Most people want PM to use “bitter pill” to deal with smog problem: Suan Dusit Poll

[mok199]

Your chances of a solution are zero and zero....we just hangout in the Malls now....life in the Thai Biosphere.....

[Cadbury]

4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Most people want PM to use “bitter pill” to deal with smog problem:

Fat chance of that happening. The "bitter pill" medicine is politically risky and may prove very unpopular and could lead to a serious loss of votes for the de facto leader of the Palang Pracharat Party.

Cross that strategy off the list of bright ideas. Better to stick with the molasses and pollution producing motorised water cannons. 

[antoniuni]

"War on the neighbouring countries burning forest and rice fields would be the only way IMHO."?????? Look first in Thailand!!!!!!!!!!

 

[unamazedloso]

i own diesel pickups, tractors and excavators. Rest assured propeely tuned and proper exhausts dont pollute to the extent thats being expressed. I would gladly give it allnup for a buy back. only way to solve the problem is stop burning everything, stop blaming other countries. Take actuon, push greener alternatives. Its the only way. Its a farang idea yeh but its the right thing to do so do it and stop being childish thailand.

Article44 is for government not people! Also its not a special power.

[1duckyboy]

Lived in California most of my life. Stopping smog is expensive for all parties, private, corporate and government and it's slow to put into effect. Throw in Thais' finger pointing and outright denial and I don't see any real steps being taken. I think Herr PM is reluctant to bite any of the hands that feed him. Too bad, as the air is only going to get worse in the long run.

[Ulic]

No real need for article 44. Just have the police do their job and enforce the laws already on the books. Get cars, buses and trucks that don't meet environmental standards off the road until they do, stop the agricultural burning. 

[Xonax]

4 hours ago, Hayduke said:

The Thai people have only themselves to blame. If they had not angered Uncle Number One with all this frivolous ‘democracy’ talk he would have already used his magical molasses and supernatural powers to clear the air. To find salvation the people must repent, turn away from evil foreign ideologies and love Uncle Number One. Just ask him...

 

 

And how do you really think that Thailand would have developed, with the Taksin regime still in power instead of the coup???

[IssanCalling]

As previously mentioned, get all the vehicles that belch out thick black smoke of the road,  that means ancient busses, cars, lorrys and pick ups. It should also include all non essential vehicles, IE those who cruise around all day selling vegetables, pork etc. These small businesses could easily rent a market stall instead. The above measures should be permanent and on top of that I am sure there are many temporary measures that could be put in place to significantly deplete the pollution that every single one of us are responsible for. Only my ideas of course... 

[spidermike007]

No doubt something has to be done. Anything. This is an emergency, and people are getting sick, and dying right now from lung disease and respiratory ailments. But, no need to worry anymore. The PM has vowed action! OK, let me try to make an attempt to interpret his statements. I believe what he is saying is:

 

I will pray for the pollution to disappear, in much the same way I prayed for the recent typhoon to weaken, which as you all know, it did, due to my efforts. I have a personal connection, and can use my tremendous power and focus, to attract the attention of the elements. I hold sway over the land, the sea, and the air, so when I ask, it gets done. This is real, people, and all the people of Thailand must believe this. They must know who they are dealing with. I am no ordinary man. I make things happen. I have no limits. I am all powerful. Besides, when the population becomes aware of my powers, they might have more of an inclination to vote me back in!

[billd766]

47 minutes ago, dontoearth said:

A lot of the taxi in bkk run on lpg rather than gasoline.  I did see one big rig out on the highway using the lpg containers in a tandem behind the passenger cab.  So they do have some alternatives to diesel.  In the decades I was in Thailand  bangkok upgraded the bus fleets quite a few times.  It seems to be long overdue now.  Might be time to upgrade to buses with different engines.

 

With all the sun and thermal heat in Thailand you wonder why solar and thermal energy isn't used to power electric buses and cars.  Perhaps they can invite Elon Musk back and get him to stop yelling obscenities at the cave divers and get him to help them get some electric cars.  ????????

 

Electric cars are no longer a play toy there are millions of units in service now all over the world.  Many countries have set very high goals to switching over from ICE (internal combustion engines).  Why is thailand lagging so far behind?

 

This problem can't be solved next week by emergency powers.  It will take a while once some rational decisions are made to clean up the air.

 

IMO the problem with electric cars is their high initial cost, their relatively short range, the lack of recharging points, plus the cost of replacement batteries and the disposal and recycling of the batteries when they are replaced.

 

The range in the cities is not so important as the amount of time spent sitting in the traffic with the a/c on to keep you cool.

 

Of course to accommodate the electric cars EGAT will need to generate extra power and perhaps upgrade the power lines to the city and urban/rural areas and then people will notice that their electricity bills will rise assuming that they have home charging units.

