Thai and Myanmar soldiers together battle forest fire near border
Thai and Myanmar soldiers joined hands to fight wildfires on the border that were later spread by the winds to Chiang Rai province.
The fire spread to the Phaya Lo forest on Sunday evening, near the Myanmar border. The soldiers needed three hours to put out the fire at Doi Chang Mub in Chiang Rai’s Mae Fah Luang district by around 9pm.
Thai officials sent some forces throughout the night to keep an eye out for rekindling of flames as the area has a lot of dry leaves and grass.
PM2.5 dust in the Chiang Rai area was within the safe levels at 30 to 33 micrograms per cubic metre, although the smog had begun to thicken.
An aerial view of the border area showed many agricultural plots in flames, which is predicted to aggravate haze during this period.
Satellite detects nearly 3,700 hotspots in Thailand, the highest in the region.
Thailand had 3,691 hot spots, up 1 percent since January 1, 2023, according to data available from the Suomi NPP satellite on February 27, the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) disclosed. Satellite data showed Myanmar with the second highest number of hotspots in the region at 2,948, followed by Cambodia (2,260), Laos (2,181), Vietnam (501), and Malaysia (one).
The majority of hotspots in Thailand were in conserved forest areas (1,689), followed by 1,095 national conserved forest areas, 361 agricultural areas, 302 community, and other areas.
The "Dust Check" application showed that PM2.5 (particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter) at 10am on Tuesday in many northern provinces, such as Mae Hong Son, Nan, Tak, Chiang Mai, and Chiang Rai, had reached levels that would be hazardous to health.
PM2.5 levels in many parts of Bangkok also posed a risk to public health. Authorities have advised people to wear a mask when they go outside to protect against respiratory diseases.
PM 2.5 is a common hazard tied to forest fires and hot areas. Due to the impact of the wind, the hotspots from neighbouring nations might also result in PM2.5 levels shooting up in border areas.
The GISTDA is planning to use the full Theos-2 system. One of the important missions of this system is to survey, analyse, and monitor the disaster situation that has occurred or is expected to occur and provide important information to all relevant agencies so they can plan, prevent, mitigate, and solve problems more directly.
The GISTDA said it is constantly monitoring and reporting on the situation to provide information to all relevant agencies in managing the area.
