The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is seeking cooperation from the public and private sectors by allowing their employees to work from home (WFH) for at least one day per a week, from today until the end of March, due to a forecast deterioration in the PM2.5 airborne pollution problem in Bangkok.
The WFH measure is imposed when PM2.5 in the atmosphere in 35 out of 50 districts in Bangkok reaches the ‘orange’ level and the number of hotspots, detected by satellite, surpasses 80 for three consecutive days.
The Air Quality Information Centre of the BMA reported today that PM2.5 levels in 44 out of 50 districts in the city has reached 61.9µg/m³ (microns), due to poor air circulation and this is expected to worsen from Sunday through next Friday.
Kriangkrai Thiennukul, president of the Federation of Thai Industries, said he supports the WFH measure, because it reduces emissions from vehicles by about 14%, adding that burning of agricultural wastes must be curbed as well.
The Pollution Control Department has advised the Commerce Ministry to investigate whether maize, which is imported from neighboring countries, comes from plantations which still use slash-and-burn farming practices.
Thailand produces about four million tonnes of maize annually and imports about three million tonnes to meet domestic demand.
