Air pollution alert for Friday

[unamazedloso 1,068]

50micrograms is safe. Wow, from what i h derstand no measure is safe but due to people wanting to have some reference point 15 and 30 have been mentioned in other countries as ok. Lucky Thais get 50....

[MaxLee 4,669]

37 minutes ago, alfalfa19 said:

Hard to believe that it could get any worse.  Nevertheless, Thailand is a nation of overachievers. 

No it's not hard to believe at all,..... it was up in the air, that these day will come sooner than later..... 

[dougiemac57 22]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Still air, higher particulates predicted for today

By The Nation

 

A trains runs through along a track as bad air pollution continues to affect Bangkok yesterday. // EPA-EFE PHOTO

 

POLLUTION is expected to get worse in Bangkok today following slight improvements in weather conditions yesterday.

 

Fewer locations reported fine particle dust beyond safe levels yesterday, while the Meteorological Department issued a warning about a high-pressure area hovering over Laos and the Northeast that will bring temperatures down by 1 to 3 degrees Celsius in greater Bangkok today. 

 

According to the department’s director-general Phuwiang Prakhammin, there will be a slight dip in temperatures from yesterday to Saturday thanks to the high-pressure area. However, once the cooler air mass withdraws, still air will hover over greater Bangkok and it will combine with fog. The level of fine particle dust may peak on Sunday.

 

Though the air may be less toxic because rain on Tuesday and Wednesday washed away some of the dust. 

 

The Pollution Control Department (PCD), meanwhile, reported that 16 roadside areas and nine general areas (away from main roads) in greater Bangkok still had unsafe levels of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) in the air. The safe limit is 50 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic metre of air. 

 

In Bangkok, roadside areas on Phaholyothin Road in Chatuchak district, a spot in front of Kasetsart University in Bang Khen district and the area near the Thanon Tok intersection in Bang Kho Laem district each reported an unsafe level of 62 micrograms.

 

The PCD also reported that the quality of air today will be “moderate” and cited the weather bureau as saying there will be no rain in the capital and its five surrounding provinces. 

 

In the wake of pollution, various agencies have this week implemented dust-reducing measures such as suspending the construction of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand’s Orange, Yellow and Pink electric rail lines until January 22. 

 

Meanwhile, the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority has been checking vehicles and keeping exhaust-spewing buses off the streets, while traffic police have nearly doubled checkpoints to 20 from the previous 12 to catch and seize polluting four-wheelers. 

 

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has sent workers to clean and hose down risky spots on a daily basis. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30362474

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-01-18

Yesterday the Thai authorities said there was nothing to worry about. Doesn't look that way to me. The next step will be to ban vehicles in Bangkok! What a nightmare that would be 

[hotchilli 4,197]

19 hours ago, webfact said:

Fewer locations reported fine particle dust higher than safe levels on Thursday,

There's a clue in the post.... just stop reporting high levels, problem solved !!!!

[moutamine 102]

2 hours ago, zyphodb said:

What amuses me is that Chiang Mai has had appalling smog every burning season for many years and nothing has been done, but as soon as it's reported that Bangkok has some, oh the horror, suddenly they're spending lots of money, panicking & coming up with all sorts of hairbrained solutions.

 And they wonder why the North and Northeast aren't impressed with the government or any of the political parties based in Bangkok?

Chiang Mai is a shit hole... Never breathed such disgusting air in my life.  

[5633572526 286]

Maybe they could divert some of that submarine money to buying new busses, you know like the ones they ordered before and then refused delivery of. Or maybe add some additional trains to the BTS / MRT to relieve the massive overcrowding caused by extension of the lines.

oops forgot it’s a military government so submarines much more important.

[Snow Leopard 1,542]

2 hours ago, KhunProletariat said:

Whats rubbish? The fact that old buses spew out most of the exhaust fumes and they should be banned?

 

Seems logical to me.

 

KP.

Exactly logical. They should also look at converting the coal-fired power stations to LNG. 

[shackleton 477]

the main problem is the number of cars bikes and other forms of transport on the roads in Bangkok

they need to start introducing no go areas and fine people using polluting dirty exhausts ect  like other Capital cities 

but here its a pipe dream will never happen 

 

[Snow Leopard 1,542]

They need to convert the coal-fired power stations to LNG. That would help a great deal. 

 

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180821-the-giant-coal-plant-converting-to-green-energy

 

The use of Biomass generation and also rubbish incineration would help as well on a smaller scale. 

[Bkkthebest 117]

come on. think on the bright side. at least, the mosquitoes are kept at bay.

Edited January 18 by Bkkthebest

[nabokov 5]

No doubt there are civic organizations in Thailand active in environmental matters, and numerous activists -- many of them highly educated people -- have been sounding the alarm for years now with regard to pollution and other concerns, but it appears their influence is limited.  Are they up against some kind of ingrained fatalism in the culture, or is it that possibly any kind of civic involvement -- or a call to same -- is simply ignored?  If so, it may be ignored because it is seen as an "elitist" kind of thing, since most Thais, like people everywhere, are more concerned about their next meal, and do not see environmental issues as more than an abstraction, or something merely indulged in by airheads.  (No pun intended.) 