 

Save on auto fuel bills yet pay higher electricity bills.

[jaiyen]

He wont use S44 cos he has no <deleted>#k*ng idea how to solve the impossible problem he helped to create

[Misty]

I know it's hard not to be cynical, but anyone else remember how Thailand tackled the P10 pollution problem?  Getting rid of two-stroke motorcycles, putting standards on construction sites to keep dust in. The Bangkok skies were a gross pea-color for many of my early years here.  But the pollution control measures did work - I remember surprise the first day I realized I was actually looking at blue skies and white clouds - in Bangkok!

 

It sounds like there are real measures that can be taken to help solve the P2.5 problems.  Apparently Beijing has had some luck since it was testing out at peak levels in 2013.  All the Chinese cities I've ridden in won't let non-electric motorbikes inside the city, unless the owner pays big bucks for a special license.  Tax incentives for diesel could be eliminated, or at least be made dependent on the vehicle having proper filters. Overall hybrid vehicles could be encouraged.  I don't know about crop burning, but I'm sure some agrobusiness people may have solutions to suggest. None of this will fix it overnight, but it could certainly help.

[billd766]

13 minutes ago, IssanCalling said:

As previously mentioned, get all the vehicles that belch out thick black smoke of the road,  that means ancient busses, cars, lorrys and pick ups. It should also include all non essential vehicles, IE those who cruise around all day selling vegetables, pork etc. These small businesses could easily rent a market stall instead. The above measures should be permanent and on top of that I am sure there are many temporary measures that could be put in place to significantly deplete the pollution that every single one of us are responsible for. Only my ideas of course... 

So instead of 1 or 2 pickup trucks delivering fresh food in the rural areas you think it would be better for the poor rural Thais to go to a central market on their motorbikes and pickup trucks by the dozens, all consuming fuel and creating even more pollution. How would the elderly get their fresh food especially if they have no transport of their own?

[Hardball]

Very impressed with the idea that a solution of molasses dropped from a few small drones could help clear the smog from the air. A publicity stunt no less.  But even among the Thais who could believe such outrageous nonsense.  Lots of proposed solutions amongst members but few are practical.  Have a go a old black emitting deisels but leave the modern ones alone as they are particularly fuel efficient. Reduce traffic in the centre by banning single drivers - that may take a few prosecutions to acheive but would force new schemes to be invented.  Bring forward long term plans to improve public transport. That would really cost but would be worth it. If you draw a comparison between London and Bangkok, London wins by about 10 to 1. Banglok lives by the car and is dying by the car.  The situation is urgent and always has been in my 30 years of visiting this country. Time to impose some unpleasant discipline here I fear.

[fullcave]

5 hours ago, robblok said:

Plus ban all diesel pickups and other diesel vehicles from the roads. 

Also ban farangs from posting ideas off the top of their heads before doing any research.

[dougiemac52]

This is just a load of garbage. If Thailand were to reduce the amount of construction traffic etc in Bangkok it may help but probably not. What they want to do is take advice from countries in the know and accept that they are not a major player in the world when it comes to things like this. Worry about things that matter to their own people rather than worry about who they can give free evisa on arrivals to.

Yet another decision being made by people that don't have a clue but wait a minute isn't the election just around the corner, mmm...….????

[madmen]

4 hours ago, taichiplanet said:

can't have it both ways; do you want a democracy or do you want your leader to pull out special powers when it is convenient.

1400 voted for special powers. That's more than the total of all protesters in favor of Democracy over the last 4 years!! 

 

Proof that that only expats believe in democracy the Thais obviously don't give a rats 

[newatthis]

Well, remember he prayed and saved Thailand from the evil Pabuk. 

There could be a televangelism event starring General Prayut casting out the smog:

 

"SMOG, SMOG!!! I speak to you now in the name of S44, Begone in the name of S44. I curse you in S44's name. Leave Thailand in S44's name. Smog, you will obey me because I speak with S44's authority. Begone and don't come back. OK everybody. Chap your hands and praise S44."

 

Sure to be a hit with the faithful.

[TKDfella]

3 hours ago, Lungstib said:

'Most people' want everybody else to stop driving around or running a business creating pollution, but don't want themselves included. Halting all private vehicle use would no doubt do the job but the public would be furious. Human nature, solve our problem but don't expect us to give up anything.

My thoughts exactly. On other forums where it matters to the 'bigger picture' I say more or less the same. Are we all willing to give up going on holiday in jets, mobile phones, PC's etc etc etc. Nope! It's all down to companies and the government. In Thailand we could blame all those Chinese tourists I suppose, Ha!

