Chiang Rai News
His Majesty the King is Worried about the Haze in the North
CHIANGRAI TIMES – His Majesty the King is worried about the haze in the North and has instructed the president of the Rajaprajanigroh Foundation to visit affected areas, a senior official said yesterday.
The Pollution Control Department yesterday reported that atmospheric levels of fine-particle dust, or PM 10, were unsafe in all nine upper Northern provinces.
Officials in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district prepared to evacuate residents of tall buildings as PM10 reached a dangerous level of 357 micrograms per cubic metre (mg/m3) – way above the “safe” level of 120 mg/m3.
Continued unsafe dust levels were reported yesterday in Chiang Rai and eight other northern provinces. Mae Sai district chief Sopon Choom said he had prepared a plane to evacuate residents in the event the province is declared a disaster zone. The district had contacted owners of tall buildings about the evacuation plan, which would cover more than 100,000 evacuees, he said. – Anna Wong