Officers battled illegal forest fires overnight in northern Thailand.

The Department of Forestry's Fire Hawk Team tackled the blaze detected in the Mae Taeng National Forest Reserve in Chiang Mai province.

Firefighters wore GPS trackers as they ventured into the woodlands to keep the fire that stretched around two kilometres across the forest from spreading into the surrounding residential areas.

Deputy Chiang Mai Governor Tossapol Phueanudom said expert personnel were deployed as nighttime firefighting operations were more dangerous.

He said: 'The goal is to extinguish the fire within three hours or within the night, after which the firefighters' performance results will be analysed and used as a guide for dealing with future wildfires.'

Forest fires are a perennial problem in Thailand, where farmers regularly flout local laws and set their fields ablaze to clear their land easily. However, the fires often spread to nearby forests and nature reserves.

As a result, dangerous levels of deadly PM 2.5 particles - which cause cancer and other debilitating illnesses - 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.