(Bangkok) In Thailand, an unseasonably high pollution spike has forced authorities to promise measures to improve air quality, but environmental advocates see it as nothing more than a smokescreen.
On Friday, Bangkok was in the top 10 of the world’s most polluted cities, according to air quality monitoring app IQAir.
The sudden spike was largely driven by atmospheric conditions, with fine particles accumulating due to colder air, high atmospheric pressure and dry weather, according to the government.
He warned vulnerable groups about high levels of PM 2.5, particles so fine they can enter the bloodstream.
In a statement, the authorities promised to “limit the areas where burning is permitted, put in place regulations, increase monitoring points and negotiate with the sectors concerned about transnational pollution”.
PHOTO ALEX OGLE, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
But for environmental groups, the government is ignoring one of the main culprits of the problem: industry.
“We need to put the bandage where the wound is,” Alliya Moun-ob, head of the air pollution campaign at Greenpeace Thailand, told AFP.
Worldwide, “several studies show that industrial activity is the source of a large part of PM 2.5, but we have little official data” on Thailand.
The industrial sector is only responsible for 4% of the toxic cloud which regularly covers certain regions of the country, generally between January and April, says the government, which rather blames the burning of stubble, including from neighboring countries.
But the fact that the recent pollution spike occurred outside the burning season shows that the impact of the industrial sector is likely much greater, said Panchom Saetang, director of the organization Ecological Alert and Recovery-Thailand.
“The government is trying to resolve the PM 2.5 problem, but it should seriously look at the industrial sector,” which she believes is responsible for a third of fine particle emissions in the capital.
For Greenpeace, the spike in pollution so early in the season should be a wake-up call about the need to tackle the problem transparently.
“It’s the start of the PM 2.5 season, we need to tackle this problem by identifying its root causes,” says Alliya Moun-ob.
According to the Ministry of Health, more than two million Thais have sought medical treatment this year for problems linked to poor air quality.