Air pollution closes all municipal schools Wednesday until Friday

All schools under the supervision of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) have been ordered closed from tomorrow (Wednesday) until Friday, as air quality in the capital worsened today and the situation is likely to persist due to poor air circulation and accumulation of PM2.5 dust in the atmosphere.

City Hall spokesman Pongsakorn Kwanmuang said today that the city administration will ask high-rise and the electric train construction sites to suspend operations until Friday.

Police have been asked to prevent trucks with six wheels or more from accessing the Ratchadapisek ring road from midday until midnight on Thursday and to set up roadblocks to check vehicle exhaust emissions.

District officials and municipal police will patrol open areas to make sure there is no burning outdoors, while city workers will spray water in the air and on roads to wash away dust.

The whole of Bangkok and its vicinity were found to contain excessive amounts of PM2.5 dust this morning, measured at between 55-90 microns, according to the Pollution Control Department.

62 air quality measurement stations in Bangkok and neighbouring provinces, including Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Nonthaburi and Pathum Thani, show the health threatening levels of PM2.5, which exceed the 50-micron safety threshold. The highest level was found at Tambon Paknam in Muang district of Samut Prakan.

In the eastern province of Rayong, the PCD reported this morning that air quality readings show the level of PM2.5 ranging from 58 to 118 microns in Tambon Huay Pong, Tambon Noen Phra, Tambon Tapong and Tambon Map Ta Pud in Muang district and Tambon Tha Toom in Sri Mahapo district.

In the northernmost province of Mae Hong Son, the highest level of PM 2.5 was reported in Tambon Chong Kham in Muang district, at 125.