Air Pollution in Bangkok...Do people care?

[petedk]

I took the dog for a walk this morning at 6.30 and I could see the grey haze hanging over the buildings around me and my eyes started to sting a little.

 

There have been health warnings issued and published in newspapers over the last few days, so I guess the situation must be quite serious...... so why do people continue polluting the air? During my walk today I saw five cars parked with their motors running waiting to pick up friends or relatives from work. One of them still had the motor running after 30 minutes when I returned. 

 

I know in the hot summer months people do it to keep the air condition going, but 6.30 today the temperature was reasonable.

 

I know I should say something to them , but a year or so ago I politely asked a minivan driver, who was parked outside our house for 30 minutes with the motor running, to and he went crazy and became quite aggressive. So now I don't bother to say anything.

 

Why don't they think for themselves and think about their children and the future?

[brewsterbudgen]

It's horrendous.  I have a 3 year old and walking to school along Sukhumvit is dreadful.  Sometimes I drive to avoid walking alongside the buses,  Most masks are pretty ineffective, especially for kids.  If I didn't have to work here, I think I'd have to move.

[theoldgit]

Last year I had a chest infection that just wouldn't clear, I lived in the centre of Bangkok. I went to see a doctor for treatment and then asked what was causing this infection, he got up from his desk and just said look out there.

 

Your mini bus driver is indicitive of just how little some Thai people care for others or indeed the environment.

 

I understand that a lot of the pollution is caused by the building that's going on in Bangkok 24/7, I'm told that the minute dust particles from these building sites stays in the air and can do immense damage to lungs.

 

We moved to the coast last month, haven't felt as good for ages. 

[GettingBye]

You can't run the vehicle A/C when the engine is turned off ????

 

The cloth masks do help capture particulates found in vehicle exhaust, ofcourse, not all such as CO2 but atleast that found in the diesel trucks and which is a common irritant. Fitting the cloth mask successfully on children is possible as I am sure you are well aware. Teaching a child to do it themselves may be more difficult.

 

I feel your pain.

[Tchooptip]

A few years ago I smiled when I saw people wearing a mask, mainly in Japan.

Now I do not laugh at all I bought these masks and I wear them all the time on my motorcycle. I hope it helps a least a little

[zib]

http://slim.keff.org/air/

 

South Phuket if someone is interested ????

[william76]

Air pollution is mostly due to the farmers burning their fields. Combined with certain weather conditions,  the haze is maintained close to the ground. 

The reading down was last Wednesday in khorat. Very hazardous. We have left to somewhere else 

[lipflipper]

So what if you care??? Don't mean a damn thing in Bangkok as it's only get worse each and every day. Your choices are rather limited in that case, stay inside 24/7/365, put up with that pollution or the most obvious one, get the hell out of there. It's not rocket science.

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[Searat7]

If the government cared they would get the old buses off the road ASAP. I live in Silom so rush hour is full of cars with just one person. The 3M N95 masks have made a huge difference for me but I am seriously thinking of leaving Bangkok after 15 long stays. 

[mommysboy]

Not just Bangkok.  It could be we are talking about something quite overwhelming.  I had to leave Bangkok a few years ago, with regret because it's otherwise a great place to live.  It looks like crop burning is the major cause, but traffic pollution is an ever present that ensures Bangkok exceeds recommended levels day in day out; I've noticed a tendency for some posters to downplay city generated pollution, yet it is a major factor when one takes in to account immediate effects.

 

I suppose a lot of people don't care because they don't suffer immediate effects, besides there is nothing the ordinary citizen can do.  Others are harmed by the irritants, so naturally they express concern.  This is a very serious problem for people who have to live with allergies, and asthma- people who would otherwise be quite healthy under normal conditions.  Even something seemingly trivial like sinus pressure can become a life restricting issue.

[Tony125]

I first visited Thailand and Bkk in 2000. I told my now wife then, "I can stay in Bangkok a few days but not any longer and will not live there." The pollution was worse then and had to wear a mask almost all the time and especially if on a motorbike or Tuk Tuk. Bought a home in Chon Buri but do have a condo in Laksi area, not too bad smog here.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

7 hours ago, petedk said:

Why don't they think for themselves and think about their children and the future?

 

Introspection and thinking of/weighing the relation between actions and consequences is not strong suit here...

 

That's why so many negative things are the way they are, and much of the populace doesn't generally give one whit about it.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, william76 said:

Air pollution is mostly due to the farmers burning their fields. Combined with certain weather conditions,  the haze is maintained close to the ground. 

