Air pollution chokes Bangkok as cloud seeding fails

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Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in Bangkok, a top tourist destination, are taking place amid choking air pollution. Attempts by the government to induce artificial rain to curb pollution levels failed.

The Thai capital's air quality index measured particulate matter (PM) 2.5 level crossed 156 micrograms forcing the country’s pollution control department (PCD) to issue an appeal asking people, especially children, the elderly and those suffering from lung ailments to stay indoors.

A real-time air quality index on Friday afternoon showed the PM2.5 level hovering at 147. According to experts, PM is fine particles formed by a mixture of pollutants like sulfur dioxide, soot, and smoke that enters the bloodstream and can lead to a severe ailment.

The World Health Organisation's (WHO) permissible limit for the annual average of PM2.5 is 10 micrograms but in Thailand government has set 25 micrograms as the safe limit.

Drafting airplanes to control pollution

The Thai authorities deployed the Department of Royal Rainmaking and Agricultural Aviation in a cloud seeding operation to try to induce rain. But it was called off after several attempts failed since Monday.

A pictorial representation of Royal Rainmaking Rainmaking Technology in Bangkok. /DRRAA Photo

Rattakorn Warunsukkhasiri, director of the Central Region Royal Rainmaking Operation Centre, blamed unfavorable weather conditions as the moisture in the air was not high enough for the clouds to form.

“The cold air from the north is stronger this week, reducing the humidity to only 30 to 40 percent and it is impossible to make rain in such weather conditions,” Rattakorn told the Nation.

“We have to wait until next week when the cold front will be weakening, so we can try the rainmaking mission again.”

India also embarked on a similar plan to combat rising air pollution last year. Delhi’s environment minister Imran Hussain convened a meeting with an aviation company official, and representatives from the Civil Aviation Ministry to deploy helicopters to spray water to bring down the pollutant levels.

The plan was aborted after smog lowered the visibility to the extent that the aircraft could not take off.

Bangkok’s air pollution chokes tourists

Aditi Ghosh, an Indian tourist on vacation in Bangkok, told CGTN that the pollution is exceptionally intense in Bangkok and tourists are having a tough time.

“Since yesterday, pollution level is slowly coming down,” she said. "The pollutant level appears to similar to that of Delhi during last week of January this year."

Santi Chudintra, a deputy governor at the Tourism Authority of Thailand, told a press conference last week that the number of Chinese tourists over the lunar new year holidays was expected to increase by around 18 percent.

“We are expecting arrival of 300,000 visitors from China during the Lunar New Year holidays, and they will generate about 253.9 million US dollars in revenue,” he said.

More than 255,000 Chinese tourists visited during 2017 Lunar New Year celebrations.