Millions of people in Thailand are dreading ‘smog season’, as air pollution levels begin to rise at the end of the rains.
Bangkok and other areas of the country have already suffered a significant drop in air quality, with concentrations of PM2.5 fine dust reaching potentially harmful levels in recent days. Thailand ranked 14th in the world for PM2.5 pollution on October 24, according to air-quality monitoring website IQAir.
“The threat of PM2.5 is returning,” noted Sonthi Kotchawat, an independent academic and environmental expert.
The Pollution Control Department adjusted Thailand’s PM2.5 safe threshold in June to raise awareness of smog problems and spur efforts to improve air quality. The safe average over 24 hours is now 37.5 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³) of air, down from 50µg/m³.
When levels climb higher than the 37.5µg/m³ benchmark, even healthy…
