Bangkok (dpa) – Haze caused by forest fires and land clearing has hit dangerous levels in northern Thailand, prompting authorities to plan evacuations of children and elderly, media reports said Sunday. Air pollution in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai province, 700 kilometers north of Bangkok, reached 437 micrograms per cubic metre on Saturday, more than double the levels in other haze-hot provinces, The Nation newspaper reported. Authorities called for a three-day ban of land clearing and burning. “If the three-day total ban on burning does not improve the situation, we will have to evacuate the residents, especially the high-risk groups, as hospitals have already seen more than 150 patients per day over the past few days,” said Woravat Auapinyakul, minister to the Prime Minister's Office. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/oWXu4 Tags: Farming, Haze, Pollution, Thailand Section: East Asia, Environment
