PM 2.5 increases the risk of heart disease, asthma, and low birth weight.

While medics from South Korea published research in the National Institute of Health in the United States that said the pollutant increases the risk of stroke, ischemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer, and other illnesses such as immune deficiency and even obesity.