Critical haze in Thai North, drought in Northeast

BANGKOK, March 26 (TNA) - People in several northern Thai provinces are facing critical haze and widespread forest fires; while those in northeastern areas are suffering from severe drought. In the northern Chiang Rai province, critical haze has prompted local authorities to deploy fire engines and Royal Thai Air Force planes to spray water to improve visibility at the Chiang Rai Airport. In nearby Chiang Mai province, forest and garbage burning has continued in Fang district and adjacent areas where visibility was zero on Tuesday morning on roads on Pha Hom Pok and Ang Khang Mountains; while local villagers have always worn face masks, as particulate matters latest measured 202 micrograms per cubic meter of air at Yuparat Wittayalai School, an increase from Monday’s level. In adjacent Nan province, soldiers are trying to put out forest fires in the compound of Baan Nakham in Pua district; while an air quality station in the Muang Nan Municipality measured particulate matters at 217 micrograms per cubic meter of air, a level harmful to public health, prompting authorities to have advised locals to always wear face masks. In Sakon Nakhon and Nakhon Phanom provinces in the Thai Northeast, officials at the Kam river basin royal development project are, meanwhile, are trying to reserve as much water as possible, as water levels in the Mekong River have been subsiding rapidly and they want to protect local agriculture during the ongoing dry season when paddy fields are in urgent need for water. In nearby Kalasin province, several water sources have dry up, prompting local villagers to have dug new wells for water supply, as drought is now at its worst in the northeastern province this year. (TNA)