By Editor

 
As Thailand continues to grapple with the ongoing air pollution crisis, officials have provided guidelines for students and school staff.  The Ministry of Education has provided school safety guidelines for students and staff to protect themselves from PM2.5.

 

The guidelines include: avoiding outdoor activities for extended periods, wearing face masks when outdoors, wearing long-sleeved shirts, taking showers or washing skin after exposure to polluted air, using air purifiers with high-efficiency particulate air filters, seeking medical attention for respiratory symptoms or skin irritation, and generally maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

 

PM2.5, fine dust particles in the air, pose serious health risks, particularly to young children, pregnant women, the elderly, and those with chronic lung disease.

 

To address this issue, the Ministry has designated the Disaster Coordination Centre for Educational Institutes as the central agency responsible for monitoring air pollution levels in each province and formulating short and long-term solutions to the crisis.

 

The ministry issued a nationwide order to provincial education offices with measures aimed at tackling the PM2.5 crisis in schools and instructions on how to protect against air pollution.

 

The order designated the Disaster Coordination Centre for Educational Institutes, which has officials in every provincial education office, as the central agency for monitoring air pollution in their province, Nation Thailand reported.

 

Recent days have seen PM2.5 levels in various areas of Thailand reach dangerous levels, but the situation has started to improve.

 

According to iqair.com, Bangkok’s average air quality index at 9am on Saturday was 95, or moderate, with an average PM2.5 level of 33 micrograms per cubic meter of air, below Thailand’s minimum safety level of 50 μg/m3.

 

Yesterday, several schools in Bangkok were forced to close due to pollution. Meanwhile, over 376,000 patients have suffered from illnesses due to inhaling PM2.5. Over 165,000 suffered from respiratory diseases, 80,248 from skin diseases, and 70,206 from eye inflammation.

 

Source: https://royalcoastreview.com/2023/02/pm2-5-dangers-guidelines-issued-by-the-ministry-of-education/

 

-- © Copyright Royal Coast Review 2023-02-06

 

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This is exactly why we left Thailand. 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

As Thailand continues to grapple with the ongoing air pollution crisis, officials have provided guidelines for students and school staff.  The Ministry of Education has provided school safety guidelines for students and staff to protect themselves from PM2.5.

what  about guidelines for tourists who invade thailand every year?

Or, in a nutshell don't breathe. No mention of stopping illegal burning; taking off the road all black smoking vehicles unserviced for a decade or so?

3 hours ago, webfact said:

As Thailand continues to grapple with the ongoing air pollution crisis, officials have provided guidelines for students and school staff.  The Ministry of Education has provided school safety guidelines for students and staff to protect themselves from PM2.5.

Shame on the government and shame on all the offending provincial governors for not doing more.

Seems the Thai government is only interested in looking at the end result rather than the source of pollution. Burning agricultural stubble is the cause. Allowing farmers to burn fields is a bad habit and the ministry of agriculture needs to educate farmers better. 

15 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Shame on the government and shame on all the offending provincial governors for not doing more.

Shame indeed. Some time ago, when an illegal sugar cane fire was reported to the police, the Thai complainant was told not to worry about it because it would be finished after a few minutes.

As long as that attitude persists there will be never be an end to pollution.

Government responses are fine but what is needed is active policing of the problem and a means to discourage corruption. 

2 hours ago, Muhendis said:

Government responses are fine but what is needed is active policing of the problem and a means to discourage corruption.

Word from the top that this has to stop is all that's needed.

Or governors will be replaced.

You would see a change overnight in attitudes.

Most countries encourage children to participate in outside activities like sport in order to encourage physical activity.

Thailand continually yaks about high pollution but does very little to actually combat the issue. The amount of vehicle pollution is rediculous because strict emissions rules are basically ignored. A drive on any highway will show testament to that statement, as vehicles belch diesel fumes everywhere.

Burning off in rice paddies etc continue unabated in rural areas and farmers don't have other economic options, so will never stop their burn offs. A lot of pollution is also carried in from neighboring countries, so international agreements need to be formulated during Asean meetings.

 

14.30 It is raining unusually heavilly cats&dogs around Vibhavadi Rangsit road , Kasetsat Uni. Is this artificial rain they are making to combat the pollution?