Air pollution blankets Chiang Mai

Bush fires were blamed for severe haze that blanketed Chiang Mai with ultra-fine PM2.5 dust particles exceeding the safe level on Saturday.

The province was shrouded in a thick haze from bushfires, according to a source, adding the haze was so severe that the Doi Suthep mountain peak was no longer visible from downtown Chiang Mai city.

Locals also began complaining about eye and nasal irritation, the source said.

The highest PM2.5 level was measured at 104 microgrammes per cubic metre (μg/m³) — exceeding the government’s 50μg/m³ safe exposure threshold — in tambon Mae Sa in Mae Rim district, the source said, noting the PM2.5 levels at 50 other air quality monitoring stations in the province also recorded high levels.

Bushfires by illegal wildlife poachers was to blame for the hazardous condition in Chiang Mai, he said.

In neighbouring Lampang, the provincial…