Tan Hui Yee Thailand Correspondent In Bangkok Straits Times 26 Jun 13;
THE smoke from Indonesia's burning forests blanketed Thailand's southernmost provinces yesterday, reducing visibility to 300m in some areas.
Air pollution in Narathiwat province bordering Malaysia exceeded acceptable levels.
At 8am yesterday, the amount of PM10 particles, which are up to 10 microns in diameter, was found to be 129 micrograms per cubic metre, exceeding the safe level of 120 micrograms per cubic metre.
The reading for Yala province, just next to Narathiwat, also crept up to 94, from 55 on Monday morning.
Farther north, the visibility in Hat Yai, Songkhla province, was reduced to 500m, according to Thai broadcaster MCOT.
Motorists had to use their headlights, and fishermen stayed ashore.
The haze in south Thailand comes months after the air cleared in the northern provinces, where slash-and-burn farming causes unsafe air quality levels from February to April annually.
In mid-March, the PM10 reading in a section of Thailand's northernmost Chiang Rai province crossed the 400 mark.
Meanwhile, Thailand expressed support for Malaysia's suggestion to bring forward a regional ministerial meeting on transboundary haze pollution.
Bangkok has no issue "as long as all parties are agreeable", Foreign Ministry spokesman Manasvi Srisodapol said yesterday.
