Bangkok Hospital Pattaya warned pregnant women, the elderly and those suffering chronic illnesses to take extra precautions as Pattaya battles poor air quality.
Dr. Supakit Vechapanitch, director of health promotion, suggested that at-risk groups should avoid areas with high concentrations of particulate matter measuring 2.5 microns or smaller.
Topping that list is Bangkok, which has been strangling on the so-called PM 2.5 for weeks. Pattaya’s air quality is markedly better, but has at times reached the lowest of the unhealthful levels.
Supakit said exposure to too much PM 2.5 – typically by sitting in traffic or working in factories – can cause short-term coughing and burning in the throat and nose. Long term, the microscopic dust, which cannot be filtered out by the body before it embed in the lungs, can cause dyspnea, bronchitis, gastrointestinal problems and lung infections.
The doctor stressed there is no-short term cure – other than the rainy season – for the record air pollution. Thailand must change and enforce its environment regulations and people must care more for the environment, he said.
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