Southern Thailand suffers from spreading haze

Parts of southern Thailand suffered from elevated haze conditions caused by forest fires in Indonesia, leading to health concerns and causing delayed flights.
Arglit Boonyai and Panu Wongcha-um, Channel NewsAsia 8 Oct 15;

BANGKOK: Parts of southern Thailand suffered from elevated haze conditions on Thursday (Oct 8) caused by forest fires in Indonesia, leading to health concerns and causing delayed flights.

The beach resort destination of Phuket was the worst affected area with particulate matter (PM10) reaching 200 micrograms per cubic metre on Wednesday. Thailand’s Pollution Control Department put acceptable levels at 120 micrograms.

Local media reported that PM10 levels declined in the neighbouring provinces of Surat Thani, Satun, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.

Visibility at Phuket Airport was just 200 metres on Thursday morning, according to the Aeronautical Radio of Thailand, and airlines were advised to postpone flights until the afternoon when the weather cleared up.

Five flights to Phuket were affected before 9:30am, while two flights experienced delayed landings including a Sri Lankan Airlines flight from Singapore that was forced to circle the airport for one hour and fifteen minutes. Three separate flights were redirected to Suvarnabhumi and Don Meung airports in Bangkok.

Phuket is currently preparing to hold its annual Vegetarian Festival from Oct 13-21, an event that is popular among Chinese, Malaysian and Singaporean tourists. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) in Phuket said that so far there had not been any significant drop in holiday bookings due to the haze.

However, it admitted that if the situation was prolonged then they expected to see an increase in cancellations. The TAT also expected last-minute bookings to drop while the haze issue continued.

The Pollution Control Department said the situation was expected to improve in the coming days, and in the meantime people in the area were advised to wear a face mask and avoid drinking rain water as it could contain dust particles.

Authorities working with the Public Health Ministry have already distributed more than 140,000 face masks to locals in southern Thailand. A centre has also been set up by the Phuket governor to help locals and tourists.

Holidaymakers in Phuket were assured that they could continue to enjoy their trips as normal, but the TAT issued a warning for all passenger and tourist boats to reduce speeds while visibility at sea remains poor.

Thailand’s Foreign Ministry has invited the Indonesian Ambassador to discuss emergency measures on how to solve the haze problem. The government said it is also looking to start a regional roadmap next year to improve ASEAN cooperation on tackling the haze.

Indonesia has requested Singapore, Malaysia, Russia and Japan to assist with helping put out forest fires.

- CNA/jb


Thai Offers To Help Indonesia On Haze Issue
Bernama 8 Oct 15;

BANGKOK, Oct 8 (Bernama) -- Thailand is ready to help Indonesia end the haze problem, caused by open burning and forest fires in Indonesia.

However, the Thai government would wait for Indonesia to work out details of the assistance required, said Vitavas Srivihok, Thai Deputy Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs.

The Indonesian side would inform the ASEAN what kind of assistance was needed, he said after a meeting with Indonesian ambassador to Thailand, Lutfi Rauf, here Thursday.

Thailand's Foreign Ministry invited Lufti to meet and discuss the haze problem, which had affected Thailand's southern provinces including Phuket, which recorded an unhealthy air quality index of 131 as at 3pm Thursday.

Vitavas said at the end of this month there will be a meeting of the Natural Resources Ministerial Level meeting among ASEAN members in Hanoi, Vietnam, which could be a good avenue for ASEAN members to discuss the issue and find solutions.

He said that during the half an hour meeting, Lutfi conveyed Indonesia's apology to Thailand and other countries in the region over the haze problem, and also thanked Thailand for the offer to help them.

Lutfi explained that the blaze was due to two reasons, the private companies which set fire and natural reason such as climate change.

He said that Indonesia would take serious legal action against those companies responsible for open burning.

-- BERNAMA

Indonesia envoy called for meeting as haze chokes Phuket
APINYA WIPATAYOTIN AND PRANGTHONG JITCHAROENKUL Bangkok Post 8 Oct 15;

Haze that has affected seven southern provinces in recent days was at its worst in the island resort province on Thursday with airborne particulate matter measured at 201 microgrammes per cubic metre of air, over 50% above the highest safe level of 120.

Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said before leaving for China that he hoped authorities meeting with ambassador Lutfi Rauf would work out short and long-term solutions to the annual haze problem, caused by slash-and-burn agriculture on Sumatra island and its part of Borneo island.

Thai officials also raised the issue for discussion in an Asean senior officials' meeting in Kuala Lumpur and would do the same again in the Asean Ministerial Meeting on Environment in Hanoi from Oct 27-29, Mr Don said.

The Pollution Control Department reported that haze continues to linger over Narathiwat, Pattani, Phuket, Satun, Songkhla, Surat Thani, and Yala. Only in Phuket, however, did it breach the unhealthy threshold.

