Thailand to help RI quash forest fires<\/p>\n
BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand will send six experts to Indonesia
\nnext week to evaluate what help can be given to fight the raging
\nforest fires that have left much of Southeast Asia engulfed in
\nsmog, reports said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Thinnakorn Kannasutra, deputy foreign ministry spokesman said
\nthe experts from the Thai ministry of agriculture and forestry
\nwould fly to Indonesia on Tuesday and visit Sumatra and
\nKalimantan, the Bangkok Post reported.<\/p>\n
Thailand has said it is willing to provide aeroplanes and
\nother assistance to fight the forest fires, which rage on
\nalthough the poisonous smog is reported to be lifting across the
\nregion.<\/p>\n
Southern Thai provinces have been affected by the haze,
\nalthough not to the extent of Malaysia and Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, deputy foreign minister Pitak
\nIntarawiriyanon announced Thailand was ready to send water
\nbombers, fire-fighting teams and medical assistance, the Nation
\ndaily reported.<\/p>\n
Army chief General Chettha Thanajaro also said Thailand was
\ncoordinating with Indonesia to send Chinouk helicopters to help
\nthe fire-fighting efforts.<\/p>\n
The six experts visiting Indonesia next week will be headed by
\nthe director-general of the Thai forestry department and would be
\nbriefed by Indonesian officials, Thinnakorn said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Singapore has instituted safety measures to cope
\nwith reduced visibility in its port and surrounding waters due to
\nthe smoky haze in the region, maritime officials said yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"The present haze situation has reduced the state of
\nvisibility in the Singapore Strait and port waters,\" the Maritime
\nand Port Authority (MPA) said in a statement.<\/p>\n
It said that over the past month or so there had been
\noccasions when visibility was cut down from the normal five
\nnautical miles to about one-and-a-half miles.<\/p>\n
\"However, port operations have not been significantly
\naffected,\" it said.<\/p>\n
Singapore has one of the world's busiest ports and is located
\noff the congested Straits of Malacca, where 29 Indian nationals
\nwere feared killed when a merchant vessel collided with an oil
\ntanker last month. Not all the bodies have been recovered.<\/p>\n
The MPA said that since August, a port marine notice has
\nwarned shipmasters of the haze and reduced visibility in the
\nSingapore area, and news of the conditions is being issued every
\nhalf hour by radio to vessels.<\/p>\n
Air pollution levels in Singapore were within healthy levels
\nyesterday, according to hourly official bulletins, but views of
\nthe port was partly obscured by haze.<\/p>",
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