Haze causes US Embassy plane to change landing site

CHIANG MAI, THAILAND, March 9 (TNA) - Haze remains blanketing the northern Thai region, forcing a special flight of the US Embassy in Bangkok to change its landing location on Monday. The small plane of the US Embassy, carrying US Charge d'Affaires W. Patrick Murphy from Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport for a mission in the northern Mae Hong Song Province, landed instead in adjacent Chiang Mai Province as a safety precaution due to thick smog with low visibility. Particulate matters in several areas in the Thai North remained exceeding the safe standard level of 120 microgrammes per cubic metre, causing low visibility and air pollution, with those in Mae Hong Son latest measured the highest at 173 microgrammes per cubic metre, followed by 155 microgrammes per cubic metre in Chaing Mai and 138 microgrammes per cubic metre in Phayao and Chaing Rai. Meanwhile, Kiattisak Rianwattana, Director of Chiang Mai's Aviation Control Centre, told journalists although haze remains affecting many northern provinces, visibility for normal aviation is required no lower than 1,500 metres. The director reported that aviation visibility in Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai latest stood at 1,800 metres and 2,500 metres respectively. According to the director, it is also up to a pilot's consideration and decision on whether a site is safe for landing. (TNA)