Haze haunts the North

CHIANG MAI The annual smog, or smoke haze, is turning into a major deterrent persuading travellers to scratch North Thailand off their travel plans, according to the Economics Research and Agricultural Forecasting Centre (Maejo Poll).

Released last week, the research focused on 1,015 Thai travellers who had visited Chiang Mai during 20 February to 5 March this year.

72.88% of interviewees said they had experience severe haze, while 27.12% said they had not been aware of it when visiting Chiang Mai.

All provinces in North Thailand introduced an anti-burning campaign that became effective 20 February and continues until after the Songkran festival, 20 April.

A wider agreement on ending annual burning and the haze crisis across the region was signed by ASEAN nations last January. In the context of the North Thailand haze, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar signed an agreement to introduce a ban.

In Thailand, anyone caught burning waste, rice fields or forest land, faces a fine of up to THB20,000. Villages across the region are warned daily via early morning loudspeaker announcements that they face arrest and heavy fines. The campaign has been largely successful at village level.

However by mid-March the haze did intensify and visits to the border area along the Mekong River in Chiang Rai province revealed considerable rice field burning.

Prevailing winds pushed the haze from Laos across Chiang Rai province reducing visibility. There is considerable evidence that smoke from rice field burning in Myanmar reached Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son provinces.

As for the 60-days no burning campaign, 55.73% of the people polled said they know about the campaign while 44.27% said they have no idea about it at all.

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