Choking on smog: Thai city is worst in world for air pollution

Every December, Dr Nitipatana Chierakul, a specialist in respiratory medicine, notices the same pattern at his hospital department in Bangkok: his patients’ conditions will start to worsen.

- Rebecca Ratcliffe, Navaon Siradapuvadol

Some arrive with chest pain or prolonged coughs. “Mostly they have difficulty breathing,” he says. The reason is the thick smog that blankets the city and other regions during the country’s cooler months.

The pollution is even more severe in the north of Thailand. Yesterday, Chiang Mai was listed as worst for air pollution in a live ranking by the Swiss air-quality company IQAir, which includes data from about 100 cities around the world for which there is measured particulate matter PM2.5 data.

In Mae Sai, in the northern Chiang Rai province, local media footage yesterday showed thick yellow dust in the air as the concentration of PM2.5 in the district reached 76.3 times the World Health Organization annual air-quality guideline value, according to IQAir. Over the weekend, signs that read “Save Mae Sai” were hung in public places.

Air pollution in Thailand is generally worst during the cooler months, when seasonal agricultural burning occurs, compounding the fumes from transport and industry.

"[People] buy N95 masks, they buy air purifiers, they seal their houses, they get air-quality monitors,” said Weenarin Lulitanonda, co-founder of the Thailand Clean Air Network. But these options are not affordable to everyone.