Haze generated by smoke from Indonesian forest fires eased in Thailand’s southernmost provinces Wednesday even as it worsened in Phuket, the Pollution Control Department said.
Haze continued to cover the seven southern provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Phuket, Satun, Songkhla, Surat Thani, and Yala.
The department reported Wednesday evening that particulate matter decreased in the six other provinces but rose in Phuket.
Particulate matter stood at 56 microgrammes per cubic metre of air in Narathiwat, 69 in Pattani, 73 in Satun, 108 in Songkhla, 93 in Surat Thani, and 60 in Yala. The upper limit of for healthy air is 120 microgrammes per cu/m.
More pictures of the haze in Phuket from a resort 3 km from Surin beach in Thalang district #ThaiSouthHaze pic.twitter.com/C6P7hmnoDd
— Panu Wongcha-um (@panuw) October 7, 2015
Normally, particulate matter in the South comes in below 40 microgrammes per cu/m, the department said.
Pollution levels in Phuket, however, rose from 146 on Tuesday to 174 microgrammes per cu/m Wednesday morning and 200 microgrammes Wednesday evening.
Haze cut visibility at Phuket and Krabi airports and caused delays and diversions of 16 flights in the morning.
Phuriphat Theerakulphisuth, the marine office director in Phuket, said as visibility in the sea off Phuket was about one nautical mile, all boat operators were advised to take precautions and speedboat drivers should reduce their speeds for safety reasons.
Pollution levels can be monitored online at Air4Thai.pcd.go.th or via the Air4Thai application.
