Thailand Air Quality and Pollution Alerts

[buksida]

Alarm as haze plan 'lacking'
Environment experts and academics are voicing their concern over the authorities' lack of preparation to deal with the upcoming haze season.

They say the government needs to strengthen its pollution control regulations to better mitigate the problem at its source and protect the people's health.

Speaking at an online forum jointly organised by Thammasat University and Naresuan University, environmental expert Sonthi Kotchawat said while the government has a national mitigation plan to handle annual haze, authorities don't seem to be preparing for this year's haze as they should.

In Bangkok and the Central Plains region, the haze usually coincides with the winter months, which bring cooler, denser air that prevents pollutants from dispersing in the atmosphere -- causing the concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the atmosphere to reach dangerous levels.

Meanwhile in the North, the haze usually comes between March and May, when dry conditions often worsen fires caused by land clearing for agricultural purposes.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... an-lacking

The junta has its priorities in order, air pollution isn't one of them but they'll send a phalanx of police to raid a pub selling alcohol and legions to crackdown on protestors.

[hhinner]

Haze is such a harmless sounding word. As in, "there's some haze in Chiang Mai", when what they mean is a choking smog.

[PeteC]

Time to bump the thread OP once again at the start of this smog season.

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Unfortunately it appears we now need a thread like this given the frequency of bad air in Bangkok and elsewhere.

Please post to it if you come across alert data for any area of the country.

You can check this link for more Thailand and worldwide data: https://www.airvisual.com

The below is specifically for the Hua Hin area

https://www.airvisual.com/thailand/prac ... an/hua-hin

Below is their phone application that can be customized to give readings at any location you may be.

https://www.airvisual.com/air-quality-app

[buksida]

Air pollution continues to kill thousands in Thailand: who cares?
Air pollution is a persistent, deadly problem in Thailand. Time after time we watched as thick white smog rolled through the maze of roads to settle among buildings. We knew something was very wrong. After all, clean air should not be visible.

We have been living with air pollution, PM2.5, and have worn N95 masks years before Covid-19 arrived. Even so, most of us rarely know the multifaceted impacts of air pollution or are clueless about what we must do to solve it.

Indeed, one major source of domestic air pollution is the power sector, particularly electricity generation. Coal power plants are one of the main polluters. In Thailand, there are 27 coal power plants currently in operation emitting approximately 34.9 million tonnes of CO2 as well as large amounts of nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SOx), and other pollutants.

Tiny dust particles, commonly known as PM2.5, as well as NOx, SOx, and ozone (O3), can cause serious health problems such as cancer, respiratory disease, premature death, heart disease, and strokes.

The World Bank in 2016 reported that 50,000 Thais died from air-pollution-induced diseases while the effects of air pollution on the national health budget eats 6% of Thailand’s annual GDP.

https://www.thailand-business-news.com/ ... cares.html

[Nereus]

Yes, the crap is building up in Bangkok:

Harmful dust levels in Greater Bangkok

The Pollution Control Department has warned of harmful levels of fine-particulate dust in Greater Bangkok on Monday and Tuesday and again later this weekend, because of stagnant air over the capital

The department reported on Monday morning that over the past 24 hours the level of particulate matter 2.5 micrometres and less in diameter (PM2.5) in Greater Bangkok ranged from 28-62 microgrammes per cubic metre of air. The local safe threshold is 50mcg, higher than most other countries.

Unsafe levels were measured in Klong Kum sub-district of Bung Kum district, Klong Sam Wa district, Soi Lat Phrao 95 in Wang Thong Lang district, Don Muang district, Sukhaphiban 5 in Sai Mai district, Bang Kapi intersection in Bang Kapi district, Lat Krabang Road in Lat Krabang district, Sihaburanukit Road in Min Buri district, Klong Thawi Watthana Road in Thawi Watthana district and Ma Charoen Road in Nong Khaem district.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... er-bangkok

Not sure how they arrive at the following comment. Maybe they get the info from TAT:

The department said fine dust levels would rise on Tuesday morning, drop from Wednesday to Friday due to air movement and rise again on Saturday and next Monday due to air stagnation.

The prevailng wind at all levels is from the east. Despite the Met Dept claiming that there is a "westerly trough"!

[buksida]

NGOs sue Thailand government for failing to protect Thais from air pollution
Environmental campaigners have long called for a Clean Air Act in Thailand to hold polluters to account and give Thais the right to breathe clean air.

A collective of non-governmental organisations is suing the Thai government for failing to protect its citizens against air pollution, Eco-Business can reveal.

