Tak choking on smog from fires
Fire engines and municipal water trucks were spraying water into the air in part of western Tak province’s Mae Sot district on Monday as particulates reached an unhealthy level.
PM10 were measured at 130 micrograms – above the safe level of 120 – in smog-shrouded Tambon Mae Pa.
Despite an ongoing 60-day ban on outdoor burning, in effect since February 10, residents are still clearing farmland with controlled fires. Several people have been arrested in recent weeks.
Mae Sot district chief Chaipreuk Chienthanarak has instructed kamnan and village headmen to talk to local hunters and people who gather material from the forests about the need to stop burning.
He said officials were also now able to respond more quickly to reports of land-clearing fires.
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