Indonesian fire haze reaches Phuket and southern Thailand

Haze from fires in Indonesia has reached Phuket and other parts of southern Thailand, with PM2.5 levels in Hat Yai rising into the range where air quality begins to affect health.

On 16 September, PM2.5 in Hat Yai reached 67.2 micrograms per cubic metre at 9am, according to the Air Pollution and Health Effect Research Center at Prince of Songkla University. Thailand’s government-set safe threshold is 37.5µg/m³.

Some areas recorded readings of 88.2µg/m³, classified as dangerous, while the daily average was about 59.9µg/m³, the centre said. Hat Yai, near the Malaysian border, is southern Thailand’s largest city and has nearly 800,000 residents.

Thick smog was also reported in parts of Hat Yai, particularly along the route to Khao Kho Hong viewpoint and Hat Yai Municipal Park. Local delivery riders told reporters that the haze had recently become thicker, causing stinging eyes and noses. Schools have reportedly stopped students from playing outdoors.

The haze was blown southwest from fires on Borneo and Sumatra. Reuters reported that air quality had also become unhealthy in neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore.

Fire Emissions Watch, a portal developed by the European Union’s Copernicus climate-monitoring service, said emissions from Indonesian fires had exceeded 19 million metric tonnes since the beginning of September, accounting for more than a third of the global total. Indonesian authorities have described the current wildfire season as the country’s most intense in 11 years, amid unusually high temperatures and severe drought linked to super El Niño conditions.