Haze in the South 'easing'

[Lite Beer]

SMOG
Haze in the South 'easing'
The Nation

CHUMPON: -- Particulate measurements within safe limits in 7 provinces

NEWS that the dire haze situation in the South has improved comes as the government launched numerous measures aimed at easing the impact of the problem on people and businesses.

The Royal Thai Air Force has even sprayed water over hard-hit densely populated areas of Songkhla province in a bid to protect the health of people.

The smog has played havoc in the Southern region for many days, as winds brought smoke from Indonesia's bush fires.

"Now, the overall haze problem has eased," Government Spokesman Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said yesterday.

He said Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha was worried about the haze's impact on people and had instructed relevant agencies to tackle the problem seriously.

The urgent measures are rainmaking operations, water spraying, the distribution of facial masks, and discussions with Indonesia over the problem.

The amount of particulate matter up to 10 microns in size (PM10), Sansern said, had not exceeded the safe limit of 120 micrograms per cubic metre of air in Surat Thani, Phuket, Songkhla, Yala, Narathiwat, Satun and Pattani as of press time yesterday.

Phuket Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada said the haze situation in his province had shown signs of improving. He said there had not been any more flight delays because of poor visibility after 24 flights to and from Phuket were delayed between 6am Thursday to 6am yesterday.

Suratin Lianudom, a former mayor of Tambon Rassada Municipality, yesterday lodged an open letter with the Indonesian president via the provincial Phuket authority demanding that Jakarta pay serious attention to preventing the haze problem.

"Smog has affected the normal lives of people," he said in the letter.

Suratin said many tourists had been unable to connect with flights back to their home countries in time because of haze-caused flight delays.

Many children and elderly people in Phuket had developed health problems because of the haze, he said.

Yesterday, haze delayed at least four flights at Krabi International Airport, while Ranong Hospital deputy director Dr Arun Sattayapisan said the number of patients at the hospital had jumped by more than 30 per cent in the past few days because of the smog.

"Ranong doesn't have a station to check air quality. So we really don't know whether the air quality has dropped dangerously," he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Haze-in-the-South-easing-30270570.html

-- The Nation 2015-10-10

[tigermonkey]

When is Thailand going to start to use readings for PM 2.5 which is the real danger in pollution. Almost all of the civilized world use PM 2.5 as their standard. Who doesn't use it ? China, Thailand and Indonesia. PM 10 measures pollution that you can see - you really don't need PM 10 readings to tell you that you can't see very far. PM 10 pollutants are bad, but PM 2.5 pollutants are deadly ..

BTW the hazard level (there is no 'safe' level) in most countries ranges from 50 to 80, and not 120 as used by Thailand and China.

Edited October 10, 2015 by tigermonkey

[Lite Beer]

Rains help to ease haze in most southern provinces today

BANGKOK: -- The smog situation in the southern provinces has started to improve today with recorded gradual reduction of dust particle matter in the air.

According to the Pollution Control Department, the excessive smog situation that covered much of southern Thailand has improved greatly.

The air quality in the south is reported to be at moderate levels due to the rains that have helped clear particles and residue in the air.

But the haze situation in Surat Thani however remains critical as the particle levels here are still high partly due to residue blowing in from Phuket.

According to the department, should this keep up Chumporn is at risk of incurring increased haze as well.

Yesterday the prime minister ordered the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to cooperate with the Department of Royal Rain Making and Agricultural Aviation to make artificial rain in critical areas.

Four planes have been assigned to assist with the rain making initiative with the assistance of the Royal Thai Air Force.

The Royal Thai Air Force has been releasing water over haze areas with the hope of reducing dust particles in the air where special attention has been made to douse densely populated residential areas.

Each fly-by on the Dakota plane releases about three thousand liters of water at a thousand feet covering an area of at least half an acre.

The Center for Disaster Prevention and Mitigation in Songkhla has reinforced these efforts by spraying water at ground level using fire truck hoses.

With the haze situation improving, the Samui Airport is now operational once again after closing operations Thursday evening due to poor visibility.

Bangkok Airways has increased the number of flights out of the island yesterday and today to help carry passengers from the previous day’s cancelled flights back to Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/rains-help-to-ease-haze-in-most-southern-provinces-today

-- Thai PBS 2015-10-10

[Roota]

When is Thailand going to start to use readings for PM 2.5 which is the real danger in pollution.

A Thai national standard for PM 2.5 was set in 2010 but as of now there are only a few monitoring stations for it. The situation is similar in China, where PM 2.5 standards have now been established. Even Japan only introduced them in 2009 so it's taking time, but I think we'll eventually see them here.

[tigermonkey]

When is Thailand going to start to use readings for PM 2.5 which is the real danger in pollution.

A Thai national standard for PM 2.5 was set in 2010 but as of now there are only a few monitoring stations for it. The situation is similar in China, where PM 2.5 standards have now been established. Even Japan only introduced them in 2009 so it's taking time, but I think we'll eventually see them here.

I wasn't aware that Thailand had introduced the PM 2.5 scale. Did they set a hazard level at the same time - 35 perhaps ? Obviously inertia has hindered Thailand in this effort. You state that they have a few stations monitoring PM 2.5. Can I ask where they are and to whom do they report their data ?

By comparison, Japan who introduced PM 2.5 at about the same time as Thailand has 80+ stations in metropolitan Tokyo alone, all reporting PM 2.5

Edited October 10, 2015 by tigermonkey

[Roota]

Sorry, I don't know where the monitoring stations for PM 2.5 are, but I believe the 24-hour standard is 50 μg. Probably you could find more info at pcd.go.th.

[anotheruser]

Numerous measures... lol