Levels of hazardous ultra-fine PM2.5 dust particles in the air in the North – particularly in Chiang Mai – on Saturday reached a record high, raising concerns among tourism operators that the situation will affect tourism and travel patterns.
Pallop Saejiew, president of Chiang Mai's Tourism Industrial Council, on Saturday expressed concerns the persistent haze situation in one of the country's key tourist destinations may have a serious impact on the province's tourism industry in the long run.
Even though reports of bookings being cancelled have yet to emerge, he said operators of outdoor tourism activities in inner areas of the province are being affected by a drop in demand.
Citing one estimate that the haze situation is expected to last until April, he said the tourism sector and state agencies should step up cooperation to tackle the air pollution problem before it is too late.
The number of tourists arriving and departing Chiang Mai's airport is between 10,000 and 20,000 a day, which is lower than the figures recorded during the past high tourism season when the air was cleaner, Mr Pallop said. The message may be getting through that the air is unclean.
According to Pollution Control Department (PCD) director-general Pinsak Suraswadi, almost all areas in the 17 northern provinces recorded a higher level of the PM2.5 dust particles yesterday, namely Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Lampang, Lamphun, Mae Hong Son, Nan, Phrae, Phayao, Tak, Uttaradit, Sukhothai and Phitsanulok, ranging 93 to 203 microgrammes per cubic metre (µg/m3).
The safe level, according to the government, should be no more than 50 µg/m3.
Tambon Hangdong in Hot district of Chiang Mai was found to have the worst PM2.5 situation of all yesterday morning, resulting from biomass burning and weather conditions conducive to trapping smoke and pollution, said Mr Pinsak.
Assoc Prof Witsanu Attavanich, of Kasetsart University, in his capacity as a member of Thailand Clean Air Network (Thailand CAN), described the North's haze situation as "lung-breaking".
Witthaya Khrongsap, a coordinator of a civic group calling itself Network of Northern Breath, said he agreed the haze was putting off tourist visits to the North.
However, Saksakul Suparitanant, deputy director of Chiang Mai office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, insisted the number of tourists visiting Chiang Mai is still high and rising despite the haze problem, adding that more than 260,000 tourists visited Chiang Mai last month, about 9,000 per day.
This number included about 70,000 foreign tourists, he said.
Bangkok and the surrounding provinces also recorded higher levels of PM2.5 in certain areas, but the situation is expected to begin improving in the coming week when a southern wind is forecast to begin clearing the air, according to the PCD.
