An Indonesian Consul has written to point out that the visitors to Phuket's Governor arrived by car, not by air. The reporters regret their error and attribute it to a mistranslation.


PHUKET: An Indonesian envoy heading for Phuket spent an hour circling the airport because of haze from his country's burning forests.

Consul Triyogo Jatmiko told the Governor of Phuket today that he had time on the flight to note the grey smoke covering Phuket's famous beaches: ''It did not look good.''

The visit by the consul from Songkhla province to Phuket came as Britain issued a travel advisory over haze covering the Andaman region and extending across the Isthmus of Kra to Samui. Flights to both holiday islands have been interrupted for 48 hours.

The haze is reaching unhealthy levels on Phuket and across the south of Thailand.

With Thailand's Foreign Ministry seeking talks with Indonesia's ambassador, Mr Jatmiko said: ''Russia, Singapore and Japan are sending planes to waterbomb the fires.

''Hopefully in the next three to four days, things will improve.''

He said that in some cases the burning had moved underground into the peat, making fires more difficult to extinguish.

Some schools had been closed in the country for one month. ''We are doing all we can to put an end to these fires.''

He said that President Joko Widono had set a target ''to end this problem before the end of the month.''

The blazing forests, deliberately set on fire to clear land, have been a source of conflict among Asean neighbors for years, with this year's burning considered to be among the worst.

''Three or four people have been arrested and 500 are being questioned,'' the consul said. ''Wind direction changes are making a response difficult.''

Two flights from China to Phuket have been cancelled today with scores of flights delayed or diverted from Phuket and Samui.

Rain and a breeze helped improve conditions on Phuket this afternoon.

The health hazard reading of 186 at 3pm this afternoon was a slight improvement on the figure of 201 at 8am.

Britain's advisory to its travellers, released yesterday, read: "Phuket is experiencing poor air quality as a result of haze in the region. This can cause disruption to local and regional air travel, and may have an impact on public health. You should check with your airline if you are planning to travel through Phuket.''

Island travel officials are hoping an influx of Chinese travellers for the Golden Week holidays and next week's annual nine-day Vegetarian Festival will help to insulate Phuket from too many haze cancellations.