Bangkok engulfed in high level of pollution, employees asked to work from home

Officials in Bangkok, on Thursday (Feb 15) asked thousands of government employees to work from home and urged others to follow suit as pollution levels in the city and thesurrounding provinces hit unhealthy levels.

Pollution levels in Bangkok

Bangkok authorities have asked employers to cooperate as the city of about 11 million people was engulfed by a noxious haze, urging employees to work from home to curb traffic pollution.

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According to the air monitoring website IQAir, Bangkok was 8th among the 10 most polluted cities in the world, as of Thursday morning.

The air pollution has been attributed to a combination of crop-related burning, industrial pollution and heavy traffic in the Thai capital.

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According to the Swiss air quality tracking website, the level of inhalable particles – PM2.5 particles – in the city was 15 times higher than the recommended level by the World Health Organization.

“It’s getting worse because there's too much smoke haze,” said a motorcycle taxi driver Kornpong Poprakun, 57 toReuters.

“I feel itchy eyes because there’s a lot of dust, and breathing isn’t easy," he further said.

At least 20 of Bangkok’s 50 districts were expected to have unhealthy levels of PM2.5 particles, according to local officials.

Air quality in Thailand typically plummets at the beginning of the year as smoke from farmers burning stubble in the fields adds to industrial emissions and traffic pollution.

Thousands of employees affected

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt, late Wednesday (Feb 14) said that all city employees would work from home for the next two days.

“I would like to ask for cooperation from the BMA (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration) network of about 151 companies and organisations, both government offices and the private sector,” said the governor, in a statement. More than 60,000 people were affected, according to Chadchart.

The statement also noted that some areas of the city had high levels of pollution and local authorities were ready to manage the situation.

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However, for some working from home is not an option. Jarukit Singkomron, 57, a motorcycle taxi driver told AFP that despite his allergic reaction to the pollution he has to work or “I will starve.” He added, “People like me have to go out to make ends meet.”

Government’s plan to address the issue

Addressing the high levels of pollution, on Thursday, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin told reporters that crop burning was the main culprit behind the recent spike but also attributed around a quarter of the pollution to the vehicles, a factor “we can control”.

The PM also said that the local government, in the long run, should consider limits on vehicles powered by fossil fuels in Bangkok to curb pollution.

“We have a lot of problems with pollution at the moment, so we have to act immediately to reduce the effects on people,” said Srettha.

(With inputs from agencies)