Public Health ministry will seek approval from the cabinet to enforce the law on controlling diseases associated with a poor environment and occupational activities, to cope with the airborne pollution problem.
Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin chaired a meeting today of the committee tasked with controlling diseases associated with environment and occupational activities amidst increasing levels of air pollution in Bangkok and many other provinces.
Somsak said that the Diseases Control Act, as it pertains to diseases caused by environmental conditions or occupational activities, was promulgated in 2019, but has never been enforced, adding that “This will be the first time that the law will be put into practice to protect people from PM2.5 dust.”
He explained that, for the sake of public safety, the director-general of the Disease Control Department is authorised to declare any area under close watch or to be protected or to be prevented from diseases caused by environmental conditions or occupational activities.
After such a declaration, he said that provincial governors in affected areas will distribute face masks to vulnerable people as priority, issue work from home advisories, plan evacuation shelters and ask farmers to stop burning farm waste.
Hospitals will also make dust-free wards available, to accommodate new-born babies and postnatal mothers, said the minister.
Somsak said, however, said that there is no need to impose mandatory work from home yet, because the average PM2.5 dust level has not exceeded 75µg/m³ for three consecutive days.
Meanwhile, Anuchit Suknarin, director of cloud seeding operations at the Royal Rain-making and Agricultural Aviation Department, said that the current weather conditions are not suitable for cloud seeding because of low relative humidity.
He said that it is possible, however, to conduct an operation to lower the temperature in the atmosphere with dried ice, to improve air circulation which will help dissipate air-borne pollutants.
