Chadchart targets vehicles, factories, biomass burning amid poor Bangkok air quality

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) reported on Thursday morning that air quality in 12 areas around Bangkok and its vicinity had descended to unsafe levels.

PM2.5 (particles less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter) readings were in the range of 34-62 micrograms per cubic metre (μg/m3). Thailand’s safe levels are 37.5 μg/m3 or lower.

The governor said the BMA’s taskforce on air pollution will meet this Friday to consider stricter measures on three main sources of PM2.5 – vehicles, factories and biomass burning.

Bangkok has more than 6,000 factories pumping pollution into the air, while local officials have reported increasing incidents of biomass burning around the city as the cold season approaches, Chadchart pointed out.

“Currently the PM2.5 situation in Bangkok is not yet at the critical level. However, if more biomass burning takes place in Bangkok and surrounding provinces we may need to establish additional monitoring stations to detect hotspots and rising levels of pollution in risky areas,” he said.

Chadchart plans to approach Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn for tips in handling hotspots, which the northern province has been battling as farmers sneakily burn their crop stubble after harvesting.

Chadchart also said the city needs an efficient real-time weather forecast system to predict the direction of winds that could bring in dust particles from nearby provinces, so that it could issue a warning to people in time.

Read more Air quality in 12 areas around Bangkok, vicinity unsafe

The governor added that he has ordered the BMA Vocational School to manufacture DIY air purifiers from car engine fans and filter sheets for schools and households in the city.

Due to limited production capacity, the BMA Vocational School will submit prototype units along with a manufacturing guide to all vocational colleges in the metropolis so more of the DIY air purifiers can be manufactured and distributed.