Attempts to stop haze continue in Thai North

BANGKOK, March 2 (TNA) - Rainmaking to fight haze in northern Thailand has continued for four days but to no avail, while there are about 50 forest fire hot spots in Chiang Mai Province. Song Klin-pra-thum, director of Thailand's royal rainmaking operations center, told journalists on Friday that low humidity had obstructed rainmaking missions to relieve haze in Chiang Mai over the past four days. Besides, Song said, clouds were over 14,000 feet high yesterday, too high for rainmaking planes which can climb to the altitude of only 8,000 feet, admitting that rainmaking is unlikely to succeed for the time being. Meanwhile, local authorities report that there were as many as 50 forest fire hot spots in 11 districts of Chiang Mai over the past two days and most of them were in Om Koi District. Haze particles smaller than 10 microns were measured 174 micrograms per cubic meter of air at the Chiang Mai government complex Friday morning, exceeding the safety standard level of 120 micrograms per cubic meter. In nearby Chiang Rai Province, haze particles in Mae Sai District were measured at 305.6 micrograms per cubic meter of air, the highest level in the smog-hit Thai North currently. Haze in other northern Thai provinces are also worrying, as dust particles were latest measured at 168.88 micrograms per cubic meter of air in Mae Hong Son, 243.13 micrograms per cubic meter in Phayao, 206.67 micrograms per cubic meter in Lampang, 202 micrograms per cubic meter in Phrae, 165.25 micrograms per cubic meter in Nan and 136.04 micrograms per cubic meter in Lamphun respectively. Normally, once dust particles go beyond 200 micrograms per cubic meter of air, people are normally advised to stay indoors or to use face masks when staying outdoors to protect their health. (TNA)