11 million are asked to work from home

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Bangkok  

 

Dangerous air in Bangkok: "Work at home"  

 

TT-AFP 

 

Updated 16.53 | Published 10.38 

 

The picture is from a previous occasion with high particle levels. Stock photography Photo: Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP/TT  

 

Residents of Bangkok are urged to work from home, after the amount of toxic substances in the air rose to dangerous levels.  

 

The hope is that the eleven million inhabitants of Thailand's capital will go out into traffic as little as possible - partly to avoid breathing the dangerous air on the streets, partly to cause as few new exhaust gases as possible.  

 

PM2.5 levels have risen to 15 times the World Health Organization WHO limit values. PM2.5 is seen as the most dangerous particles, and is so small that it can continue from the lungs into the bloodstream.  

 

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has held crisis meetings on the issue, and says that "we must act immediately". In the long term, he also wants to encourage the continued electrification of mopeds, cars and trucks, while traffic with the more polluting petrol and diesel vehicles may be restricted in the city.