NGOs including Greenpeace Southeast Asia and Environmental Law Foundation (EnLaw), a local environmental law advocacy group, are filing suit against three public departments, the National Environment Board, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Ministry of Industry, for neglecting their mandate of protecting Thai citizens’ basic rights to clean air.

Environmental groups have long campaigned for the introduction of a clean air act, and in January pushed for the government to come up with an action plan to tackle fine particle pollution, or PM2.5 pollution. The country’s Pollution Control Department monitors air quality, but has a limited legislative mandate or budget to effectively address air pollution, with no power to punish polluters.

https://www.eco-business.com/news/ngos- ... pollution/

[REEM]

Recently returned to Hua Hin after being in the UK for 2 years because of Covid travel restrictions and although I am glad to be back I am horrified by the poor air quality. I am in a beachfront condo near the airport and I am used to crystal clear views back to the hills and along the coast North to Cha Am and South down to Kow Takiap. We have been here a week now and it seems to get worse each day. Where has it come from and when will it disperse. My eyes are becoming itchy and I dont even want to think about my lungs.

[Big Boy]

Get used to it, it happens for a couple of months each year. If it's any consolation, it's often worse further North.

[REEM]

As far as I can remember, and until Covid we had been here since 2005, the visibility has never been as bad as this, and the murk has never been as continuous or lasted as long.....it used to be for a day or two and the sun and breeze would disperse it. ..... and its no consolation at all to say its worse up North.

[bigston]

Just think of all the money you will save on Marmite REEM
just go outside with a big spoon scoop it up and you can trowel the air on to your toast
thats what ive been doing these past 4 mornings

if you trust their readings you might like the article about HH

https://www.iqair.com/th-en/thailand/pr ... an/hua-hin

[Big Boy]

As far as I can remember, and until Covid we had been here since 2005, the visibility has never been as bad as this, and the murk has never been as continuous or lasted as long.

I can assure you, it has. My wife has a severe lung condition, and we have to be very careful every year. We have heavy duty air purifiers in the house, and even they are running at >60 at the moment. This year is no exception.

A couple of years ago it was so bad that Hua Hin International School had to install air purifiers into their classrooms.

I remember being in Kuala Lumpar in 2019 where the air quality was shite, but the headlines there was about the air quality in Hua Hin because it was so poor.

[Nereus]

Depending on the prevailng winds, and they are still mostly from the north east and due east, this crap will find its way to Hua Hin;
................................................................................................
Bad air warning in North next weekend

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... xt-weekend

Bangkok, Chiang Mai among world's most polluted cities

Northern provinces are on course for severe air pollution next weekend due to fires and still air in the region as temperatures rise across the country over the forthcoming long break.

The Pollution Control Department on Sunday said the magnitude of pollution would depend on the number of hot spots detected later this week.

Air quality from the central up to the northern and northeastern regions has worsened over the past few days, with increasing density of particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres (PM2.5). The tiny air pollutants cause respiratory problems and kill thousands each year.

Car exhausts are a major source of the particles in Bangkok, but smoke from slash-and-burn farming and the burning of crop residues, along with forest fires, are blamed for the thick smog in locations outside the capital - with the huge increase in corn plantations thought to be particularly culpable in the North.

Bangkok and Chiang Mai were in the top five most polluted cities in the world on Sunday. The capital was in second place after Beijing, while the northern city was ranked fifth, according to the IQAir ranking at 4.30pm. IQAir monitors air pollution around the globe.

Bangkok and Chiang Mai, however, were not the most polluted areas in the country. That title went to Muang district in Ubon Ratchathani where PM2.5 hit 123 µg/m3, compared to 93 in Bangkok's Wang Thong Lang district and 63 around Chiang Mai's Doi Suthep.

In the North, the most hazardous haze was in Muang district of Uttaradit, with a PM2.5 reading of 95.

The Pollution Control Department (PCD) advised people in the so-called orange and red zones to spend less time outdoors through Monday to avoid breathing problems.

https://www.iqair.com/thailand/bangkok

[Nereus]

I’ve noticed the past few days that with some fairly strong winds it’s felt quite cold when you’re not in the sun, especially early in the morning, but today it feels colder still, so it’s back on with a jumper until the sun warms things up later on.

This is the annual NE cold air flow from big high pressure areas in China. It will be followed soon by pollution crap from areas to the east of here.

The pollution crap from the east is thick and strong in Bangkok this morning!

[Big Boy]

Not so good here either. My wife's air purifier is reading >130 indoors.

[hhinner]

PM 2.5 map from Windy app.
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