The reading down was last Wednesday in khorat. Very hazardous. We have left to somewhere else 

 

WOW!!!!

 

You sure the wife wasn't cooking / frying or some other similar activity near your sensor?

 

When my wife irons or I bake peanuts in the oven, it drives my PM2.5 sensor crazy....

 

But at least I know, those are different, temporary things vs. the chronic environmental pollution outside.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, lipflipper said:

So what if you care??? Don't mean a damn thing in Bangkok as it's only get worse each and every day. Your choices are rather limited in that case, stay inside 24/7/365, put up with that pollution or the most obvious one, get the hell out of there. It's not rocket science.
 

 

Not really...

 

1. the air pollution, or the worst of it, in BKK is typically a seasonal thing from Dec. until March each year. The rest of the year, not good, but not nearly so bad.

 

2. People do have choices:

--get a HEPA air purifier and run it inside their homes to keep indoors levels clean, as needed. Consider getting a home PM2.5 sensor as well to monitor indoor levels and inform your use of the purifier.

--when the pollution is bad outside, wear a 3M N95 mask that stops you from breathing the gunky stuff.

--monitor the AQI PM2.5 sites for where you live daily as needed, so you know the prevailing conditions, and can respond accordingly.

--in terms of living choices, try to stay away from heavy traffic and major roads, as being nearby those only tends to exacerbate the pollution.

 

It IS manageable, if you make the correct and proper accommodations. But of course, it would be better if the government and industry and population took the necessary steps to allow everyone to breathe much cleaner air without all the purifying and filtering.

 

 

[White Christmas13]

But Chiang May and Pattaya is the best place to live

[cracker1]

"Why don't they think for themselves and think about their children and the future?"

I believe the reason they don't think is because Thailand has such a very poor education system that the have never been taught to THINK !

[Ulic]

3 hours ago, sgoodes said:

Jomtien today 173

I just got back from hospital with a severe chest infection and feeling pretty crap.

Jomtien, as I look out the condo window is awful. Getting to be China/India like. 

[AJBangkok]

I woke up this morning and the AQI reading 2 blocks from my condo was 194. This has got me so concerned that I just got back from buying 4 air purifiers. Total cost just under 100,000. I told the wife I’m not happy about it but doing nothing is not a viable option with a child in the house.

[atyclb]

not good new for chinese tourism as they like to get away from china due to severe air pollution

[rickudon]

People blame farmers burning their fields for the poor air quality, but not true most of the time. Sure, when a local farmer burns the readings rocket up for a few hours, but this is a TEMPORARY thing. In Isaan lots of fields. very dry but AQI rarely rises above moderate. It is the large Urban conurbations that are the worst. day in, day out. And this is mainly due to traffic.  All the 100 plus readings are around or downwind of the cities.

It is true that most Thais just do not associate the bad air quality to anything outside of their visual range, or what they are doing. At least now it seems to be making some headlines. It took the Great Smog of 1952 in London for the UK to start realising the damage air quality was doing. Maybe, sadly, that is what Thailand needs.

[GettingBye]

3 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Introspection and thinking of/weighing the relation between actions and consequences is not strong suit here...

 

That's why so many negative things are the way they are, and much of the populace doesn't generally give one whit about it.

 

 

The Industrialized World was just as bad less than 50 years ago so the superior attitude seems misplaced. 

 

Whats your alternative for burning crops in ar country that relies on that form of agriculture?

[GettingBye]

Clean Air is a luxury of wealthy nations.

 

 

[DJ54]

I’m trying to remember 20 years ago when here only a few days on business. I think it was more pollution then. .?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, GettingBye said:

Whats your alternative for burning crops in ar country that relies on that form of agriculture?

 

I'm not a farmer or agriculturalist. But I believe I've read that there are viable and equal or better solutions to crop burning that include things like composting, plowing under, etc etc.  Maybe one of the local gentleman farmer types here can speak better to your question.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, GettingBye said:

 

The Industrialized World was just as bad less than 50 years ago so the superior attitude seems misplaced. 

 

 

Thomas Edison -- who invented the modern light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera, among other things -- lived from the mid-1800s to the 1930s.

 

Louis Pasteur -- who developed things like vaccinations and pasteurizing -- lived in the last 3/4th of the 1800s.

 

Charles Drew -- who developed modern methods of blood storage and paved the way for blood banks -- lived in the first half of the 1900s.

 

Marie Curie -- who did pioneering research in radioactivity and was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize --  lived until the 1930s.

 

Those are just a few from a very very long list of Western scientists and inventors with great intellects and thirst for knowledge and discovery who lived more than 50 years back. So there were plenty of heavy thinkers in the western world, and elsewhere, more than 50 years ago.

