PUBLISHED: 24 Jan 2025 at 11: 45
More than 350 schools were closed on Friday due to air pollution in the Thai capital, according to city officials, who placed Bangkok on the list of the world’s seventh-most poisoned big city.
Thailand has been plagued by cyclical air pollution for years, just like many other nations in the area, but the foggy weather this week has caused the most school closures since 2020.
In a information shared on its established LINE group, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration announced that 352 colleges across 31 districts had been closed due to air pollution.
More than 250 colleges in Bangkok were shut down on Thursday as a result of waste, as city leaders urged residents to work from home and restrict traffic in the area.
Southeast Asia experiences seasonal air pollution from cold, sluggish autumn air, burnt crop stubble, and car fumes.
By Friday, the level of PM2.5 substances– cancer-causing microparticles little enough to enter the bloodstream through the bronchi– hit 108 grams per cubic inch, according to IQAir.
For most days of the year, the World Health Organization advises that 24-hour regular exposures of no more than 15 are acceptable.
Officials in Bangkok announced this week that schools in areas with higher PM2.5 rates could choose to close.
By Friday night, 352 of the 437 institutions under the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority had shut their doors, affecting thousands of students.
The number was the highest since 2020, when all city-owned schools were shut down due to air pollution.
Anutin Charnvirakul, the interior minister, on Thursday ruled that those responsible for intentionally burning leftover plants to clear areas face legal consequences.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who is already present at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, demanded tougher measures to combat pollutants, including limiting development in the capital and enlisting the assistance of neighboring nations.
Neighbouring Vietnam and Cambodia’s biggest towns likewise ranked in IQAir’s leading 10 most-polluted big cities worldwide on Friday, with Ho Chi Minh City reaching following and Phnom Penh second.
Khvay Atitya, a spokeswoman for Cambodia’s Environment Ministry, told reporters on Thursday that the heat value in the nation was at healthy levels.
” Different nations have their own specifications. Cambodia has our own regular to determine the air value”, he told reporters, adding that officials had never issued any emergency procedures.