437 govt schools to be closed Wednesday to tackle severe air pollution

[snoop1130]

437 govt schools to be closed Wednesday to tackle severe air pollution

 

 

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) announced 437 government schools would close on Wednesday, January 22, to reduce the number of vehicles on the road and the impact on the health of children and young people after the Thai Meteorological Department said any closure for 1-2 days could help tackle the bad air quality.

 

Four urgent measures have been issued, which are:

 

1. All Bangkok-affiliated agencies should postpone working hours to 10am-6pm to reduce traffic congestion. This measure will be effective until the air pollution crisis is resolved. Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang insisted the public would not be affected by the time change.

 

2. Some 437 government schools in the city will be closed for a day – January 22.

 

3. Masks will be handed out to people. People can immediately pick up these masks at any of the capital’s 68 public health centres, bus stations or Skytrain stations.

 

4. The public are urged to protect themselves by wearing masks when leaving buildings to go outside.

 

BMA officials will also coordinate with government schools to open extra classes on the weekend or on other days, depending on the situation.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30380882

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-01-21

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[Topdoc]

Let's follow the logic here:

If closure for 1 or 2 days is going to help tackle the bad air quality, what's going to happen when the schools re-open?

[tubby johnson]

28 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

BMA officials will also coordinate with government schools to open extra classes on the weekend or on other days

So .... more traffic on the weekend. More pollution.

[RotBenz8888]

1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

This measure will be effective until the air pollution crisis is resolved.

We're talking how many years?

[TooBigToFit]

Every Saturday and Sunday is a break like this. Does it really help that much? A week off might be better if this is all you can do. In my area the most dust comes from construction from what I see. Just having people across the Bangkok area wash their sidewalks and other areas down at the same time might help keep some dust down. And watering the green spaces more would help. How about a week of Songkran waterfights now? And stop all that burning of cane fields. Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi and Supanburi used to have huge fields. Are they burning them now? I thought this regime was going to reduce sugar consumption.

[sucit]

Kids are in classrooms most of the day. Aren't they more apt to be outside with the day off? Or is the theory they are coming from outside the city? The pollution levels have been about the same even outside the city. 

[trainman34014]

This will help the education performance figures no end and also give an excuse why they are so poor.    Meanwhile the Teachers take yet more fully paid holidays !

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

We're talking how many years?

Remember, the govt here only thinks it's a health problem when the PM2.5 levels in micrograms exceed 50, whereas most of the rest of the world has a standard of 35 micrograms or lower. 

 

So they're probably hoping to stick it out another month or so until the annual heavy smog season ends, and then everything will be forgotten and any attention to the problem will cease -- until the whole process starts again next December or so as usual.  Rinse and repeat.

 

There is no apparent end to this cycle... just 3 month periods of horrible air quality interspersed with 9 month periods of sometimes OK, sometimes somewhat bad air.

 

 

 

[Yom]

Useful or not. - But, what about the people in the north?

 

 

 

It is bad all over Thailand, almost all over SEA.

[webfact]

Smog forces Bangkok schools to shut, but respite in doubt due to crop burning

By Prapan Chankaew and Chayut Setboonsarng

 

A road is seen with smog next to a sugar cane burnt plantations in Suphan Buri province, north of Bangkok, Thailand, January 21, 2020. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's capital on Tuesday ordered schools closed due to unhealthy levels of air pollution, and there were doubts whether the situation would improve in the coming months as farmers burn their sugarcane crop in the harvest season.

 

The Bangkok air quality index (AQI) climbed to 170 - a reading above 150 is classified as unhealthy - on Tuesday morning and the city was ranked as having the world's ninth worst air for a major city, according to independent air quality monitor AirVisual.

 

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration ordered 437 schools in Bangkok, the most visited city in the world, to close for a day on Wednesday as one of the emergency measures against pollution.

 

Bangkok's level of PM 2.5 particles was 92.7 pg/m3 on Tuesday, while anything over 35 is considered unhealthy. PM 2.5 particles can include dust, soot and smoke.

 

The last few years' annual deterioration in air quality early in the new year coincides with the annual sugarcane harvest, which normally runs from November to March.

