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Bangkok Shuts Hundreds of Schools as Toxic Haze Shrouds City

  • Thai military government may also try to close factories
  • Smog spike makes the city’s air some of the world’s worst
Buildings stand shrouded in smog along the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok.
Buildings stand shrouded in smog along the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok.Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg
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Thai officials shut hundreds of schools in Bangkok on Wednesday as some of the world’s most toxic air hung over the city.

The metropolis of about 10 million people closed 437 government schools until Friday, its local authority said, prompting private institutions to follow suit. The air quality index, or AQI, was around 170 in the afternoon, the fourth-worst major urban reading globally, according to data from AirVisual, which tracks pollution levels.