Residents will be evacuated from any area in Mae Hong Son, which has an air quality index (AQI) value of 300, Mae Hong Son governor Direk Konkleep said yesterday.

The town on the far northern Thai-Burma border has since reported dust particles smaller than 10 microns at 340 micrograms per square metre (mpsm) or an AQI value of 195.

The governor inspected water spraying in the city area yesterday aimed at adding humidity to the air. He said the evacuation contingency was in addition to regulations that make landlords and land occupiers accountable for fires in the area and that heavy fines would be imposed for outdoor burning.

However, he did not elaborate on details about the planned evacuations, or which areas people might be moved to.

The worsening air quality in Mae Hong Son prompted Deputy Prime Minister Paiboon Wattanasiritham, who is in charge of the crisis at the national level, to ask the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department to urgently dispatch more forest fire fighters to the area.

The Pollution Control Department (PCD) reported yesterday that Mae Hong Son now measured dust particles smaller than 10 microns at 340 mpsm, while Chiang Mai Civil Service Complex measured dust particles at 148 mpsm. Downtown Yupparat School had 141 mpsm.

The PCD said the quality of air in the Northwest - except for Lampang, which rated 91 mpsm - still contained higher-than-standard amounts of fine-particle dust.

Chiang Mai city council has said it will come down hard on anyone who lights fires outdoors, in a bid to tackle the air pollution that has blanketed the area since March 1. This follows the government's declaration on Monday for Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son to be declared disaster zones.

The provincial governor now has Bt50 million in emergency funds to reduce the problem.

Deputy Mayor Praphan Buranuprakorn told a press conference yesterday the municipality had discussed the problem and would emphasise a tougher crackdown against "outdoor burners", including much heavier fines.

It also launched legal and public health measures along with a public relations campaign. This includes erecting signs warning against outdoor burning at eight main roads, establishing an air pollution control centre, setting up checkpoints to arrest "black-smoke" vehicles, toughening dust control at construction sites, opening all water springs, and collecting brushwood for fertiliser production instead of burning.

Legal measures include a March 16 municipality announcement asking for residents' "full co-operation" in controlling air pollution.

The public health measure comprises handing out anti-dust masks, setting up a medical unit to treat respiratory patients 24 hours a day at Chiang Mai Municipal Hospital, and dispatching a mobile medical unit every Thursday to treat the sick free-of-charge. The number of Chiang Mai residents admitted to state

hospitals for pollution-related illnesses had reached 9,318.

The royal rain-making operation Centre 1 established a special unit to tackle the smog yesterday. As the humidity had now risen to 50 per cent, the centre's director Somchai Reungsurinareuparp said the centre would continue with three flights a day to sow rain-inducing chemicals.

Environment Office Region 1 director Apiwat Khunarak, said Chiang Mai had at least 1,000 crematoriums, but only 20 per cent were smoke-free. He said locals were not interested in building environmentally-friendly crema-toriums because they cost up to Bt4 million each.

The Nation

CHIANG MAI