Some 200,000 people in Thailand have been admitted to hospital this week for health problems linked to air pollution, health authorities reported, as alert thresholds continued to be exceeded on Thursday (March 9th). in Bangkok.
The megalopolis of around 11 million inhabitants has been living since the beginning of the week in an opaque fog, which encourages the population to wear the mask outside. The toxic smog that covers the horizon is linked to emissions from vehicles and industries, as well as fumes from the burning of seasonal crops, recurrent at this time of year.
Kriangkrai Namthaisong, a doctor from the Ministry of Public Health has asked Bangkokians to wear an N95 mask (equivalent to an FFP2) when going out. Children, pregnant women and people with respiratory or heart problems should also stay indoors, he added.
More than 1.3 million people sick from polluted air
The fifty districts of Bangkok all presented Wednesday levels of fine particles (PM 2.5) – particularly dangerous because they penetrate deep into the lungs – well above the prevention thresholds. Thursday at noon, in the central district of Pathum Wan, the rate of 70 micrograms per cubic meter over the last twenty-four hours was noted by a local monitoring agency of air pollution. It greatly exceeds the recommendation of the World Health Organization, set at 15 micrograms per cubic meter.
More than 1.3 million people have fallen ill in the kingdom since the start of the year due to polluted air, the public health ministry said on Wednesday evening. Bangkok Metropole Administration (BMA) authorities have set up checkpoints to check car exhausts, BMA spokesman Aekvarunyoo Amrapala said. Public crèches have “dust-free rooms” equipped with air purifiers to protect the youngest, he continued.
During a previous episode of pollution at the end of January, the BMA asked residents to work from home, a measure that “is still on the table” according to the representative. The new governor of Bangkok, Chadchart Sittipunt, was elected in May on promises to make life more pleasant in a highly polluted and congested megalopolis.