‘Declare Bangkok a pollution control zone’

[madmen]

Another nail in the tourist coffin if you can find a spot amongst the other 1000 nails [emoji23]

[JimP]

I stopped reading at the word, "swiftly."  LOL What does any Thai government official do swiftly...save collect tea money?

[DrTuner]

6 hours ago, SoilSpoil said:

Wow, how and why is the source of all this pollution ignored? 

My take is junta was behind driving farmers to move from rice to sugarcane and now all the burning causes them serious black face problems. So as usual they're arse up to the sun, head buried one feet in the sand.

[DrTuner]

The winds blow the Cambodian smoke to Thailand, I'm fairly sure the hapless usurper will stick his mug to the camera once the wind changes and claim he 44'd it away.

 

https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-258.00,11.75,3000

 

Told you so .. 

 

[realenglish1]

My asthma that normally does not bother me  is greatly affected by the pollution The lack of will on the part of the government to do something about this is gross negligence on  their part   They are worried about the effect it will have on tourism if they take action Well I can tell you the pollution has and will continue to have a great effect on many that will not come to Bangkok because of the pollution

 

General Prayut Chan-o-cha said that "because both human and natural factors contribute to the smog crisis in Bangkok, people should not blame the government for it. They should instead solve the situation by adopting an environmentally friendly lifestyle and learning to live by nature"  This is not the answer The government must force the auto industry and business sector to stop polluting 

 

Pollution Control Department director-general Pralong Damrongthai said the agencies had decided that the smog was still not critical enough to declare the capital a pollution-control area. Also, he said, doing so might affect tourism and the business sector. 

 

I can tell you that not declaring it a problem will affect tourism. No one in their right mind what to come to a polluted city when there are many other unpolluted places they can go 

 

I had to buy an air cleaner for my condo because my asthma was effected I am now seriously considering moving out of Thailand because of the pollution. I know of many ex-pats who commented about the same.

So pollution is more than a health problem It is a social and economic problem that needs to be resolved or there will be serious backlash from it

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Thammarat Phutthai, a lecturer at Mahidol University’s Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, noted that the efforts by authorities to hose down roads and spray water in the air have been unable to solve the pollution problem.

 

Really??? That's shocking!!!

 

I wonder what actually gave anyone in the government even the remotest idea that pulling those kinds of PR stunts was going to have any meaningful reduction in PM2.5 levels???

 

I'm still waiting for them to dust off the propeller boats again!  Maybe that will be Phase 2, after the airborne water spraying and cloud seeding didn't work... 

 

Ohh, and by the way, hasn't rained lately, has it?  Wonder what became of their much touted rain making flights and plans???  Hmmmm......

 

[Redline]

This country is doomed to failure-no drive, no incentive, passivity, laziness, lying, poorly educated, corrupt to the core.

It’s not fair to the people that want change-that is why the highly educated move away. The government wants foreign investment, but want to dnothing to entice investment-in fact, they are driving it away.  To bad because most Thai people deserve better 

[DrTuner]

13 minutes ago, realenglish1 said:

I had to buy an air cleaner for my condo because my asthma was effected I am now seriously considering moving out of Thailand because of the pollution. I know of many ex-pats who commented about the same.

I doubt anything will be done, especially since near all of Cambodia is in flames and ASEAN is a complete dud, not to mention Thai farmers don't give a rat's arse if they poison the population with their burns as long as there's a few quick baht to be done. If I had asthma I'd be waiting for departing flight at swampy, one way.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

 “But it also found that the PM2.5 level in the city, especially in the areas along the streetside, always stays above the World Health Organisation [WHO]’s safe limit all year, which can cause negative impacts to people health.”

 

Witsanu noted that even though the level of PM2.5 in the rest of the year mainly remained within Thailand’s safe standards, and was thus considered by authorities to be harmless, he insisted that in order to ensure the public’s well-being, the WHO’s safety guidelines should be applied.

 

Great Thai journalism here... Let's write b.s., but not actually tell our readers the factual truth.... just hint at it.

 

FACT:  Thailand has its own "safe" standard of 50 micrograms of PM2.5, whereas the World Health Organization has a not to exceed standard of 25 micrograms -- half of what Thailand considers acceptable...  And other entities like the U.S. and U.K. also have lower standards that Thailand.

 

But let's not actually bother with telling our readers the truth about that!

 

[VocalNeal]

I am stunned by the naivity of people who believe there is an instant cure. The dust probably comes from the Sahara are we going to wet that down to prevent it.

 

Stopping using the internet might help?

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

After related agencies attended a meeting yesterday, Pollution Control Department director-general Pralong Damrongthai said the agencies had decided that the smog was still not critical enough to declare the capital a pollution-control area. Also, he said, doing so might affect tourism and the business sector.

 

Please, let us bow down to the almighty tourist dollar, and not worry that we're harming the health of everyone who breathes in the current airborne gunk in BKK every day....

 

Good job government!!!!

 

 

[MikeN]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Really??? That's shocking!!!

 

I wonder what actually gave anyone in the government even the remotest idea that pulling those kinds of PR stunts was going to have any meaningful reduction in PM2.5 levels???

