‘Worst I’ve seen’: forest fires rage across Thailand, Mekong region

Forest fires raging through Laos, Myanmar and Thailand have smothered large areas in dangerous smoke, leaving overstretched firefighters battling blazes and smog-choked communities looking to the skies for rain and their governments to fix a scourge that worsens each year.Dry season fires have brought a public health crisis to northern Thailand, including Chiang Mai, as well as much of Laos and eastern Myanmar, as parched bush provides tinderbox conditions for wildfires.Some fires are also due to farmers slashing and burning to clear land in the quickest, least labour-intensive way possible ahead of a planting season, especially in Laos and Myanmar, where enforcement of bans against the practice remains patchy.