Horror, thick toxic smog is making people cough up blood in Bangkok pollution crisis

News24xx.com -  A pollution crisis has hit the city of Bangkok. It come from traffic exhausts, factory pollution and uncontrolled construction.  It make the Thai capital has been shrouded in murky haze for weeks, causing people to cough up blood and pets suffering pollution sickness. 

Residents have started trying to protect themselves by putting on masks while on the streets or public transport.

And now the authorities have seeded clouds to provoke rain, sprayed overpasses with water to catch micro-pollutants and even asked people not to burn incense sticks and paper during Chinese New Year celebrations. 

The measures so far have drawn derision from many Bangkok residents, while stocks of pollution masks have run out in many shops. 

But on Wednesday, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration stepped up its health warnings, ordering all 437 city-controlled public schools to close from lunchtime through Friday, designating 580 square miles of the city a control area, because the situation will be bad until February 3 to 4.

Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang hoped the move would also empty the road of cars on the school run. Three to four of the city’s districts are severely hit with smog.

At a downtown Bangkok school where parents arrived early to pick up their children, pupils said they knew about the risks posed by the dangerous pollutant particles, known as PM 2.5. 

Fleets of drones are set to be deployed to disperse sugary liquid solution to help clear the air of microscopic particles. It is not clear how effective that will be given the scale of the smog cloaking the city. Aswin also said City Hall may soon issue a warning against exercising in parks.

Air Visual, an independent online air quality index (AQI) monitor, on Wednesday pegged Bangkok at the ‘unhealthy’ level of 171, up from 156 mid-month.

Measurements of harmful particulates are higher than some cities in China but well below the Indian capital New Delhi.

Siwatt Pongpiachan, a professor of environmental science at the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA), said that government should ‘think seriously’ about congestion measures limiting the number of cars on the road. 

The battle against smog comes during Thailand’s key tourist season, with the Chinese New Year getaway looming, in a country where earnings from foreign visitors make up around a fifth of the economy.

 

 

 

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