Shades of grey: A view of Bangkok city amid a pollution-filled sunrise. — Reuters
Nearly 200,000 people in Thailand have been admitted to hospital because of air pollution this week, officials have said, with Bangkok shrouded in a harmful haze.
The Thai capital, home to an estimated 11 million people, has been blanketed for days by an unpleasant yellow-grey mix of vehicle fumes, industrial emissions and smoke from agricultural burning.
More than 1.3 million people have fallen sick since the start of the year as a result of air pollution, with nearly 200,000 admitted to hospital this week alone, according to the public health ministry.
Kriangkrai Namthaisong, a doctor at the ministry, on Wednesday urged children and pregnant women to stay indoors.
Anyone going outside should wear a high-quality N95 anti-pollution mask, he added.
A spokesman for Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt said they would not hesitate to issue another similar order if the situation got worse.
Aekvarunyoo Amrapala said that nurseries run by the city had set up special “no dust rooms” with air purifiers to protect young children, as well as checkpoints to monitor vehicle emissions. — AFP
