Thai authorities trying to stop haze

BANGKOK, February 29 (TNA) - Authorities in many provinces in the Thai North are trying to relieve weeks of haze, caused by forest fires, as local people are now suffering from respiratory problems. In Chiang Mai province, the thick haze has blanketed the heart of the northern Thai city with visibility dropping to less than 500 meters and local people suffering from eye and nose irritation. Officials have used fire engines to spray water to relieve the thick smog. There are forest fires at up to about 100 locations in Chiang Mai now, including in Kalayani Vadhana and Mae Cham districts and in areas near the border. In Mae Hong Son province, fire engines have been applied for the same purpose although haze particles were latest measured at 108.7 micrograms per cubic meter of air, below the safety standard at 120 micrograms per cubic meter of air. In Chiang Rai province, authorities have also applied the same solution, as haze particles have been measured at a harmful level. Somkiat Chuentheerawong, head of a tourism association in Chiang Rai, asked local people to stop setting fires and urged authorities to arrest violators. Even in Chaiyaphum province in the Thai Northeast, a forest fire on the Phu Lankha mountain range has reached Non Sathon village, killing an elderly farmer and burning over 100 rai or 160,000 square meters of local farmlands. (TNA)