Smog forces Nok Air to drop Mae Hong Son flights
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The smog problem in the North yesterday forced Nok Air to cancel its flights from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son, where visibility had dropped to just 500 metres.
Kan Air’s flight to Mae Hong Son, meanwhile, was delayed by several hours for the same reason.
“Nok Air’s DD8202 and DD8203 flights from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son have been cancelled,” Mae Hong Son Airport’s acting director Thanissara Singhakul confirmed.
She said the airport had tried to improve visibility by turning on water sprinklers around its facilities.
The level of small dust particles in the category referred to as PM10 soared to 367.6 micrograms per cubic metre of air yesterday, she said. For the sake of people’s health, the level should not exceed 120 micrograms.
In Chiang Rai, the smog problem was also very serious, with the amount of small dust particles touching 431.6 micrograms per cubic metre of air.
Chiang Rai Governor Thanin Supasan said the provincial government was now securing the help of the Royal Thai Air Force in combating the smog.
“Two RTAF planes will be deployed to sprinkle water in the sky over Chiang Rai so as to ease the problem,” he said.
Water-sprinkling efforts are expected to help at least a little, as rainfall last week led to a significant fall in smog intensity in the North.
RTAF deputy chief-of-staff Air Marshal Thongchai Chalamket said the aircraft could each carry about 3,700 litres of water per flight, which was sufficient to cover an area of more than one rai.
“We can arrange about 12 flights per day,” he said, adding that such planes were normally used for extinguishing forest fires.
The smog has now hit most areas of the North. The Pollution Control Department said the level of small dust particles now ranged between 111 and 432.6 micrograms per cubic metre in the region.
In Lamphun, the level was hovering around 195.4 micrograms, while it had risen to 134.13 micrograms in the neighbouring province of Lampang.
