Bangkok residents suffer due to poor air quality, thousands sick

As pollution reached dangerously high levels in Bangkok this week, nearly 200,000 residents were admitted to hospitals, according to the public health ministry.

For the past few days, the Thai capital, home to over 11 million, has been shrouded in a yellow-grey mix of vehicle fumes, industrial emissions and smoke from agricultural burning.

The public health ministry said 50 districts in Bangkok on March 08 recorded unsafe levels of the most dangerous PM2.5 particles -- so tiny they can enter the bloodstream -- while the following day they remained well above World Health Organization guidelines.

PM2.5 levels have been above safe limits for most of Bangkok since March 06, according to the government's pollution control department.

A doctor at public health ministry urged children and pregnant women to stay indoors on March 08 while adding that any individual stepping outside should wear a high-quality N95 anti-pollution mask.

During another pollution peak in late January and early February, city authorities had urged people to work from home.

A spokesman for Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt -- elected last year with promises to improve the city's environment -- said they would not hesitate to issue another similar order if the situation got worse.

with AFP inputs

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