 

Sugarcane is typically burned before harvesting to remove the outer leaves, making it easier to collect. After the harvest, the leftover leaves are burned again to prepare the land for re-planting.

 

The government has officially banned burning crops during January and February, according to the Ministry of Agriculture website.

 

But many farmers still resort to burning as it is cheaper than hiring workmen to cut stalks and collect leaves to prepare fields for the next planting.

 

"Total cost of cultivation rises about 30% to 40% for cutting fresh sugar cane (without burning) ... that makes it necessary to burn," a sugarcane farmer in northeastern Thailand, who only gave his name as Sert, said.

 

"I don't feel good about it," the farmer said when asked how he felt about contributing to the pollution.

 

For some days in January, Thailand had up to 375 kilometer-wide hot spots indicating fires, satellite data shows, with an average of 100 spots in agriculture land, according to Thailand's Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA).

 

While burning of crops in the first two months of the year is banned, little is being done to enforce it, and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has expressed helplessness.

 

"We cannot simply put the blame on people and penalise all the polluters because the outcome of penalty measures will create other serious problems for society," Prayuth told reporters on Monday.

 

To be sure, crop burning is not the only cause of the smog in Thailand - pollution from cars and trucks, weather patterns and industrial emissions are also blamed.

 

"It's a cocktail of factors," said Surat Bualert, Dean of the Faculty of Environment at Kasetsart University.

 

(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng and Prapan Chankaew; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-01-22

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[webfact]

Bangkok City Hall suspends classes in 437 schools on Wednesday

 

 

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has suspended classes at 437 schools under its supervision for one day and introduced staggered working hours for all its officials from Wednesday, as airborne PM2.5 dust is forecast to remain excessive in most parts of the capital.

 

City Hall spokesman Pongsakorn Kwanmuang said today that the measures are part of the BMA’s four-point plan to cope with worsening air pollution in Bangkok.

 

He said, however, that officials working at district offices, who have to provide services to the public, will report to work as normal, adding that the staggered working hours will be ended when pollution has eased.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/bangkok-city-hall-suspends-classes-in-437-schools-on-wednesday/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2020-01-22

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[Wiggy]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

due to crop burning

Finally....the true cause is known. How long did that take?

[BobbyL]

Good to see international schools are not falling for this nonsense. Just like last year, it isn't addressing any of the real issues.

 

Ultimately, it will result in slightly lower AQI for the next few days whilst they all pat themselves on the back thinking they did something worthwhile. I can guarantee the same will happen next year. 

 

[TomJoad]

Need another reason to hate smog?

A recent peer-reviewed study indicates that 30% of strokes worldwide are due to air pollution.   Tiny particles less than 2 microns are able to get from the lungs into the bloodstream, where they probably lodge in the linings of arteries and cause inflammation.  

[ChrisY1]

12 hours ago, Topdoc said:

Let's follow the logic here:

If closure for 1 or 2 days is going to help tackle the bad air quality, what's going to happen when the schools re-open?

You shouldn't mention the word "logic" when making quotes....

[legend49]

"We cannot simply put the blame on people and penalise all the polluters because the outcome of penalty measures will create other serious problems for society," Prayuth told reporters on Monday.

 

What an idiot he is. He accepts the problem and ignores it. Maybe the main buyer from farmers for corn and sugar is MR CP and he doesnt want to <deleted> him off after the sweetheart deals on railway contracts.

[ChipButty]

Yep, close all the schools and the kids will be out racing their motorbikes all day long

[Cereal]

"We cannot simply put the blame on people and penalise all the polluters because the outcome of penalty measures will create other serious problems for society," Prayuth told reporters on Monday."

 

Like it or not, this is true. 

[herwin1234]

worldwide the bigger the city the more airpollution the only way to reduce it is making cities car unfriendly. to talk about "cropburning" as a major airpollutioner in big cities is laughable. 

what they can and must do, stop building infrastructure that accomodates large traffic intake in cities, and, they, anyone up there concerned about airpollution should be a good example and reduce car use and start using a bicycle. 

Nothing new, the prime minister of the Netherlands ( NOT a tree hugging liberal but a moderate conservative) goes to his work everyday onthe bicycle..

