Bangkok to step up haze fight
published : 30 Jan 2025 at 11:32
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Supoj Wancharoen

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will ask the government to declare Bangkok as an air pollution control area as PM2.5 levels are expected to surge again over the next seven days.
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt said that when Bangkok is declared a pollution control area, he said, the BMA will be given more power to better handle haze pollution in the capital, allowing it to use the environment fund to combat the PM2.5 problem.
One measure is to ban non-registered six-wheeled trucks or larger ones from entering low-emission zones in the city's inner ring road system, also known as the Ratchadaphisek ring road.
A total of 259 security cameras equipped with AI technology are watching for trucks flouting the ban. He said more than 40,000 trucks have been registered so far. Those who defy the ban will face a fine of up to 2,000 baht.
The number of passengers using electric trains increased 50% last Saturday and Sunday as a result of the government's measure to offer free public transport as part of measures to combat haze pollution in Bangkok.
As a result, traffic along the roads where electric trains run, such as Phahon Yothin and Lat Phrao roads, declined by 15%, he said. From Jan 25 to Friday, people are being given free services on buses and electric trains.
PM2.5 levels are expected to increase over the next seven days starting on Thursday.
Vocabulary
- combat (verb): to try to stop something unpleasant or harmful from happening or increasing - ต่อต้าน
- declare: to announce officially that something is true or happening - ประกาศ ยืนยัน
- decline: to become less or worse - ลดลง
- defy: to refuse to obey or accept someone or something - ท้า, เป็นปฏิปักษ์ต่อ
- emissions: amounts of gas, heat, light, etc. that are sent out - การปล่อยออกมา
- flout (verb): to intentionally not obey a rule, law, or custom - ไม่เคารพกฎหมาย
- fund: money provided for something - เงินทุน กองทุน
- governor: a person who is chosen to be in charge of the government of a state or province or a government agency - ผู้ว่าการรัฐ, ผู้ว่าราชการจังหวัด
- haze: water, smoke or dust in the air that makes it difficult to see clearly - หมอกควัน
- measure: a firm action taken to solve a problem or stop a dangerous unpleasant situation - มาตราการ
- PM2.5 (n): atmospheric particulate matter (PM) with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres, which is about 3% the diameter of a human hair. It can lodge in the lungs and enter blood vessels, leading to respiratory and cardiovascular disease -
- pollution (noun): contaminated, when something has been made dirty, poisonous, unpleasant to see or smell and possibly dangerous to health - การทำให้เป็นมลพิษ, การทำให้สกปรก, ภาวะมลพิษ, สภาวะมลพิษ, มลภาวะเป็นพิษ, สภาพเป็นพิษ, ความสกปรก
- step up: to increase - เพิ่ม