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Northerners suffer as fires continue burning




Small dust particles are at a dangerously high levels due to forest fires and slash-and-burn farming in the region.

Environmental authorities will also present a reforestation scheme to the premier. The scheme would incorporate His Majesty the King's advice that the government focus on forest rehabilitation to tackle floods and landslides, Chote Trachu, permanent-secretary for the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, said.

High levels of haze have gripped eight northern provinces, hampering visibility and causing health problems.

Many people have sought medical treatment for respiratory ailments and eye irritations at hospitals and clinics after being exposed to the air pollution for more than a week.

The affected provinces are Mae Hong Son, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Lampang, Nan, Phrae and Phayao, where levels of small particulate matter smaller than 10 microns (PM10) have exceeded the safety level of 120 microgrammes per cubic metre (ug/cu m).

Lampang had the highest level of PM10 yesterday, with dust particles reaching 279 ug/cu m.

Poor visibility at Lampang airport yesterday caused Bangkok Airways services to be cancelled, delayed or diverted to Sukhothai.

The Public Health Ministry sped up distribution of face masks to people in affected areas and warned residents, especially the elderly, pregnant women, children and people with chronic diseases to stay indoors.

Officials at the northern environmental office say the haze problem is even worse than the most recent haze crisis five years ago.

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Don't go outside, northerners told

Residents of provinces in the North badly hit by smog were warned yesterday against going outdoors.

"Don't go out if you can't see the power pole in your neighbourhood during the day. That's a sign that the amount of small dust particles in the air has reached a dangerous level," said Dr TAKthep Siriwanarangsan, head of the Disease Control Department.

His comment is based on data that power poles are usually 40 metres apart. If one is unable to see nearby power poles, it means the amount of small dust particles or PM10 has soared above 200 micrograms per cubic metres of air.

"That amount is really harmful to health," he said. Safe limits require that the amount of PM10 be no higher than 120 micrograms per cubic metre of air.

TAKthep said when the air pollution gets that bad, people should stay inside and close the doors/windows of their houses.

He said research conducted in the US had shown that death rates increased to one for every 100,000 people when the PM10 particles reached 210 micrograms. The number of patients with smog-related health problems has soared since serious smog problems hit Lamphun and Phayao.

TAKthep said people should wear masks and glasses if they have to go out amid the smog.

"The smog problem is more serious than last year," he said.

Eight northern provinces have seen the amount of PM10 dust particles soar above safe limits. Chiang Rai has seen the worst.

TAKthep urged village health volunteers to help prevent locals from lighting fires to burn garbage or "clear" farmland.

"More fires will mean worsening smog problems," he said.

Nan public-health chief Dr Pisit Sriprasert said people should not rub their eyes with their hands if they feel eye irritation because of the smog.

"Use wet fabric on your eyes. But if the conditions are serious, please immediately visit doctors," he said.

Pollution Control Department (PCD) director-general Wicharn Simachaya, meanwhile, said forest fires that caused harmful haze in the North were mainly in neighbouring countries.

"It is very difficult to control smog in neighbouring countries," he said, adding that the number of forest-fire hotspots in Thailand had declined over the past week.

To reduce haze caused by forest fires in areas around Thailand, Wicharn said he would attend a meeting with Greater Mekong Subregion countries such as Laos, Burma, Cambodia, and Vietnam to seek a resolution to control trans-boundary haze.

"I hope that these countries will cooperate with us to reduce haze."

He claimed it was very difficult for government officials to prevent people from lighting farms to burn garbage and clear farmland.

"The only thing that we can do now is ask people to give us cooperation from local people to keep their villages free from slashing and burning," he said.

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AIR POLLUTION
3 provinces in North still unsafe


The northern provinces of Lampang, Phayao and Chiang Rai continued to endure dust - or PM10 - levels beyond the safety standard of 120 micrograms per cubic metre of air yesterday, but in other provinces the pollution situation returned to normal.

The Pollution Control Department reported that Lampang's City Shrine air quality station continued to record levels of 133.74 micrograms, Tambon Soppad station 122.25 micrograms and Tambon Tha Si station 121.25 micrograms - but all were lower than the day before

Chiang Rai reported 194.96 micrograms, below the previous day's 249.88 micrograms; while Phayao's Kwan Phayao Lake station reported 138.96 micrograms, a drop from 278.71 micrograms.

The department said the reduced dust in many provinces was due to a moderate high-pressure area from China which brought strong winds and rainfall in the North over one to two days. A rainmaking flight yesterday wasn't successful because the Chiang Mai air was too dry. Northern Royal Rainmaking Centre academic Kitti Thoopsri said the centre would adjust its operation and three aircraft were dispatched yesterday afternoon to make six trips and spread five tonnes of rain-making substance over Chiang Mai, Lampang and Phayao.

Weather forecasters said the moderate high-pressure area would increase humidity in the air and bring some rain, which Kitti said would help the centre's operations.

