Nearly 200 Bangkok schools close over air pollution

Air pollution forced nearly 200 schools in Bangkok to close on Thursday, local authorities said, as officials urged people to work from home and restricted heavy vehicles in the city. Seasonal air pollution has long afflicted Thailand, like many countries in the region, as colder, stagnant winter air combines with smoke from crop stubble burning and car fumes.

By Thursday morning, the Thai capital was the sixth most polluted major city in the world, according to IQAir. Level of PM2.5 pollutants -- cancer-causing microparticles small enough to enter the bloodstream through the lungs -- hit 122 micrograms per cubic metre.