Harder to breathe: Pupils wearing face masks walking past a poster about PM2.5 pollution particles at Suanlumpinee School in Bangkok. — AFP
Hundreds of children strain to sing the national anthem, reedy voices and fragile lungs competing against eight lanes of belching traffic next to their school’s open atrium in central Bangkok.
Pupils at Suan Lumphini School assemble each morning under a coloured flag indicating the day’s air quality: red for worst, yellow for second worst, and blue for best.
Thailand registers dire air pollution levels annually, with its cities topping the world’s most polluted for days last year. Lalipthat Prakham, who works as a domestic helper, said it has already made her eight-year-old daughter sick.“I always try to make her wear a mask. I tell her to keep the mask on at all times and to avoid going outside,” she said while waiting for her child outside the school.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has promised to tackle the issue, with his cabinet in January approving a bill aimed at tackling dangerous levels of PM2.5 – particles so tiny they can enter the bloodstream.
Not all children suffer equally.
Bangkok’s elite private international schools enjoy air purifiers and filtration systems in classrooms but public establishments like Suan Lumphini must do without them.
The school is now part of a pollution study by Chulalongkorn University, which has fitted out a single classroom with a purifying air-conditioning unit, known as a “clean room”.
Children are at higher risk from air pollution due to several factors, said Teerachai Amnuaylojaroen from the University of Phayao’s School of Energy and Environment.Teerachai said while “clean rooms” provide a safe space inside schools, they are only a “preliminary solution to the issue”.
While there are no statistics on children hospitalised due to pollution, the National Economic and Social Development Council has warned that PM2.5 is a significant public health threat. — AFP
