PM2.5 to spike in Bangkok
published : 15 Jan 2024 at 14:26
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Chairith Yonpiam
Bangkok residents have been told to expect rising levels of PM2.5, which forecasters at the Pollution Control Department have said will continue to worsen until Wednesday.
The department is urging Bangkok residents to work from home until Wednesday to avoid the worst of the air pollution.
The PCD said the rising concentration of PM2.5 pollutants is caused by poor air circulation and wind.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is stepping up its inspections of all pollution sources in the capital. City Hall has also ordered schools to arrange "dust free" rooms at all kindergartens and schools under BMA's supervision.
Satellite images found 1,566 hotspots on Jan 9, 1,139 on Jan 10, and 1,023 on Jan 11.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin plans to raise the issue when he meets the Cambodian PM in Thailand on Feb 7.
Mr Srettha had previously said Thailand and Cambodia will together fight transboundary haze pollution.
The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry has also asked Asean's secretary-general to urge all countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion to prevent forest fires by cracking down on activities such as slash-and-burn farming.
In Chiang Mai, farmers have been encouraged to stick with just ploughing the soil to clear their rice fields instead of burning rice straw, which adds to haze pollution.
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Vocabulary
- crack down on: to start dealing with someone or something much more strictly - จัดการ, ลงมือปราบปราม
- dust: very small pieces of dirt that cover surfaces inside buildings like a powder - ฝุ่น
- encourage: to cause someone to want to do something - กระตุ้น ให้การสนับสนุน
- haze: water, smoke or dust in the air that makes it difficult to see clearly - หมอกควัน
- hotspot: a place where there is a lot of activity, or a higher temperature than normal -
- instead (adv): in the place of somebody/something - แทน, แทนที่
- plough: to dig and turn over a field or other area of land with a large piece of farming equipment called a plough - ไถ
- pollution (noun): contaminated, when something has been made dirty, poisonous, unpleasant to see or smell and possibly dangerous to health - การทำให้เป็นมลพิษ, การทำให้สกปรก, ภาวะมลพิษ, สภาวะมลพิษ, มลภาวะเป็นพิษ, สภาพเป็นพิษ, ความสกปรก
- satellite: an electronic device that is sent into space and moves around the earth or another planet. It is used for communicating by radio, television, etc. and for providing information - ดาวเทียม
- slash-and-burn: involving the cutting and burning of forests or woodlands to create fields - ไร่เลื่อนลอย
- spike (verb): to increase suddenly - พุ่งพรวดขึ้น
- supervision: the process of making sure that something is being done properly - การควบคุมดูแล การตรวจตรา
- transboundary: happening across borders and affecting two or more countries -
- urge: to advise someone very strongly about what action or attitude they should take - ผลักดัน, กระตุ้น
