Issues with the condition of Thailand office air

This is my third day in a new company in Thailand. I'm the only CTO who is responsible as Data Scientist and for rewriting the existing project. On the first day I worked, I sneezed during the meeting. On the second day I started to get a sore throat. I feel very worried that I would end up being sick rather than enjoying spending the money. The office also has two air purifiers, but they are not switched on. Maybe they are not effective against the virus in the air.

I have read "getting my bosses to fix the air conditioning", but people around here just have sore throats. They are also having a moderate turnover rate. Air might be one factor of this as well. Since people here can choose jobs.

Workplace spec

1. Single medium size company office
2. Space is 80% utilized. Loaded by many paper documents. It is an accounting company
3. Building is old

Symptoms

1. Sneezing
2. Sore throat
3. Anxiety that my health will be getting worse

This situation is happening in Bangkok Silom; it is well-known that air around here is pretty bad. However, I don't think the air pollution from outside will impact the inside of the building.

The jobs here is a very challenging one. I prefer to work in Software Engineering and as a Data Scientist. The company owner offered me this because of our connection. I and he met online in the chatroom of high school alumni.

Questions:

1. Is this called office syndrome?
2. Is it normal to tolerate bad air in the office?
3. Suppose I am trying to resolve this issue, but not effective against it. How long do I need to try a week, 2 weeks? or a month? Before making a negotiation to work from home or worst case resign?

Is this called office syndrome?

I have never heard such term, but Googling it seems that this is not such thing (as it seems the Syndrome is for sitting long times)

Is it normal to tolerate bad air in the office?

No, it should not. Bad air is bad for your health and that affects your well-being and performance in a negative way.

Suppose I am trying to resolve this issue, but not effective against it. How long do I need to try a week, 2 weeks? or a month? Before make a negotiation to work from home or worst case resign?

First, as suggested in comments, you should check with your doctor before jumping to any conclusions. After that you will have a better idea on how to proceed.

If indeed this is probably caused by the A/C (as per your Doctor's conclusion), then proceed to convince your boss or the one in charge of infrastructure that it's time to clean the filters.

If they seem reluctant, try having some coworkers that are experiencing this to back you up, so they see this is not only an issue with you. If they are reasonable they should take action and solve this issue.

On another note, keep in mind that another possibility is that the low temperature is affecting you, and not necessarily polluted air. It is not uncommon to sneeze when the A/C is on a low temperature (or when you go outside and it's cold or raining).

Perhaps you (as it is my case) are sensitive to low A/C temperatures. In my case I try to increase the temperature of the A/C if possible or go somewhere else where the temperature is warmer... but as I know most of my coworkers are ok with it, I usually opt to bring more cover (sweater, etc.) to the office, so I don't make most of my coworkers uncomfortable because I don't like cold temperatures.