DELAYS and diversions from the haze have also struck Samui where one Phuketwan reader reported: Visibility is very poor. Everybody on my staff has a sore throat. The government is completely silent. The press is completely silent. If Phuketwan does not have the guts to print the story, then nobody does . . .


PHUKET: A total of 26 incoming flights to Phuket were delayed or diverted before 9am today because of the Indonesian smoke haze covering the holiday island. Nine more flights departing Phuket were delayed, with one cancelled.

The long list of holiday flights affected included several from China and others from Singapore and Malaysia.

The large number of flights affected follows the first smatterings of delays and diversions on Wednesday.

The haze has hit Phuket tourism at a time when the island and Thailand generally was anticipating a boost from China's current national holiday, dubbed Golden Week. Initial figures show the number of travellers are up 30 percent on last year.

However, the persistent haze covering Phuket and the neighboring Andaman tourist destinations of Krabi and Phang Nga is likely to turn off large numbers of travellers now making bookings for the high season.

Phuket's nine-day Vegetarian Festival, which begins next week and usually brings large numbers from Malaysia and Singapore, is not likely to attract many visitors if they know the haze is as bad on the holiday island as it is in their home countries.

The haze also reflects poorly on the island's reputation, although it is likely to be blown away before the tourism ''high season'' begins on November 1.

It's understood that with the entire south shrouded in smog, triggering health concerns for children and the elderly and sparking a protest at the Indonesian consulate in Songkhla, Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has raised the issue diplomatically with Indonesia.

As tourism is considered to be the only element in the country's economy showing an upward tick, government officials should rightly be concerned.

Agitation by Malaysia and Singapore for Indonesia to end the burnings extends back decades and has never been effective.

But Thailand's tourism has never before been so seriously put at risk.