Thai Foreign Ministry shifts gear as smog tightens grip on South

[webfact]

HAZE
Foreign Ministry shifts gear as smog tightens grip on South
THE NATION



BANGKOK: -- THE FOREIGN Ministry is exploring all possible means, including diplomacy, in its bid to tackle the spread of haze into southern Thailand from agricultural fires in neighbouring Indonesia.

"We would like to assure people living in Thailand's South and anyone affected by the haze that we are doing our best," Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai said yesterday, as smog levels continued to threaten the health of residents as well as disrupt flights in many southern provinces.

Indonesian Ambassador Lutfi Rauf separately confirmed that he would meet with Thai officials at the Foreign Ministry at 11am today. Don said his ministry would express concern about the smog's impact during the meeting.

He added that he would also seek the cooperation of haze-affected neighbours such as Malaysia in joining discussions with Indonesia.

Flights to the southern provinces of Songkhla, Krabi and Phuket were delayed amid thick haze yesterday.

Several planes were forced to circle for 20 minutes to an hour before landing as they waited for improved visibility.

Visibility on roads was also significantly reduced, with motorists in Songkhla saying they could see no more than 200 metres. In Phatthalung province, road visibility was down to less than 500 metres.

The level of particulate matter up to 10 microns in size (PM10) also rose beyond the safe limit of 120 micrograms in many parts of the South.

Phuket recorded levels of 163 micrograms while Krabi saw 130 micrograms. Complaints of eye irritation, skin irritation and respiratory problems have risen dramatically across the region in recent days.

Only one-third of children turned up at the Phuket City Municipality's nursery yesterday, as parents took precautions against the smog.

"Most children have fallen sick, so the parents have kept them at home," a nursery teacher said.

Elsewhere, Satun Primary Education Office chief Nisit Chaiphak said he had instructed the directors of 161 primary schools in the southern province to temporarily close if the smog level worsened.

In Trang province, shops on Pakmeng beach were all shuttered as tourists stayed away.

Local entrepreneurs are complaining about the economic impact of the haze.

"My friends and I reckon we will have to close our shops until the smog eases," said Wanna Suansri, a shop owner in the smog-blanketed province of Phatthalung. "Even when we open, there's no customers anyway."

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Foreign-Ministry-shifts-gear-as-smog-tightens-grip-30270418.html


-- The Nation 2015-10-08

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

They should send their aircraft carrier to Sumatera to show that they are really pissed off.

When the tourists (aka walking ATM machines) are leaving in the south it must really hurt them.

[clockman]

They never stopped the soon to come Northern haze. And this has been going on for at least a decade.

[shirtless]

Why bother talking about taxes for global warming when these retards keep burning off instead of mulching, wheres the UN this is an asian mindset to burn rubbish.

[robblok]

They never stopped the soon to come Northern haze. And this has been going on for at least a decade.

Because the northern haze is partly made by Thais.. this is much easier no Thais involved so they can act tough.

[Bob12345]

Indonesian Ambassador Lutfi Rauf separately confirmed that he would meet with Thai officials at the Foreign Ministry at 11am today. Don said his ministry would express concern about the smog's impact during the meeting.

This will be very helpful. Whenever there is a huge fire in Indonesia you don't need firefighters or planes dropping water on the fires, what you actually need is diplomats meeting in an office expressing their concern.

Even though the meeting will take place 2 hours from now, I already found a transcript of the meeting:

Thais: the haze if effecting Thailand, we are not happy with that

Indonesians: the haze is caused by fires. We are not happy with the fires either. Unfortunately we are currently unable to control the fires or where the smoke goes to.

Thais: we understand, the fires are huge and you cannot change the direction of the wind. But we urge you to solve the problem.

Indonesians: yes, we do our best and are making progress

Thais: thank you, that is all we can ask for. I hope the fires will stop soon as it must be bad for your country as well

Indonesians: thank you for your concern. We hope the damage to your country will be limited.

- both parties shake hands and pose for photo opportunities -

[cornishcarlos]

Visibility in Songkhla was down to 200m on the roads.. So ?

Most drivers only look 10m ahead of themselves anyway

[tigermonkey]

Indonesia is lying about the severity of the problem. They don't want help because others would discover the depth of the problem. Indonesia will never admit that the situation is out of control once again. However they fail to realize that this is 2015 and people already know. This is a repeat of 1997 when the deadly haze lasted for many months and more than 8 billion hectares of rain forest were destroyed. Then as now, the region is enduring el nino induced drought conditions.

If you are appalled by the PM10 reading in Phuket of 163, consider that the highest reading yesterday in Indonesia was 690 (on Kalimantan). Also the air quality monitoring equipment in Jakarta has been "broken" for the past 2 weeks; so no readings for Jakarta.

Out of control brush/forest burning is only part of the problem. Coal seam fires and peat bog fires are everywhere, and are merely left to burn themselves out (underground), which could take years or centuries, like Burning Mountain in Australia. These fires produce far more deadly gases and smoke than vegetation fires. The Government of Indonesia claims there are about 700 such fires in total on Sumatra plus Kalimantan. NGO guesstimates put the number of such fires between 100,000 and 250,000 - a few more than the government lie.

[Srikcir]

"THE FOREIGN Ministry is exploring all possible means, including diplomacy"

What other means are there other than diplomacy? Perhaps the Minister can be more specific.

Thailand is not in a position to use typical nondiplomatic alternatives for nations in conflict such as economic blockade, financial sanctions, military action and withdrawal from security partnerships.

[BestBitterPhuket]

The Indonesians should be held accountable by the global community and punished severely. This fires affects ALL the world, not only SE Asia.

[fred Kubasa]

There is absolutely, positively, nada/none/zero, things that can be done

other then friendly winds carrying the haze away !

[Jonmarleesco]

Ironic, considering Thailand hosts its own home-produced smog in the N.E.

[NeilSA1]

It is lucky for Russia that their fighter jets did not violate Thailand's airspace.​

Its only the neighbour's friendly smog violating Thailand's airspace, and does not adversely effect the Thai people at all.​

Edited October 8, 2015 by NeilSA1