In Malaysia and Singapore, haze has closed schools and prompted the cancellation of public events. On Thursday, Indonesia reversed its earlier stance and agreed to accept international help to combat and agricultural fires, AFP reported.

Vitavas Srivihok, deputy permanent secretary for foreign affairs, quoted the Indonesian ambassador as saying that the forest fires were too serious for Indonesia to handle alone and it needed assistance from other Asean-member states.

He said that Thailand was ready to help and would wait for Indonesia to work out details of the assistance it needed.

He also quoted the ambassador as apologising for the impacts on Thailand and other nearby countries.

In Narathiwat, pollution levels were at 68μg per cu/m, up from 56; 58μg per cu/m in Pattani, down from 69; 61μg per cu/m in Satun, down from 73; 86μg per cu/m in Songkhla, down from 108; 108μg per cu/m in Surat Thani, up from 93; and 47μg per cu/m in Yala, down from 60.

Normal levels in the South come in at below 40μg per cu/m.

Thursday evening pollution levels stood at 67μg per cu/m in Narathiwat, 64μg per cu/m in Pattani, 186μg per cu/m in Phuket, 56μg per cu/m in Satun, 85μg per cu/m in Songkhla, 113μg per cu/m in Surat Thani, and 45μg per cu/m in Yala.

Pollution levels can be monitored online at Air4Thai.pcd.go.th or via the Air4Thai application.


Haze hits Phuket tourism
PRATCH RUJIVANAROM, VISARUT SANKHAM THE NATION 9 Oct 15;

THE PROLONGED haze is hitting Phuket's tourism hard, with tourist operators on the island complaining about flight delays and holiday cancellations.

The problem stems from agricultural fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan in Indonesia.

Foreign Affairs Ministry deputy permanent secretary Vitavas Srivihok met with Indonesian Ambassador Lutfi Rauf yesterday to discuss the issue.

Vitavas said Lutfi said he was sorry and explained the Indonesian government was now taking harsh legal action against those behind the fires.

"During the meeting we told the ambassador that Thailand is ready to provide assistance," he said.

Lutfi said the Indonesian government was trying its best to extinguish the fires.

"The Indonesian authorities are applying many measures to put out the fire as our first priority," the ambassador said.

"We have been irrigating water to the burning peatland, making artificial rain and also water bombing the fire from above. More than 8,000 military personnel were called to the fire-extinguish operation."

He said there were 184 fire cases and 223 individuals and companies are involved in them, with 78 suspects detained.

"We are working with international partners especially within the Asean framework to relieve the haze situation," he said.

"We have already received some help from Malaysia and Singapore, but we need to make sure that the help from outside meets the needs on the field, otherwise the help will be useless." He said Thailand offered help Indonesia and asked what help it needed.

The Indonesian government was very appreciate of the offer and he would pass it on to Jakarta.

Lutfi said Indonesian authorities were seeking more and bigger aircraft to carry out the water bombing. The aircraft should be able to carry more than 25 tons of water.

At least three flights from Phuket to Bangkok were delayed yesterday morning due to the thick haze that affected visibility at Phuket International Airport.

All the flights were scheduled to depart Phuket before 8.20am, said an airport officer who joined an emergency meeting chaired by the provincial governor. The affected carriers were Bangkok Airways, Thai AirAsia and Thai Airways International.

The haze also affected a Silk Air international flight and a Jet Star international flight, with both having to circle the airport two extra times before being allowed to land.

Bangkok Airways has advised its passengers to contact its call centre on 1771 to check the status of flights especially those flights departing the South of Thailand and travelling to the South.

At 8am yesterday, an air-quality check showed the amount of particulate matter up to 10 microns in size had reached 210 micrograms in the Phuket city municipal area. The safe limit is 120 micrograms.

Kannapat Wongtikied, who runs the Phuket Sunny Hostel in Muang district, said about 20 per cent of room reservations had been cancelled in the wake of the haze.

"Several guests here have also cancelled their one-day trip-tour package. My business income has been falling by about 60 per cent," she said. She said some guests cut short their stay.

"One couple initially booked seven nights but they left for Myanmar after just two nights because of the haze," Kannapat said.

Auraiwan Phuthong, who runs the Phong Phang restaurant in the same district, said she handed out masks to her employees and her customers to help them cope with the haze.

"The number of customers has significantly dwindled. My income has dropped by about 30 per cent already," she said.

Phuket resident Phongpol Ratchapol said he wore a facial mask when outside, while locals plan to rally in front of the Phuket City Hall today and lodge a protest letter against the Indonesian government.

Suratin Lian-udom, a former mayor of Tambon Rassada Municipality, will reportedly lead the rally.