Poll: Little faith in PM2.5 solutions

Poll: Little faith in PM2.5 solutions

A majority of people are not sure the government would be able to solve the PM2.5 problem which has widely hit the country, according to an opinion survey by Suan Dusit Rajabhat University, or Suan Dusit Poll.

The poll was conducted on Jan 21-25 on 1,376 people across the country to gauge their opinions on the situation.

A majority of people, 55.1%, say they follow up on the fine-dust situation daily; 35% say they do so on some days only; 8% rarely do so because they do not want to be stressful; and 1.9% say they are not interested in it as they have to concentrate on their work.

Asked whether they know what causes the problem, a huge majority, 84.3%, say the dust comes from construction sites, industrial factories, exhaust fumes from vehicles on the roads and burning of grass and forests; while the rest, 15.7%%, say they are not interested and still lead normal life.

On what is affected by the fine dust, 5.5% say mention health, respiratory system and the brain; 22.6% cite the economy and tourism; 12.9% mention daily routines and out-of-home activities; 10.2% name weather conditions and visibility; and, 4.3% say mental health and sentiment.

Regarding ways to reduce the dust, 60.9% say they use private cars less frequently, check engine conditions and use public transport instead; 44.3% stop open-air burning, roasting and smoking; and, 24.8% clean their houses, grow trees and protect the environment.

Asked what they have done to protect themselves from PM2.5, 96% say they wear protective masks; 35.8% reduce outdoor activities; and, 11.7% eat heathy food and install air purifiers.

On what the government should do to solve the problem, 33.8% suggested imposing measures to restrict the use of private cars, promote use of public transport and prohibit outdoor burning with serious enforcement; 31.4% say checks must be regularly conducted on vehicles emitting black smokes and reschedule operating times of trucks; 27% suggest water spraying and rain-making; 24.8% mention the distribution of face masks and establish a daily PM2.5 situation warning system; and, 16.4% say factories emitting toxic smokes and construction sites should be controlled.

Asked whether they are sure the government is able to solve the PM2.5 problem, a majority, 93.6%, say "no", reasoning the government has not come up with concrete measures so far to deal with it. Of them, 52.9% are not sure and 40.7% have little confidence in the government's ability to deal with the situation.

Only 4.8% say they are somewhat confident the government 's ability while 1.6% say they have every confidence the government can solve the problem.

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