[nobodysfriend]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

But many farmers still resort to burning as it is cheaper than hiring workmen to cut stalks and collect leaves to prepare fields for the next planting.

The farmers do what they always did . The only way to teach them is by imposing , ( and collecting ) , MASSIVE fines .

Only when it comes down to their wallet , they'll understand ...

[fantom]

The masks those kids are wearing are of as much use as a chocolate teapot.

 

Surely they should be issued with the correct type by now.

[30la]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand's capital on Tuesday ordered schools closed due to unhealthy levels of air pollution, and there were doubts whether the situation would improve in the coming months as farmers burn their sugarcane crop in the harvest season.

But do you really think that by closing schools children are safe and, for how long you want to close them, now the situation has become a status quo!
Yeah they don't learn anything when they go to school, so they are even less educated, that's probably in your favor!
If children learn that with such a situation they can stay at home, they will never learn to respect the environment.

[crs]

27 minutes ago, herwin1234 said:

worldwide the bigger the city the more airpollution the only way to reduce it is making cities car unfriendly. to talk about "cropburning" as a major airpollutioner in big cities is laughable. 

what they can and must do, stop building infrastructure that accomodates large traffic intake in cities, and, they, anyone up there concerned about airpollution should be a good example and reduce car use and start using a bicycle. 

Nothing new, the prime minister of the Netherlands ( NOT a tree hugging liberal but a moderate conservative) goes to his work everyday onthe bicycle..

No it's not laughable at all - read article parts 1 and 2 here: https://towardsdatascience.com/@worasom

 

Quote

"...But this analysis confirms the suspicion that many people have — agricultural burning is the root cause of PM 2.5 pollution in Thailand. Burning activities as far as 720 km away from Bangkok, an area which extends into Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, can cause air problems in Bangkok..."

 

[Vacuum]

48 minutes ago, ChrisY1 said:

You shouldn't mention the word "logic" when making quotes....

Guess he meant 'Thai logic'.

[Emdog]

23 minutes ago, herwin1234 said:

worldwide the bigger the city the more airpollution the only way to reduce it is making cities car unfriendly. to talk about "cropburning" as a major airpollutioner in big cities is laughable. 

what they can and must do, stop building infrastructure that accomodates large traffic intake in cities, and, they, anyone up there concerned about airpollution should be a good example and reduce car use and start using a bicycle. 

Nothing new, the prime minister of the Netherlands ( NOT a tree hugging liberal but a moderate conservative) goes to his work everyday onthe bicycle..

Right now Bangkok is at 102, Pattaya is 92, and that mega city Kanchanaburi clocks in at 180. While I agree with much of what you say, the statement it is laughable to blame crop burning is just off.

 Big cities do generate plenty of pollution year round, no argument. But there is a cause/effect relationship between field burning and pollution nationwide during burning season.

https://www.airvisual.com/world-air-quality

[SoilSpoil]

35 minutes ago, herwin1234 said:

worldwide the bigger the city the more airpollution the only way to reduce it is making cities car unfriendly. to talk about "cropburning" as a major airpollutioner in big cities is laughable. 

How wrong you are. 

[soistalker]

Thais are not smart enough to solve this problem and too full of fake proud to ask for help.

Edited January 22, 2020 by soistalker

[thailand49]

38 minutes ago, Cereal said:

"We cannot simply put the blame on people and penalise all the polluters because the outcome of penalty measures will create other serious problems for society," Prayuth told reporters on Monday."

 

Like it or not, this is true. 

He most likely didn't know he made the admission?  But his admission " helpless " is pretty much the reason why the government can't fix a lot of simple stuff. When it comes to Thai schools never seen so many days off for some many little things? 

In the past, Prayuth would declare Section 44 but then he realized even then nothing can be done!????

[RichardColeman]

Waiting for the 'TOURISTS ARE ADVISED TO AVOID THAILAND FOR HEALTH REASONS', but I doubt they will publish it

[newnative]

  Well, that's what you want in a leader--helplessness.  Pathetic.  It's the 21st century.  Spend some of that huge budget surplus on modern farm equipment.