In Tak's Mae Sot district, residents had to wear facemasks outdoors when the haze affected their respiratory systems and caused eye irritations.

Grocer Chanida Fakpol said she had to wear a mask while working because the haze was visible and she wouldn't be able to breathe without it. She already had an eye irritation.

In Mae Sot, soldiers and forest-fire control officials and volunteers managed to put out a forest fire along the Mae Sot-Muang Tak Road, which had been making the haze problem worse

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HAZE
Air quality in Mae Sai hits dangerous levels



Smog in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district worsened yesterday, with small dust particles jumping to 305.6 micrograms per cubic metre of air - the highest in the country.

Chiang Rai Governor Thanin Supasean, who is studying the situation, handed out masks yesterday.

For people to remain in sound health, each cubic metre of air should contain no more than 120 micrograms of small dust particles, which are PM10 in size.

Once the amount of dust particles goes beyond 200 micrograms, people are usually advised to stay indoors. However, the situation in Mae Sai was clearly worse.

An informed source said yesterday that the smog in Chiang Rai was getting serious because farmers in a neighbouring country had started burning up forests to clear land for the upcoming farming season.

Residents in Chiang Rai's Muang district were also at risk as the amount of PM10 particles hovered around 219.3 micrograms per cubic metre of air.

Meanwhile, Apicha Trasin, chairman of the Chiang Rai Tourism Association, warned that if this situation continues for any longer, it could harm people's health and scare away tourists. In Chiang Mai, each cubic metre of air was found to contain 200.72 micrograms of small dust particles and the problem was found to be persisting despite the rain-making operations.

Chiang Mai Tour Guide Association chairman Somrit Haikham has called on all relevant parties to join hands in extinguishing forest fires, strictly controlling dust from construction sites and preventing people from setting fires for land-clearing purposes.

Mae Hong Son had about 168.88 micrograms of small dust particles per cubic metre of air.

Pai Tourism Club chairwoman WalaiTAK Ruangnitikul said the smog was worse this year compared to last year. Pai is a popular tourist destination in Mae Hong Son.

"Smog hits us between mid-February and mid-March every year, but this year it is more severe," she said, adding that tourists were only expected to return once the rainy season begins.

The air quality in some other northern provinces was also worrying, with its amount reaching 243.13 micrograms per cubic metre of air in Phayao, 206.67 micrograms in Lampang, 202 micrograms in Phrae, 165.25 micrograms in Nan and 136.04 micrograms in Lamphun.
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Thousands may be evacuated in haze-hit Mae Sai

His Majesty the King is worried about the haze in the North and has instructed the president of the Rajaprajanigroh Foundation to visit affected areas, a senior official said yesterday.

The Pollution Control Department yesterday reported that atmospheric levels of fine-particle dust, or PM 10, were unsafe in all nine upper northern provinces.

Officials in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district prepared to evacuate residents of tall buildings as PM10 reached a dangerous level of 357 micrograms per cubic metre (mg/m3) - way above the "safe" level of 120 mg/m3.

Song Klinpathum, chief of the Northern Royal Rainmaking Operations Centre, said the King instructed the president of the Rajaprajanigroh Foundation to visit Chiang Mai this week to help local authorities tackle the problem.

Song said the rainmaking centre continued to add humidity to the air, with two flights yesterday to sprinkle humidity-boosting chemicals in Chiang Mai, Lampang and Lamphun, as humidity levels weren't high enough to allow the use of rain-making chemicals.

He said while the weather had cooled in the North, a low-pressure system in the area made conditions unsuitable for rainmaking.

Continued unsafe dust levels were reported yesterday in Chiang Rai and eight other northern provinces. Mae Sai district chief Sopon Choom said he had prepared a plane to evacuate residents in the event the province is declared a disaster zone. The district had contacted owners of tall buildings about the evacuation plan, which would cover more than 100,000 evacuees, he said.

In Lampang, the PM 10 level at the air quality station at Ban Thasi Health Promotion Hospital in Mae Mo district was 247 mg/m3.

In Tak, Phop Phra district chief Phot Rhuworanan said haze in the area - where many residents continue to light fires outdoors despite a ban - was made worse by farm clearing and outdoor burning in neighbouring Burma.

He said officials were offering a reward of Bt5,000 to people who provide information about others doing outdoor burns or starting forest fires, while Tak Governor Suriya Prasatbundit was planning to contact officials in Myawaddy, in Burma opposite Mae Sot, to ask them to control forest fires and stop residents lighting fires outdoors.

In Lampang’s Ngao district, meanwhile, a forest fire broke out in a 200-rai area along Ngao-Phayao Road at 2pm yesterday. And in Chiang Mai’s Doi Suthep-Pui National Park, a 15-rai forest fire was reported late yesterday. A poacher was suspected to have started the blaze.

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