The Southeast Asian country experiences seasonal air pollution as a result of the combination of car exhaust and smoke from burning crop stubble with colder, stagnant winter air.
More than 350 schools in the Thai capital were forced to close on Friday due to air pollution, according to city officials. Air quality monitor IQAir ranks Bangkok as the ninth most polluted large city in the world.
Like many nations in the region, Thailand has long suffered from seasonal air pollution, but this week’s hazy conditions have caused the most school closures since 2020.
In a statement posted on its official LINE group, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration stated that it has shuttered 352 schools in 31 districts because of air pollution.
Over 250 schools in Bangkok were shut down on Thursday because of pollution, as authorities encouraged people to work from home and limited the use of large cars in the city.
According to IQAir, the concentration of PM2.5 pollutants, which are tiny particles that cause cancer and can enter the bloodstream through the lungs, reached 108 micrograms per cubic meter by Friday.
For the majority of the year, the World Health Organization advises that 24-hour average exposures shouldn’t exceed 15.
According to Bangkok officials, schools in regions with high PM2.5 levels may decide to close this week.
Thousands of pupils were impacted as 352 of the 437 schools under the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority closed their doors by Friday morning.
The number was the largest since 2020, when air pollution forced the closure of all city-run schools.
On Thursday, Anutin Charnvirakul, the interior minister, issued an order prohibiting stubble burning, which is the deliberate burning of remaining crops to clear fields. Those who engage in this practice run the danger of facing legal action.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who is in Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, advocated for more aggressive steps to combat pollution, such as restricting construction in the capital and enlisting the help of neighboring nations.
The largest cities in neighboring Vietnam and Cambodia were also included among the top 10 most polluting major cities worldwide on Friday by IQAir, with Ho Chi Minh City coming in second and Phnom Penh fifth.
Khvay Atitya, a spokesman for the Environment Ministry of Cambodia, informed reporters Thursday that the country’s air quality was within safe bounds.
“The standards of other nations differ. He informed reporters that authorities had not imposed any emergency measures and that Cambodia has its own standards for assessing the quality of the air.
