Chiang Mai the most polluted city on earth

Chiang Mai on Tuesday received the most undesirable accolade of becoming the most polluted city on the planet.

The grim news from the IQ AirVisual air monitoring website came as authorities revealed that the situation had caused 30,000 people to go to hospital because of respiratory illnesses over the last three months.    

The Chiang Mai provincial public health office said 31,788 patients suffering from air pollution-related illnesses from January to March 5 this year, said Dr Suwanchai Wattanayingcharoen, director-general of the Department of Health under public health ministry. 

Chiang Mai’s air quality has been ranked one of the planet’s three worst cities for pollution since the start of March. 

Then, IQ AirVisual on Tuesday announced that the city had in fact been the very worst place in the world for many straight days with a USAQI of 195, followed by…