Several Thai provinces remain under haze, drought-related threats

BANGKOK, March 26 (TNA) - Haze and drought-related problems have remained in several Thai provinces, mostly in the North and Northeast, some of them have been critically affected. In Chiang Mai province, thick haze and particulate matters have remained blanketing the heart of the northern Thai city, where locals need to wear face masks, as the particulate matters smaller than 10 microns now measure at as high as 204 micrograms per cubic meter of air in the heart of the province. Local hospitals have treated more than 1,000 respiratory patients daily for a week, when doctors have advised locals to refrain from outdoor activities and exercises in the mornings and the evenings as the provincial smog stays close to the ground during the periods and, thus, harms their health. The Meteorological Department warned on Monday that a low pressure mass in the Upper Thai North should keep haze close to the ground in the region for a certain period, prompting Natural Resources and Environment Minister Preecha Rengsomboonsuk to call a meeting with the governors of nine northern Thai provinces and representatives of concerned agencies at the Chiang Mai Provincial Hall to discuss the situation and solutions. Meanwhile, drought has affected several provinces nationwide. In the northeastern Buri Ram province, for instance, over 400 households in three villages of Muang district have suffered from water shortages for two years. In Uttaradit province in the Lower Thai North, rice farmers have severely been affected by drought as well, as there have been insufficient water for grown-up grains and they are dying. In Lamphun province, also in the Thai North, water levels in the Ta River, which runs through three districts, have been declining, leaving local farmers without water to care for their over 20,000 rais (2.5 rai=1 acre) of their longan orchards. In Trang province in the Thai South, the increasing intensity of drought with drying local water sources and damaging farmlands, caused by a long period of no rainfalls, have prompted the provincial disaster prevention and mitigation office to have declared six districts drought-stricken zones, severely affecting some 300,000 locals. In nearby Songkhla province, drought has started affecting local rubber plantations, causing young rubber trees to be dying. In Surin province in the Northeast, a thunderstorm completely damaged some 50 houses and injured six locals, three of them were in critical conditions, in Kab Cheng district, prompting local authorities to have provided urgent assistance to the affected victims. (TNA)