Residents across much of Hua Hin and Cha Am were affected by smoke and other air pollution emanating from several forest fires to the north west of Hua Hin, close to the Black Mountain golf course and water park. The Suomi NPP satellite detected three heat hotspots in the area (approximately shown on the map further down in this article), with one in the morning of Tuesday 27th January, and another two subsequently, which were followed up by reports from citizens. Officials from the Phetchaburi Provincial Office of Natural Resources and Environment, and an initial team of 20 officers from three different teams went to the area to contain and extinguish the fires, followed up with a further 25 personnel and a helicopter on the ensuing days. All the detected fires were part of one cluster, which would have had the same starting point, although neither the details of that nor what caused the fire to start have yet been reported. The terrain made some parts difficult to access, which is where the helicopter was utilised to scoop up water from nearby resources and then drop it to damp down the fires; 30 water drops were carried out, releasing a…