On an ordinary Monday, the Chao Phraya River ebbs and flows with a simmering sense of urgency – a stark contrast to the sea of commuters aboard the ferry, donning face masks like armor against an invisible foe. We’re not talking about mythical creatures, but enemies of the micro variety: Covid-19 and the ever-insidious ultra-fine dust that’s been plaguing the heart of Thailand – the vibrant city of Bangkok.
Oh, how the river’s waves mimic the rising and falling fortunes of this bustling metropolis – a city now bracing for an airborne siege with air quality poised to plummet like the mercury after a tropical sunset. From Thursday to Saturday, forecasts predict a haze as unwelcome as an uninvited monsoon, prompting even the statuesque skyscrapers to squint through the murk.
Enter our civic knight in shining armor, Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt, who is anything but resigned to the fates. On Monday, which shall henceforth be remembered as ‘Masked Monday,’ Mr. Chadchart announced that should the air take a turn for the worse for a trifecta of days, a work-from-home decree shall be heralded throughout the land – or at least the city.
But how will the people learn of this proclamation, you ask? Fear not, dear reader, for City Hall’s modern-day version of the town crier – a network with no fewer than 50,000 wired souls – stands at the ready to spread the word.
The denizens of 17 districts in the city, from Laksi of the north to Bang Bon of the west, find themselves perched on the edge of their seats, anticipating the orange alert – a hue that signifies air more pungent than your average durian stall. Their fates are written in the numbers, as the ultra-fine particles play hopscotch over the government’s set-safe threshold like mischievous spirits escaping from Pandora’s box.
Meanwhile, not too far away, Samut Songkhram steals no joy in its dubious accolade of ‘most polluted,’ with a level of particulates that would make even industry blush. It’s followed closely by its brethren Samut Sakhon, Ratchaburi, and Phetchaburi – all cloaked in red, the color of stop signs and alarming pollution levels.
It’s a scenario that would befuddle even Sherlock, but Mr. Chadchart, ever the sleuth, attributes this particulate pandemonium to unsavory air conditions and an outbreak of hotspots that have blossomed across the central region like a rash. These hotspots mean business, nearly doubling in number since last year – a statistic as troubling as a forgotten anniversary.
Yet hope is afoot as City Hall conjures an initiative urging motorists to embrace the romance of Euro 5 diesel – a fuel so refined, it practically curtseys. Bear in mind, darlings, patience is a virtue as this eco-courting ritual may take some time to flourish.
In these wheezy times, the city has not forsaken its coughing constituents. Eight clinics stand vigilant, prepared to offer solace to the afflicted as does the “Mor Kor Thor Mor” application – a beacon of telemedicine modernity in this medieval air quality melee.
Dr. Atthapol Kaewsamrit, with a title almost as long as this sentence, offers sage advice to the parental units: Guard the lungs of thy offspring with a fervor unmatched for their developing battalions of immune cells are yet to be battle-hardened. Masks shall be their shield, and quick medical aid their lance against any respiratory dragons they may face.
While we speak of battles, let us not forget the silent warriors of the Pollution Control Department (PCD). Last year, more than 9,000 environmental distress signals were caught in their net. Alas, not all fell under their broadsword’s jurisdiction, prompting a redirection towards municipal knights better suited to joust with local troubles.
The complaints themselves tell the tale of the city’s unrest: A cacophony of olfactory offenses, a storm of dust particles, and a barrage of cacophonous decibels – the constituents have spoken as loudly as the city rumbles. And thus concludes another chapter in Bangkok’s ongoing saga of the seen and unseen, the sniffed and the muffled – a tale that, like the Chao Phraya itself, refuses to stand still.
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