BANGKOK – Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt said on December 1 that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration will impose stricter standards for diesel vehicles’ exhaust in a bid to rein in the level of PM2.5 microdust particles. The decision came after a meeting with the Energy Ministry.
Engine oil will be required to be changed more frequently along with car filter. Exact measures will soon be announced. Chadchart said he will also discuss with governors from neighbouring provinces on how to reduce agricultural waste burning.
Pravit Rojanaphruk reported last Thursday that Chadchart said a year and a half after being elected Bangkok Governor that he has yet to be able to rein in on the proliferation of PM2.5 microdust particles that affect the capital.
“We still have problems. Measuring the air quality would be an important issue,” Chadchart told the audience at Alliance Francaise in Bangkok.
The governor was a guest of honour at the closing event of the 2023 AIRLAB Microsensors Challenge organized by the French Embassy which was microsensors being installed in Bangkok on top of the Alliance Francaise building to measure its air quality with that of northern France, a project handled by not-for-profit Airparif, an independent air quality observatory for the greater Paris region.
Chadchart added despite Bangkok having 70 measuring stations at present, there’s a need for good quality microsensors in Bangkok and he’s talking about a figure like one thousand of them. “We need good quality microsensors so this project is very helpful,” the governor said, and thanked new French Ambassador to Thailand Jean-Claude Poimboeuf.
The governor added that working from home is an alternative but that requires good data about specific parts of Bangkok to support the decision making process.
Poimboeuf meanwhile noted in a speech at the same event that according to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 30,000 deaths in Thailand can annually be attributed to ambient air pollution.
“France is determined to support international initiatives to combat atmospheric pollution. This microsensors challenge is one of them,” said the French Ambassador, adding that his embassy is keen to develop Franco-Thai cooperation in environmental protection.
“At the regional level, France strongly supports the United Nations regional commission UN-ESCAP decision to identify air pollution as a priority issue. France also supports the ongoing implementation of the Regional Action Programme on Air Pollution adopted just a year ago.”
Bangalore based air quality expert Dr R (Subu) Subramanian said microsensors are suitable for large cities like Bangkok and Paris but warns that it took the US three to four decades to solve the air pollution problem, however.
In India, said UN ESCAP representative Anshuman Varma, people stand to gain six to seven years of life expectancy if the air quality is at the average acceptable level.
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