 

However, one should not dismiss also the deadening oppression of a government that is itself unresponsive in any meaningful way to the pleas of those individuals and groups calling for change -- the urgent need for which has become increasingly evident.  Autocratic governments around the world have been on a campaign to intimidate and harass dissidents, whistleblowers and investigative reporters.  In countries and cultures living under such a government, there is also what could be called self-censorship, whereby individuals have internalized what the culture does not want them to think or say; they know they will be left alone as long as they do not raise their voice.  

 

So I would suggest that the problem is cultural and to a certain degree political.  A state apparatus resistant to change (fearful of it, really) and ready to quash those who threaten its grip, will do what it must -- by means of propaganda, infiltration of dissident movements, and all the other usual dirty tricks -- to save itself.  Those in power will ensure that no one shall be the wiser, or even care when someone just disappears, dies suddenly foaming at the mouth on a park bench, or surfaces after a long absence in a video confessing to sedition or some other infamy.  And those unnamed powers will make sure that everything will soon be forgotten -- advising the media to relegate it to yesterday's news and kill the story as soon as possible.  Money is at the heart of it -- and fear.

[meshborg 13]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Still air, higher particulates predicted for today

By The Nation

 

A trains runs through along a track as bad air pollution continues to affect Bangkok yesterday. // EPA-EFE PHOTO

 

POLLUTION is expected to get worse in Bangkok today following slight improvements in weather conditions yesterday.

 

Fewer locations reported fine particle dust beyond safe levels yesterday, while the Meteorological Department issued a warning about a high-pressure area hovering over Laos and the Northeast that will bring temperatures down by 1 to 3 degrees Celsius in greater Bangkok today. 

 

According to the department’s director-general Phuwiang Prakhammin, there will be a slight dip in temperatures from yesterday to Saturday thanks to the high-pressure area. However, once the cooler air mass withdraws, still air will hover over greater Bangkok and it will combine with fog. The level of fine particle dust may peak on Sunday.

 

Though the air may be less toxic because rain on Tuesday and Wednesday washed away some of the dust. 

 

The Pollution Control Department (PCD), meanwhile, reported that 16 roadside areas and nine general areas (away from main roads) in greater Bangkok still had unsafe levels of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) in the air. The safe limit is 50 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic metre of air. 

 

In Bangkok, roadside areas on Phaholyothin Road in Chatuchak district, a spot in front of Kasetsart University in Bang Khen district and the area near the Thanon Tok intersection in Bang Kho Laem district each reported an unsafe level of 62 micrograms.

 

The PCD also reported that the quality of air today will be “moderate” and cited the weather bureau as saying there will be no rain in the capital and its five surrounding provinces. 

 

In the wake of pollution, various agencies have this week implemented dust-reducing measures such as suspending the construction of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand’s Orange, Yellow and Pink electric rail lines until January 22. 

 

Meanwhile, the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority has been checking vehicles and keeping exhaust-spewing buses off the streets, while traffic police have nearly doubled checkpoints to 20 from the previous 12 to catch and seize polluting four-wheelers. 

 

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has sent workers to clean and hose down risky spots on a daily basis. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30362474

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-01-18

You cant fix this problem ever.Im on my last yearly month long visit and never coming back.Too many tourists and too much pollution.The place has long lost its soul and charm.

[Benmart 3,526]

4 hours ago, KhunProletariat said:

Whats rubbish? The fact that old buses spew out most of the exhaust fumes and they should be banned?

 

Seems logical to me.

 

KP.

The rubbish is, is that the buses will most likely remain on the roads.

[KnowItAllSMD 14]

Air quality in Bangkok is horrible but it’s always been horrible. Why the sudden panic? Bangkok air has always made my nose bleed for as long as I can remember. Booked out of Bangkok moons ago and set up shop in Phuket. And Bangkok air is certainly not even close to as bad as China, Hanoi Vietnam, India, and even Paradise, California USA.

 

Check out an app called Air Visual that will tell you the AQI in a given area. Bangkok is at 60 which is not bad at all. It’s up in the 140 to 180 range in China and Hanoi.

Edited January 18 by KnowItAllSMD

[elgenon 980]

7 hours ago, soistalker said:

If I am not mistaken, the BTS and MRT run on clean energy. The problem is that they are expensive means of transportation for most natives. And the trains are not run frequently and are often crowded. 

Take the money they are spending to spray water 20 meters into the air (absolutely kindergarten science) forceably retire most buses which cannot be fixed, and subsidie BTS/MRT travel. Get additional revenue from any vehicle not following traffic laws through hefty fines, and confiscate and sell any motorcycles riding or parked on the sidewalk. 

What is the clean energy they run on?

 

Buses go places BTS and MRT don't.