[onekoolguy]

4 hours ago, Searat7 said:

Taking the ancient diesel buses off the road would be a good start. Also would think they could use helicopters to identify burning areas. I suspect they are afraid to do much because of the impending election. 

A couple of years ago there were a few hundred new buses sitting at the port. These were to replace the worn out Bangkok buses. However they never made it to the streets as there was a problem with something to do with where they were assembled? I wonder what happened to them?

[Retiredandhappyhere]

5 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

we had very light rain last night in Hua Hin that was moving north.

 

i watched it on radar (because that is what people do in Hun Hin on a Saturday night) and it did not make it to Bangkok. 

 

 

What has happened to the exciting life you seemed to be leading just a few weeks ago?  Surely, there are still a few girls left!

[sambum]

5 hours ago, Lungstib said:

'Most people' want everybody else to stop driving around or running a business creating pollution, but don't want themselves included. Halting all private vehicle use would no doubt do the job but the public would be furious. Human nature, solve our problem but don't expect us to give up anything.

Not in my back yard?

[Destiny1990]

First ban all the cars than introduce the  bicycle.

[fouryesrs]

well actually it is simple and logic ...this follows rules of nature some calls it kamma....means you get what you do...burn forests fields dont enforce standards etc...result is what u got now...and yes  u as an individual  are a part of a group ( and all are constantly ) u receive parts of the results what the group is doing...if u join this group because u move to bkk and u understand it u need to take action .. it will be hard same like u pull on a rope where on the other side 50 people pull in opposite direction...just call over ask them to pull in ur direction ....sounds weird but in fact it is a no brainer...

[Dexlowe]

Bring back Plodprasop Suraswadi (remember him?). With his genius for physics, he could propose that every helicopter in Thailand be sequestered and forced to fly at low levels over Bangkok's worst areas. How would that help? Well, by using his 2011 Chao Phraya River touch of brilliance, the choppers would fly upside down and blow the offending air high up into the sky.

 

None of you bright boys thought of that, did you!

[hotchilli]

Tough call for the boss, just before the election the people are calling on him to invoke his powers to solve the pollution problem.

Trouble is that will involve removing half the buses that operate in the city, many other vehicles or stationary engines that are emitting fumes, factories that pump smoke into the air, diesel trains that are past their sell-by-date, & trying to encourage the private driver to car share, as well as telling farmers not to burn their fields!!

If he invokes all those measures the backlash from the inconvenienced public will have an affect on his popularity just before his hoped for re-election!!

Between a rock & a hard place !!

 

[NCC1701A]

32 minutes ago, Retiredandhappyhere said:

What has happened to the exciting life you seemed to be leading just a few weeks ago?  Surely, there are still a few girls left!

you know, three girls left town, one when to South Korea to work massage (she is incredibly beautiful), my number two maid when back to Pattaya, another when back to Isan to visit family. and my number one girlfriend was here for the weekend. so i am down to two now. 

 

[marcusarelus]

7 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Tough call for the boss, just before the election the people are calling on him to invoke his powers to solve the pollution problem.

Trouble is that will involve removing half the buses that operate in the city, many other vehicles or stationary engines that are emitting fumes, factories that pump smoke into the air, diesel trains that are past their sell-by-date, & trying to encourage the private driver to car share, as well as telling farmers not to burn their fields!!

If he invokes all those measures the backlash from the inconvenienced public will have an affect on his popularity just before his hoped for re-election!!

Between a rock & a hard place !!

Since the election does not really elect anyone what's the problem?

[Baggy]

3 hours ago, Cadbury said:

Fat chance of that happening. The "bitter pill" medicine is politically risky and may prove very unpopular and could lead to a serious loss of votes for the de facto leader of the Palang Pracharat Party.

Cross that strategy off the list of bright ideas. Better to stick with the molasses and pollution producing motorised water cannons. 

If Molasses and water do not work.....

what about 200 Giant fans blowing the pollution to sea or another country?

[CGW]

3 hours ago, Misty said:

I know it's hard not to be cynical, but anyone else remember how Thailand tackled the P10 pollution problem?  Getting rid of two-stroke motorcycles, putting standards on construction sites to keep dust in. The Bangkok skies were a gross pea-color for many of my early years here.  But the pollution control measures did work - I remember surprise the first day I realized I was actually looking at blue skies and white clouds - in Bangkok!

I was living in Bangkok at that time also, I guess nobody that is in "government" now was 

They need to get rid of the main polluters, which anybody with a brain ???? knows are the buses and trucks, they chose to do nothing!

Sure the burning is a problem, one that the present "government has made worse encouraging farmers to grow sugar cane, but first get the main polluters off the roads.