Pridiyathorn to discuss smog remedies with governors
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DEPUTY Prime Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula will meet with eight governors from the North in Chiang Mai tomorrow in a bid to find ways to combat wildfires that are partly to blame for severe haze in the region.
Pridiyathorn said the smog situation was improving, although some provinces like Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai still had high air pollution levels.
He thanked the Singaporean Air Force, which sent manpower and a Chinook helicopter to aid fire-fighting operations, and anyone else who has provided assistance.
The Singaporean team yesterday joined their Thai counterparts, who used a MI17 helicopter, to extinguish a wildfire at a difficult to access forest bordering Chiang Mai’s Doi Saket district and Chiang Rai’s Wiang Pa Pao district.
The Pollution Control Department said yesterday that readings of small particulate matter of up to 10 microns in diameter had decreased in almost all northern provinces but some readings were still at unsafe levels.
They were Mae Hong Son (244 micrograms per cubic metre), Chiang Rai (161 micrograms) and Tak (139 micrograms). The safe level is 120 micrograms.
In Chiang Rai’s Mae Suay district, a wildfire surveillance and protection centre was set up yesterday in front of the Tambon Padaed Administrative Organisation Office after the district was labelled a wildfire-prone area.
Up to 100 officers from the 31 Ranger Regiment Task Force and the Pha Muang Task Force have joined personnel from the Royal Forestry Department and the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department as well as local authorities in manning the centre for 24 hours.
The centre has an investigation unit charged with bringing arsonists to justice.
In Nan, three people suspected of causing a wildfire have been arrested. Baanjerd Suthampang and Luagu Sailaemthong were arrested by Pua district police, while Yai Akkara was arrested by Bo Kluea district police. They were fined Bt200 each.
The wildfires and notably the annual cornfield burns are major factors behind the smog problem.