 

What Thai inventors and scientists would you nominate for inclusion of a similar kind of list of people whose knowledge and inventions have changed the world?

 

[marcusarelus]

1 minute ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Thomas Edison -- who invented the modern light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera, among other things -- lived from the mid-1800s to the 1930s.

 

Louis Pasteur -- who developed things like vaccinations and pasteurizing -- lived in the last 3/4th of the 1800s.

 

Charles Drew -- who developed modern methods of blood storage and paved the way for blood banks -- lived in the first half of the 1900s.

 

Marie Curie -- who did pioneering research in radioactivity and was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize --  lived until the 1930s.

 

Those are just a few from a very very long list of Western scientists and inventors with great intellects and thirst for knowledge and discovery who lived more than 50 years back.

 

What Thai inventors and scientists would you nominate for inclusion of a similar kind of list of people whose knowledge and inventions have changed the world?

 

Who invented over 200 years of deadly London air: smogs, fogs, and pea soupers? 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/science/the-h-word/2016/dec/09/pollution-air-london-smogs-fogs-pea-soupers

[fruitman]

4 hours ago, GettingBye said:

Whats your alternative for burning crops in ar country that relies on that form of agriculture?

To plow it back into the land so it will improve the soil and rot away...they also need less fertilizers/chemicals if the land is more fertile and healthy.

 

It stings my eyes, gives headaches, makes me dizzy...and most of it is from cars/buses/trucks in the city. The bbq's, fires, machinery, and so on also pollute a lot. 

Especially those old buses and trucks/escavators fume a LOT and should be banned asap.

 

BKK needs more tree's/parks, less people, less traffic but the Thai don't give a duck...We 'll go to a better place to live and that's far away from Thailand.

[GettingBye]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Thomas Edison -- who invented the modern light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera, among other things -- lived from the mid-1800s to the 1930s.

 

Louis Pasteur -- who developed things like vaccinations and pasteurizing -- lived in the last 3/4th of the 1800s.

 

Charles Drew -- who developed modern methods of blood storage and paved the way for blood banks -- lived in the first half of the 1900s.

 

Marie Curie -- who did pioneering research in radioactivity and was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize --  lived until the 1930s.

 

Those are just a few from a very very long list of Western scientists and inventors with great intellects and thirst for knowledge and discovery who lived more than 50 years back. So there were plenty of heavy thinkers in the western world, and elsewhere, more than 50 years ago.

 

What Thai inventors and scientists would you nominate for inclusion of a similar kind of list of people whose knowledge and inventions have changed the world?

 

 

And here I thought we were talking about air pollution.

 

I hadn’t realized I jumped to the forum about the Master Race but the timeline fits with your listed accomplishments.

[GettingBye]

6 minutes ago, fruitman said:

 

It stings my eyes, gives headaches, makes me dizzy...and most of it is from cars/buses/trucks in the city. The bbq's, fires, machinery, and so on also pollute a lot. 

Especially those old buses and trucks/escavators fume a LOT and should be banned asap.

 

BKK needs more tree's/parks, less people, less traffic but the Thai don't give a duck...We 'll go to a better place to live and that's far away from Thailand.

 

I agree the air pollution is no fun, especially up in CR area soon. I don’t advocate dirty air, I am just saying its a burden on poorer countries. In time the older vehicles and equipment will wear out and be replaced with newer technologies. The SkyTrain/MRT system is an excellent example of Thai addressing the issue but somehow is lost on this forum.

 

I am not sure how BKK is supposed to create less people? 

 

I am going to bet that there are too many people at your next destination as well.

 

Humans are breeding like rabbits. 

[fruitman]

Just now, GettingBye said:

How exactly is BKK supposed to create less people?

 

You may be surprised to learn that there are too many people at your next destination as well.

 

Humans are breeding like rabbits. 

Thailand needs more big cities.

 

And more efficiency. Have you ever counted how much staff they need for a shop? 3-5 times more than in the West. And they all need to eat, travel, live, shop and everything.

 

More large scale shops/companies....big trucks, big parkinglots, big contracts, lower prices, big farms, more machinery....Everything is done by pickuptrucks, especially to all the markets every day again....what a waste of energy.

 

If BKK wasn't so overloaded people wouldn't need to go out to relax and could do it near their house.

During christmastime BKK is the best when most went upcountry. We never miss them.

 

Also transport over water should be taken serious. Buy good boats, build good piers...so many Bangkokians spend 2-5 hours a day in traffic, what a waste of time and fuel.