You may have heard about Bangkok’s recent smog scandal, where the city’s air quality was as filthy as the floor in the Basement after a busy Hey Ewe. As a student living and working in the city let me tell you what it was like being in the thick of Greta Thunberg’s worst nightmare.
So, what caused Bangkok to become the 7th most polluted major city in the world, and for the city to attain the highest Air Quality Index reading in five years? To give some context, the air quality is considered safe at an AQI of 50, yet in some areas of the city there was an AQI of 122 micrograms per cubic metre. This, as you can imagine, is a tad worrying! The main reason for this crisis was the mass number of agricultural fires on the outskirts of the city. The pollution caused from the burning of farming waste, on top of the already staggering fumes emitted from traffic in Bangkok, birthed the smog which attacked the city.
It certainly didn’t happen overnight, the suspicious cloud of smog crept into the city like an unwelcome guest until the major decline in Bangkok’s air quality became as glaringly obvious as a bad mullet. The days of mask wearing returned as commuters across the city attempted to protect themselves from sore throats and infected lungs. Visibility became poor; breathtaking views of the city’s skyline transformed into looking out onto a heavy blanket of floating dirt and ash. On the 23rd of January 2025 more than 250 schools across Bangkok were forced to close their doors and people were encouraged to work from home if possible. The high school I work in, which was located in the top five most polluted areas out of the 50 districts of Bangkok, was included in the transition to online learning. Additionally, public transport such as the city’s trains and buses, temporarily became free of charge, in order to reduce the vehicles on the road. These precautions, however, were short-lived as after only four days of online learning we were sent back to school, and the continuous hum of traffic returned.
I would love to end this article by reporting that there have been drastic improvements in the air quality over the past weeks. Unfortunately, the situation seems to be worsening. There is, in certain areas of Bangkok, an astonishing AQI reading of 153. Is the Thai government’s obvious neglect towards our current environmental crisis a cause for serious concern?
Photo by Peggy Anke on Unsplash
Edited by Callum Lee
