BANGKOK, July 2 – Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health has distributed some 60,000 health masks to local residents in five southern provinces as smog from Indonesian forest fires has blanketed the region.

Public Health Minister Witthaya Buranasiri said that smog, an annual occurrence from forest fire on Indonesia’s Sumatra has covered five provinces in southern Thailand – Satun, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat — posing a health threat to local residents.

Read more: MCOT