Thailand - Smog emergency

Thailand may declare an environmental emergency in tourist hotspot Chiang Mai and two other northern provinces after a thick smog blanketed the region, the environment minister said Tuesday.

Kasem Snidwong Na Ayuttaya said air quality in three provinces was double the hazardous level after widespread forest fires and farmers setting blazes to clear land.

The elderly and children were urged to stay inside, with some five million people in eight northern provinces affected by the haze, the health ministry said.

Tourism officials were also worried that holidaymakers would be deterred by images of the smoke and residents wearing surgical masks.

Air quality is measured in micrograms per cubic metre, with 120 considered hazardous. Measurements of 240 and 290 micrograms per cubic metre were recorded in the provinces on Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son and Lamphun, Kasem said...

The health ministry said it had already distributed 130,000 masks, with another 170,000 being passed out Tuesday.

Kasem said northern army units were working with the forestry department to control the forest fires, which began in late February and have been reported in about 1,340 locations.

The fires in northern Thailand, as well as neighbouring Laos and Myanmar, were caused by farmers trying to clear land and by people burning the forest to make scavenging for wild mushrooms easier, Kasem said.

All flights from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son town were suspended for the second day running Tuesday because of bad visibility.