NEWS BITES

POLLUTING VEHICLES TO BE BANNED

ENVIRONMENT: Vehicles emitting polluting fumes will be banned from Bangkok streets and will face hefty fines as authorities try to curb harmful ultra-fine dust during the dry season.

The stringent measures are needed as the levels of PM2.5 tend to exceed safety limits between December and April every year, Pollution Control Department (PCD) chief Pralong Damrongthai said yesterday.

Particulate matter 2.5 refers to the dust particles with a size of 2.5 micrometre in diameter, which have been linked to health issues.

From October, 2017 to September this year, the inspection of 8,237 cars on streets by the PCD and police found 137 vehicles emitting PM2.5 above acceptable levels.

CRASH KILLS 4 IN SAI YOK DISTRICT

KANCHANABURI: Four people, including Thai and Myanmar drivers and an Iranian tourist, were killed and another badly hurt when a pickup truck crashed head-on with a taxi in Sai Yok district in the early hours yesterday.

The crash happened shortly after midnight on the Kanchanaburi-Sai Yok section of Highway 323 in tambon Lum Sum, said Pol Lt Chaiya Paiwan, deputy investigation chief at Sai Yok police station.

Police and rescue workers rushing to the scene found a taxi with Bangkok licence plates and a single-cab pickup truck with Nakhon Ratchasima licence plates. Both were badly damaged.

The three dead were Rinphu-on Jongkol, 46, the taxi driver; Kantamanee Konnakhon, 28, a Thai taxi passenger from Tak’s Mae Ramat; and a Myanmar man identified only as Khwanchai from Sai Yok district, who drove the pickup truck.

The two injured men — Mojtaba Bakhtiaree, an Iranian taxi passenger; and Korawit Wiphobwatcharakun, 21, the passenger in the pickup — were rushed to Sai Yok Hospital.

The Iranian man was pronounced dead shortly after.