Haze Pollution Forces School Closures in Bangkok

Haze pollution is devastating Thailand’s capital city of Bangkok, and forced several schools to close yesterday.

Schools such as Chulalongkorn University Demonstration Secondary School and Jindabamrung School temporarily closed their doors due to the respiratory impact on students and announced reopening on Monday. The Education Ministry has established coordination centres to monitor the PM2.5 situation and schools can exercise discretion in their decisions to close if the dust levels are deemed unsafe.

The Public Health Ministry reported that over 370,000 patients have suffered from illnesses due to inhaling ultra-fine dust particles (PM2.5), Bangkok Post reported.

On Friday, 43 provinces including Bangkok and its suburbs remained blanketed in smog, with PM2.5 dust levels above the government’s safe limit of 50 micrograms per cubic…