Chiang Mai records world’s worst air

Forest fires lead to historic PM2.5 high

CHIANG MAI: Following days of ongoing forest fires in areas of Doi SuthepPui National Park, Chiang Mai yesterday recorded the world’s most severe levels of hazardous ultra-fine dust particles in the air, according to AirVisual.

Levels of PM2.5 dust reached 925 microgrammes per cubic metre (μg/ m³) at an air-quality monitoring station in Chiang Mai University yesterday morning, the highest level ever recorded in Thailand.

The Thai government’s safe level is 50μg/m³ which still exceeds the World Health Organization’s recommended 24-hour maximum of 25μg/m³.

AirVisual rated Chiang Mai’s air quality as the worst in the world yesterday.

The bush fires, meanwhile, spread into a resort in Mae Chan district of neighbouring Chiang Rai province causing an estimated 50 million baht of damage to 23 cottages. The fire at the resort reportedly owned by a businessman in Bangkok was successfully contained by 3pm yesterday.

Frustrated over the government’s handling of the forest fires, a government critic meanwhile vented her anger on social media.

In a Facebook post, Assoc Prof Pinkaew Luangaramsri, a lecturer with the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Chiang Mai University, compared Thailand’s handling of the northern wildfires with the past bushfire crises in Australia and California.

She said although these bushfires at Doi Suthep-Pu National Park could never compare with the recent blazes in Australia, that should not justify a delay in tackling the issue in Chiang Mai.

When comparing how the Thai government was dealing with Chiang Mai’s bushfires with its Australian counterpart, she said, she saw a substantial difference.

The Australian government had not only treated the past bushfire crisis as a national agenda but also seriously mobilised budget, human resources and technology, she said.

What’s more, she said, among the about 8,000 firefighters working to contain the fires, 3,000 were Australian soldiers who worked side by side with the real firefighters and volunteers.

They never left the responsibility solely with their equivalent of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation as has happened here, she said.