Statistics from the Ministry of Transport showed that the number of vehicles of all types across the country as of February 28th, 2021 was 41,633,891, or equivalent to three-fourths of Thailand’s population of about 70 million people.
Most of the registered vehicles are motorbikes, which make up half of the total vehicles, or 21,452,050 vehicles.
The high number of vehicles on Thai roads have been said to be a contributing factor to the poor air quality and high PM2.5 levels seen throughout Thailand. (NNT)
Comments from concerned people on NNT Facebook page
‘Time to bring in EV cars and electric motorcycles and that should reduce air pollution’…
‘Of course. On scooter always 4 people without helmets.’ In cars only one person. Protect from Airbags’…
‘The annual fires I think are the main cause – not saying smoke emitting vehicle don’t contribute – both need to be controlled’…
‘Plus xx million unregistered vehicles’…..
‘Hmm so when the farmers aren’t burning the crops why does the pm2.5 levels in all the major cities drop to within acceptable limits? plenty of analysis has been done by Thai universities as to the cause and published in BKK Post amongst other publications, but I guess it’s easier to blame vehicles than fix the major cause’…