 

I'm still waiting for them to dust off the propeller boats again!  Maybe that will be Phase 2, after the airborne water spraying and cloud seeding didn't work...  ....

 

I was half expecting somebody to resurrect that idea by suggesting that people point their fans out of the window and turn them on, and thus create enough breeze to clear the air. It would be as sensible as that proposal about the boats and flooding.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

13 minutes ago, MikeN said:

I was half expecting somebody to resurrect that idea by suggesting that people point their fans out of the window and turn them on, and thus create enough breeze to clear the air. It would be as sensible as that proposal about the boats and flooding.

 

You should be working for the government, with bright ideas like that!!! 

[MikeN]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

You should be working for the government, with bright ideas like that!!! 

Can I get paid in watches ?

[VocalNeal]

Pollution control zone?

 

I assume peolple know there is an operating oil refinery in Bangkok?

[Number 6]

When I first arrived in Bangkok those red busses we're plying the roads belching smoke as they went.

 

Nearly thirty years later, still on the roads.

 

I refuse to purchase a car and I take public transportation over taxis as I can. I'm doing my part.

 

Maybe they cut cut down on the old vehicles and jet sorties.

[ExpatOilWorker]

7 hours ago, unamazedloso said:

 

PM2.5 at 235, INDOOR?????

That must be a record reading. Where are you located at?

[joecoolfrog]

Buy a broom and a large roll of carpet , lift carpet , start sweeping !

[Chongalulu]

12 hours ago, DoctorG said:

In addition to masks, people need to be wearing goggles to prevent eye irritations/infections.

I think you’ll find most of Thailand ,in traditional fashion,are already wearing blinkers ....

[ZeVonderBearz]

7 hours ago, CGW said:

Beautiful breezy day up here outside Udon Thani, PM 2.5 ~10, was 16c at 07:00, now 27c humidity 43%, perfect - don't tell anyone! ????

Strange you would Bragg like that. The IQAir app says that PM2.5 in Udon Thani has been unsafe by Thai standards, more lenient than the WHO standard, pretty much all day today. Actually it's been worse than CM all day today where the wait quality is terrible already.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

31 minutes ago, ZeVonderBearz said:

Strange you would Bragg like that. The IQAir app says that PM2.5 in Udon Thani has been unsafe by Thai standards, more lenient than the WHO standard, pretty much all day today. Actually it's been worse than CM all day today where the wait quality is terrible already.

 

CGW needs to look for a better source of air pollution info:

 

 

https://www.airvisual.com/thailand/changwat-udon-thani/udon-thani

 

[CGW]

1 hour ago, ZeVonderBearz said:

Strange you would Bragg like that. The IQAir app says that PM2.5 in Udon Thani has been unsafe by Thai standards, more lenient than the WHO standard, pretty much all day today. Actually it's been worse than CM all day today where the wait quality is terrible already.

"Bragging", merely stating facts ????

 

35 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

CGW needs to look for a better source of air pollution info:

If you read my post, I state "outside" Udon Thani, 15 miles to be exact, I have no doubt the city is bad 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

37 minutes ago, CGW said:

"Bragging", merely stating facts ????

 

If you read my post, I state "outside" Udon Thani, 15 miles to be exact, I have no doubt the city is bad 

 

So what's the measurement source of the supposed "good" air quality readings that you're claiming?

 

In general, especially in an area like Isaan where burning is probably the biggest air pollution contributor, I wouldn't expect outlying areas to be very different from the cities.

 

 

[Ossy]

13 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

PM2.5 at 235, INDOOR?????

That must be a record reading. Where are you located at?

In the broom cupboard, where do you think? . . . lest you be thinking that all my house is this dirty?

[mikebell]

On 1/22/2019 at 4:14 AM, webfact said:

he government already has the legal tools to swiftly order powerful mitigation measures

Like the police already have the powers to lessen the daily road kill?

[CGW]

12 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

So what's the measurement source of the supposed "good" air quality readings that you're claiming?

Seriously, how do you think I am coming up with measurements? obviously I have a PM2.5 meter, which today is reading 19 outside. Downtown UT is recording 49.6 in the worst area, they do tend to put monitoring equipment in the worse areas, not the cleanest! As the skies are clear I would guess that this is mainly traffic pollution as note the skies are clear.

I have a PM 2.5 meter as it can get quite bad up here, but at this time the wind is coming from China and it is both cool and clear.

 

[bubba]

Have a look at this satellite generated map of fire hotspots from NASA. Now check the Thailand - Cambodia border. Looks to me like a large part of the problem is coming from fires in Cambodia, since the current prevailing low-level winds are coming from that direction.

 

NASA FIRMS Fire Map

[MaxYakov]

I've already declared my apartment to be a "pollution control zone". No cooking, smoking, talcum powder or any other atmosphere contaminant. Nothing wide open to Bangkok air with doors closed at all times. Filtering of air 24 x 7 with filter on bathroom window. I'm considering wearing my outdoor 2.5PM face mask 24 x 7 (except during sex and eating) within my apartment, but that may scare the geckos.