Thai authorities have made travel by public transport in Bangkok free for a week, the latest tactic to try to tackle soaring levels of air pollution that have already seen hundreds of schools closed and employees working from home.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has raised the status of the PM2.5 problem from a national agenda item to an issue requiring Asean cooperation to solve.

Flying through Bangkok's cloudless blue skies, a small aircraft sprays a white mist over a thick haze of pea soup smog below. This is Thailand's desperate, unproven attempt at reducing the oppressive air pollution over its capital,

Thailand's PM2.5 pollution crisis has intensified into a political issue as local elections approach on February 1. Opposition leader Natthapong Ruangpanyawut criticized Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shi

BANGKOK: Air pollution forced nearly 200 schools in Bangkok to close on Thursday (Jan 23), local authorities said, as officials urged people to work from home and restricted heavy vehicles in the city.

Air pollution in the Thai capital forced the closure of more than 350 schools on Friday, city authorities said, as Bangkok was ranked the world's seventh-most polluted major city by air quality monitor IQAir.

The Ministry of Public Health in Thailand is urging people across the country to work from home after air pollution levels exceeded safe levels in almost every province on Tuesday, Jan. 21.

Air pollution in the Thai capital forced more than 350 schools to close on Friday, city authorities said, the highest number in five years. Bangkok officials also announced free public transport for a week in a bid to reduce traffic in a city notorious for noxious exhaust fumes.

Jan 1