More people affected by smog in the North

By Duangkamon Sajirawatthanakul

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Public Health Ministry found that nearly 100,000 people had fallen ill from the smog shrouding eight provinces in the North and warned that more would be affected if the situation persists.

Deputy Public Health Minister Pansiri Kulnartsiri said yesterday the ministry had already sent 150,000 facemasks to Chiang Mai; 110,000 to Chiang Rai; 69,000 to Lampang; 44,000 to Phayao; 43,000 to Nan; 42,000 to Phrae; 37,000 to Lamphun; and 23,000 to Mae Hong Son.

She said the number of patients at 19 hospitals in the eight provinces had been rising since January to March 6, and that in the past week 96,040 patients had showed up for treatment.

Heart disease had the highest ratio of 560 patients per 100,000 people followed by respiratory diseases at 501 patients per 100,000 people, she said.

However, if the smog situation was prolonged or worsened, more people would need to seek treatment and therefore the ministry had instructed hospitals and medical staff to start getting prepared.

Urging the public to closely follow air-pollution reports on a daily basis, she also advised everyone to protect themselves from the fine particle dust by wearing a facemask or covering their nose and mouth with a wet cloth.

The fine particles in air now exceeded the standard 120 micrograms per cubic metre and could cause breathing problems or lead to lung cancer in the long run.

-- The Nation 2010-03-11

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The fine particles in air now exceeded the standard 120

It is so way past the standard. The views are restricted by smoke, the sun is blotted out, and I have met people who think this is all just a pretty fog in the air this time of year. How much longer will this madness last? I don't mean this year, I mean until they finally put a stop to it. They have the data showing it is a health hazard and now they have the tools with satellite to pinpoint the location of each fire being set instantaneously. The fires I see being set are totally unnecessary and serve no purpose other than "that's just the way it's done here".

The fine particles in air now exceeded the standard 120

It is so way past the standard. The views are restricted by smoke, the sun is blotted out, and I have met people who think this is all just a pretty fog in the air this time of year. How much longer will this madness last? I don't mean this year, I mean until they finally put a stop to it. They have the data showing it is a health hazard and now they have the tools with satellite to pinpoint the location of each fire being set instantaneously. The fires I see being set are totally unnecessary and serve no purpose other than "that's just the way it's done here".

5555555....TIT .... Mai Pen Rai....

I've booked a flight to visit Chiang Rai this weekend!!!

Aghhhhhhhh Is it really that bad ??

no point in wrting up this article, just cut and paste from last year, its the same every year

From Chiang Rai: Not as bad as recent days. It's gone from very bad to bad. The white daytime sky has an ever so slight tinge of baby blue - that's an improvement. Lots of wind yesterday, so that may have blown some away (and blown some in from afar).

Because 2009 was much lower than usual rainfall, the brush didn't grow as full and gnarly as it does in normal years. There's only so much brush that can be burned, and it only burns once (each year) - so we may have turned the corner on the worst of it for this year.