The smoke haze hanging over the lower South was within safe levels on Friday morning, including in Phuket, the Pollution Control Department said. The levels of particulate matter from forest fires inIndonesia were still unusually high in seven southern provinces — Narathiwat, Pattani, Phuket, Satun, Songkhla, Surat Thani and Yala — but did not pose an immediate health hazard, the department said. The normal level of particulate matter in the South is 40 microgrammes per cubic metre of air measured over a period of 24 hours, with the safe ceiling set at 120 microgrammes.
Yesterday morning the levels stood at 73μg per cu/m in Narathiwat, up from 67; 69μg per cu/m in Pattani, up from cu/m in Songkhla, down from 85; 100μg per cu/m in Surat Thani, down from 113; and 56μg per cu/m in Yala, up from45