Thailand coping with haze from Indonesia

BANGKOK, June 25 (TNA) - Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has expressed her concerns over spreading haze from forest fires in Indonesia, which has now affected the southern part of Thailand and ordered concerned agencies to cope with its impacts and to discuss solutions with neighboring countries. Thai Government Spokesman Teerat Ratanasevi told a press conference after the Cabinet's weekly meeting on Tuesday that Premier Yingluck has ordered Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul to discuss solutions to the spreading haze with Indonesia and the Philippines, as its impacts have reached Thailand. Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi acknowledged, meanwhile, that he has ordered the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency to report areas and intensity of the haze with daily satellite photos. Plodprasop said he has also instructed the Pollution Control Department to inform people, through radio and television, of updated levels of particulate matters in affected areas so that they can plan their trips well. Besides, the Ministry of Public Health has been assigned to prepare to treat respiratory patients affected by the spreading smog. According to the deputy prime minister the haze has reached Hat Yai, Thailand's business district in the southern Songkhla province, with the level of particulate matters standing at 90 micrograms per cubic meter of air, a moderate towards high level, earlier in the day. The deputy prime minister noted if the south wind remained at the present level and there was the north wind, the haze should not go beyond Songkhla, as it now rains fairly in the Thai South, and the situation should, thus, be contained. (TNA)