Srettha urges Bangkokians to use public transport as PM2.5 level soars

The Royal Rainmaking and Agricultural Aviation Department says it has been producing artificial rain to lessen PM2.5 air pollution in Bangkok but that its efforts are being hampered by toxic haze drifting in from Myanmar.

Supit Pithaktham, director-general of the department, was apparently responding to an order from Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin for all government agencies to actively fight PM2.5 air pollution rather than wait for the problem to resolve itself,.

Supit said his department has been making artificial rain daily since December to dilute levels of fine particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns.

“But this week, it’s been hard to correct the situation because the burning of farmland across the border intensified massively and the easterly winds blew the pollution across the border into Bangkok,” Supit said.

He said his department was continuing its sorties to cloud seed on a daily basis but doesn’t have enough planes to do this more frequently.

PM2.5 levels soared in most Bangkok districts on Wednesday, leading the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to call on state agencies and private firms to allow their staff to work from home on Thursday and Friday.

The situation prompted Srettha to make an urgent visit to the Air Quality Centre of Natural Resources and Environment Ministry’s Pollution Control Department Thursday morning to be briefed on the situation.

Srettha was scheduled to meet the interior minister and permanent secretaries from the Interior Ministry and Natural Resources and Environment Ministry as well as the army commander-in-chief later in the day.

Speaking to reporters at the Air Quality Centre, Srettha said Chiang Mai should have the worst PM2.5 situation in the country now, considering the hotspots showing up on satellite photos.

However, Srettha said, the PM2.5 levels in Chiang Mai were only mild or in yellow status because of the good management of the provincial administration.

Srettha said the government would use Chiang Mai’s PM2.5 management as a role model for other provinces.

The prime minister said the situation in Bangkok was affected by fumes from Kanchanaburi, which borders Myanmar.

Srettha said he has ordered the Kanachanaburi governor to work with the army to try to tackle hotspots in the province.

He said the authorities must also find a way to deal with the situation in areas close to the borders with Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos rather than wait for nature to resolve the problem in three or four days.

The prime minister attributed 25% of the PM2.5 situation in Bangkok to exhaust fumes from vehicles.

The government would therefore encourage motorists to use electric vehicles or public transport more.

He said the government has yet to consider the proposal of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to relocate squatter communities from Klong Toey to other areas as part of a long-term measure to improve air quality.

During a meeting with Interior Minister Anutin and other concerned officials at Government House, Srettha lambasted the Kanchanaburi governor for not doing enough to prevent fumes of burning farm byproducts from reaching Bangkok.

Srettha asked the governor to learn from Chiang Mai how to reduce PM2.5 levels and to visit rural areas more often to prevent farm fires.

Srettha told him that the Chiang Mai provincial administration had joined hands with the local army camps to have troops transport farm byproducts for making fertilizer, which had enabled farmers to earn more income without having to take recourse to burning and worsening air quality.

“Chiang Mai has done well. From now on, governors of all provinces must visit rural areas more often,” Srettha said.

He said the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry has an effective system to alert provincial administrations of hotspots, and the administrations must act immediately without waiting for nature to solve problems.

The prime minister said he was ready to make a trip to Kanchanaburi to help solve the problems. He said the provincial administration simply had to make a schedule for him to go there.

The prime minister also pledged to hold negotiations with Cambodia about transborder fumes.

“Please visit rural areas more often. Please go there to see the situation. Please wear boots and get your hands mired in dirt and mud,” Srettha said.

“If senior officials go out there, we can win the hearts of local officials. Chiang Mai has been doing this,” he said.