One day after the air quality in and around Bangkok was declared safe, the Pollution Control Department blamed close weather and stale air for causing the air quality to worse again today.
Pollution Control Department director-general Pralong Damrongthai said today that air quality monitoring stations showed the amount of PM2.5 dust particles in 19 areas, especially those along busy roads, exceeded safety level and could pose health hazards.
The amount of PM2.5 dust particles in areas along the Lat Phra road in Wang Thong Lang district was measured this morning at 86 microgram/cubic metre; 85 mg/cm in Din Daeng and 72 mg/cm in areas along the Rama III road in Bang Kor Laem district with 13 other areas classified as unsafe with excessive particulate hovering in the air.
Pralong said people in Bangkok should have noticed that the sky was hazy and the air stale this morning and when compounded with morning fog, the general air quality has worsened although not as bad as it was last week.
To solve the air pollution problem on long-term basis, he said that he had proposed Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan and the national police chief, Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda at a recent meeting that traffic congestion problem must be tackled in earnest, noting that car emissions as well as dust particles from construction sites were the main cause of the pollution.
However, he hopes that air quality in the city would improve once all the mass transit projects are completed in the next 1-2 years which would encourage motorists to switch to public transport and more hybrid cars to replace fuel-powered vehicles.
