Chadchart Sittipunt, Governor of Bangkok, has warned that air quality in the Thai capital is deteriorating due to forest and farm fires. He asked people to "be prepared and check pollution levels before traveling."
The Bangkok Metropolitan Government and the Department of Environmental Pollution will monitor dust sources and have also asked companies that produce dust (construction sites or trucks) to provide assistance. If the situation worsens, there will be restrictions on transport with public priority over private cars.
Opas Karkawinpong (Secretary of the Ministry of Health) reported that this week more than 213,000 citizens already had health problems due to air pollution. Historically, agricultural and forest fires are the main source of air pollution in Thailand between December and April.
