Heavy traffic and aged old vehicle engines with incomplete combustion are cited as one of the prime sources of toxic PM2.5 in the city. Photo: Sayan Chuenudomsavad

BMA plans to ask government to declare Bangkok as pollution control zone to curb PM2.5

The zone is among 11 new drastic measures that the BMA plans to propose the government for approval as part of its latest bid to fight against PM2.5

Bangkok Governor Dr. Chadchart Sittipant has revealed the latest attempt of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to fight against the toxic PM2.5 haze, saying that the administration plans to propose the government to approve 11 measures for the BMA so that it can have more power to deal with this air pollution problem.

Among those is declaring Bangkok as a pollution control zone. 

Under the Enhancement and Conservation of National Environmental Quality Act, Section 59 states that in case any locality is affected by pollution problems and there is a tendency that such problems may be aggravated to cause health hazards to the public or adverse impact on the environmental quality, the National Environment Board (NEB) shall have power to designate such locality as “a pollution control area” in order to control, reduce, and eliminate pollution.

This will allow the Governor of the designated area to have power to come up with a plan to manage the pollution and stricter environmental measures or regulations can be implemented. 

“If Bangkok is declared as a pollution control zone, we will have more power and resources to fight against the problem, including boosting our authority to curb it and greater access to the government’s budget,” said Dr. Chadchart, who also reported the plan to the Bangkok Metropolitan Council last week to garner support from the council’s members.

The toxic city haze

Bangkok over a week ago was hit hard by the toxic PM2.5 haze. As of Jan 24, the situation in the capital worsened from the beginning of the week. The concentration levels of the toxic PM2.5 haze in most of the areas in the city, 67, increased beyond the 24-hr average hazardous level set at 75.1 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3), being registered as “Red”, and meaning the dust affects health. There were only three areas left as “Orange”, meaning the toxic dust was unhealthy and started to affect health with the concentration levels recorded between 37.6-75 (µg/m3).

Since the beginning of the week, Bangkok plunged into the toxic PM2.5 haze, with the concentration levels increasing beyond the safe limit in all 50 districts. This prompted the BMA to start to enforce some measures to cope with the situation. 

At first, it declared the voluntary Work From Home (WFH) measure for Monday and Tuesday before the measure was extended to cover the whole week. The BMA by the Bangkok Governor then declared the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) for the first time for the city to ban six-wheeled vehicles without pre-registration under the BMA’s Green List to enter the inner areas of the city. 

Heavy traffic is known as being among the prime sources of the toxic dust in the city due to aged old vehicle engines with incomplete combustion. Dr. Chadchart had admitted that the sources of the origin of the haze still persisted, reflecting the limitation the city had in order to address the crisis. 

Aside from the incomplete combustion of vehicles, biomass burning, both from inside and outside the country, is cited as another prime cause of the haze in Bangkok.

Under normal circumstances, incomplete combustion of vehicles in the city could cause PM2.5 concentration levels to rise up to 30 µg/m³. If the weather is closed, the dust levels could rise up to 60 µg/m³. This could be exacerbated by biomass burning, which could cause the PM2.5 dust levels to rise up to 90 µg/m³, according to the Governor.

Credit: BMA

The measures

In the past months, Bangkok has been attempting to implement the so-called 365-Day Dust Reduction plan to monitor, mitigate, and reduce air pollution caused by PM2.5 throughout the year. 

According to the BMA, key measures include:

-Strictly monitor and inspect vehicles for black smoke emissions in collaboration with relevant agencies.

-Coordinate with local police stations to manage traffic and strictly always enforce a ban on parking along main and secondary roads.

-Raise public awareness about maintaining vehicle engines, turning off engines when parked, and reducing the use of personal vehicles.

-Regulate businesses, factories, cement plants, and construction sites to ensure air pollution emissions do not exceed the legal standards.

-Request cooperation from temples, foundations, and religious sites to refrain from burning incense and paper.

-Enforce strict monitoring and control to prevent any form of open burning or waste incineration in open areas.

-Increase the frequency of street cleaning, dust vacuuming, tree and leaf washing, and regular cleaning of bus stop shelters.

-Consider declaring Health Impact Mitigation Zones in Bangkok and strictly enforce regulations against violators.

-Conduct public awareness campaigns, providing information and health protection tips related to PM2.5. Residents can also report pollution sources via the city’s Traffy Fondue app.

-Deploy mobile health units and medical services, including air pollution clinics, to safeguard public health.

-Implement strict PM2.5 reduction measures in schools to minimize health impacts on students.

According to the BMA, over 14,604 inspections over industrial facilities were conducted since last October, with 8 non-compliant out of 236 facilities found, resulting in orders for improvements. Additionally, 2,437 inspections over cement plants were conducted, with 17 non-compliant out of 105 and corrective measures required. 

District authorities also condcuted 4,956 inspections over construction sites, identifying 33 non-compliant out of 231 sites. The Department of Public Works conducted 5,762 inspections over construction sites, finding 1 out of 361 sites in violation. Lastly, 523 inspections were conducted at landfill and sand depot sites.

For black smoke emissions, 263,631 vehicles were checked, with 3,096 banned from operation. 56,638 public and private buses were inspected, leading to 145 bans, and 141,345 trucks were inspected, with 724 prohibited from operating due to emissions violations.

Additional measures were also implemented during the crisis, including establishing a “War Room” for real-time monitoring, increasing black smoke inspections to three times per week, restricting construction, implementing a Low Emission Zone (LEZ), and enhancing public health support with mobile medical units and clinics.

The BMA also reported on the LEZ measure implemented that the measure helped reduce the PM2.5 in the designated area by 15.6% compared to surrounding areas. The number of six-wheeled trucks entering the LEZ decreased by 12%, averaging 2,982 trucks per day, it said.

Tara Buakamsri, Country Director for Greenpeace Southeast Asia, however, is not convinced by the latest proposals by the BMA, especially the declaration of a pollution control zone. 

Mr. Tara said the declaration gives more power and budget to the Governor of the designated area, but from past declarations of such a zone in heavily polluted areas, the measure failed to deal with the problem, considering its size or scale. Bangkok, he said, has been challenged by the sources of the PM2.5 haze outside the city, especially those involving factories and fossil based power plants around the city.

A pollution release and transfer register system could be more effective in keeping the pollution in the city in check. The declaration of the LEZ, on the other hand, could be more realistic to be implemented for the city like Bangkok, he said.

“The big cities like Paris, for instance, do not declare the cities as pollution control zones, but several strict measures have been seriously implemented. It takes the city 15 years to get improved and cleaner air, but it’s possible,” said Mr. Tara.