Toxic air pollution responsible for deadly health problems clouded large parts of Thailand this morning, with officials warning residents to work from home.

Footage shows the alarming clouds of haze - caused by agricultural burning - in Ang Thong province, around 80 miles north of the capital Bangkok, on Thursday morning, February 15.

Air quality monitors recorded levels of PM 2.5, the harmful particle that causes cancer and other ailments, reaching 110 microgrammes per cubic metre.

The figure is 22 times higher than the safe threshold set by the World Health Organisation, which is just five microgrammes per cubic metre of air.

Hapless Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt said on Wednesday that all city employees would work from home on Thursday and Friday.

He said: 'I would like to ask for cooperation from the BMA network of about 151 companies and organisations, both government offices and the private sector.'

Dangerous levels of deadly PM 2.5 particles are recorded every year in Thailand between December and April.

Despite paying lip service for several years, politicians have failed to stop individuals from burning their land due to it being cheaper and easier than modern farming methods and a growing demand for food.

In March 2023, the Public Health Ministry of Thailand reported that around 1.3 million people in the country had been unwell due to the rising levels of air pollution. Officials said 200,000 residents were hospitalised in a single week.

They warned hospitals in December 2023 to prepare for an influx of patients.

It came as researchers from Peking University in Beijing, China, also discovered that long-term exposure to particulate matter PM.25 air pollution is associated with an increased risk of lung cancer.

In December, Dr Krittai Thanasombatkul from Chiang Mai, Thailand, died of lung cancer. He had previously blamed PM 2.5 microdust particles for his condition.

The New York State Department of Health say PM 2.5 increases the risk of heart disease, asthma, and low birth weight.

While medics from South Korea published research in the National Institute of Health in the United States that said the pollutant increases the risk of stroke, ischemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer, and other illnesses such as immune deficiency and even obesity.