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Bangkok Post
Bangkok Post
National

South getting smoke from Indonesia, fires still burning in North

A map from the Pollution Control Department shows the level of particulate matter in Betong district, Yala, and other areas of the far South, at 4pm on Monday.

The southernmost district town of Betong in Yala province is covered in smoke haze, which usually comes from Indonesia at this time of the year officials said.

The PM10 level, particles with a diameter of 10 micrometres or less, in Betong on Monday morning was measured at 54 microgrammes per cubic metre (µg/m3), which was not yet hazardous to health officials said. Visibility was normal but motorists were advised to be cautious.

Health officials advised people that if the  smog level increased they could suffer eye irritation and resperatory problems.

The air pollution monitoring station of the Prince of Songkla University reported levels of much finer PM2.5 dust all over the South on Monday measured at 50-55 µg/m3, at very the top of the government-set safe level.

In the North, a wildfire was still burning in Mae Pim National Park, with Doi Pui area in tambon Tha Sai of Chiang Rai's Muang district most affected.

On Sunday night, the fire was centred on a mountain near a TV Channel 9 transmission tower. National park and local govenment crews, assisted by volunteers, cleared a firebreak that kept the flames away from the tower, but the blaze continued to spread through the Doi Pui area.

Also in Chiang Rai, fires were reported in Nam Kok forest in tambon Huay Chomphu of Muang district; Doi Kat Phi in the Lam Nam Kok National Park in Mae Suay district; near Huay Kang Pla waterfall in Mae Chan district; and a forest reserve in Wiang Pa Pao district.

At least 170 hotspots were detected throughout the province on Sunday.

In Lampang, a fire continued on Doi Phra Bat mountain in Muang district.  About 100 firefighters in five teams were tackling flames spreading through Khelang Banphot National Park and Phra Bat Botanical Garden. It was still burning on Monday.

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