The Thai government will urge two-stroke motorcycle owners to trade in their machines for cleaner-burning four-stroke models to help alleviate Bangkok's choking air pollution.
BANGKOK, Thailand — The Thai government will urge two-stroke motorcycle owners to trade in their machines for cleaner-burning four-stroke models to help alleviate Bangkok's choking air pollution, state media reported Wednesday.
The plan, to be launched later this month, calls on manufacturers to offer 7,500 baht (US$195) worth of credit toward a new four-stroke in return for old two-strokes, the Thai News Agency reported.
Tiger Motor Co., Ltd. has offered 2,000 bikes for the program and other motorcycle makers may join the campaign, the report said, quoting Aphichai Chawacharoenphan, director-general of the Pollution Control Department.
Participants will also be offered loans at lower-than-market interest rates for the purchase of the new bikes.
The department wants to get 10,000 two-strokes off the streets in Bangkok and nearby areas. There are at least 100,000 of the bikes in the area, the report said.
The motorbikes will be dismantled, their parts recycled and engines destroyed.
Two-stroke bikes emit twice as much exhaust and use twice as much fuel as four-stroke types.
Associated Press
