Poor air quality is severely hampering tourism in northern Thailand, according to the Thai transport minister.
The smog season has been in full swing and has caused dozens of flight cancellations in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son provinces, said Arkhom Termpittayapaisith.
About 40 flights have been cancelled since February at Mae Hong Son airport with delays happening daily.
The Thai PM visited Chiang Mai this week and called on city officials to act swiftly to deal with agricultural crop burning.
The local administration has so far been reluctant to declare it an official health crisis due to its reliance on tourism.
Suthirawat Suwanawat, general manager of Suvarnabhumi airport said there has been a 15% drop in the number of passengers travelling to northern cities compared to the previous month.
Dangerous levels of air quality have been recorded consistently for the last month, Thailand’s Pollution Control Department reported, with PM2.5 levels in Chiang Mai peaking at over 300 micrograms per cubic metre.
Thailand’s safe limit is 50mcg.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand has warned tourists and residents to wear face masks when going outside and people with respiratory conditions to seek medical advice first.
