Bangkok Air Pollution

[utalkin2me]

We are currently considering moving out of Bangkok just because of this issue. My wife has actually been complaining a lot lately about the air, totally independent of this thread and air quality numbers. I wonder if it will ever reach anywhere near Beijing levels here, or if that is out of the realm of possibility. 

 

 

[lopburi3]

I spent a few months in Beijing during the summer of 79, before there were any number of cars, and it did not seem too bad.  But a return trip during winter months in 85 you could not see across the streets due coal burning for heat and very heavy traffic.  Appeared to be totally different cities - from bicycle to major industry in only 6 years and in the following 30 years the pollution has still not been controlled.  Do not believe Bangkok is heading towards that bad a situation.  

[edwardandtubs]

Beijing is getting better and Bangkok is getting worse so if the current trend continues Bangkok will be worse in a few years.

[balo]

Beijing looks really bad on the map today . I am so happy I do not live there and feel sorry for the expats that are working there. 

 

 

[SooKee]

Problem I find with the 3M filtrete sheet is that it REALLY impacts the effectiveness of the AC.  After fitting it last time I turned on the AC at its normal setting (25 / fan level 1) and came back home after an hour and it felt like the AC was not even on.  OK the room was not hot but had only been reduced to warm and was certainly not as cool / comfortable as it it would normally be.  Found I had to drop the temp down on the unit AND ramp up the fan to 2 or even 3 to achieve the same degree of cooling and to get the thermometer to drop and even then it took a while to get there.  I'm wondering how much this stuff might affect the size of AC unit you need for a given space as the impact on performance was significant.  Same in the bedroom.  Inevitable I guess seeing as your'e impeding the airflow through the unit even further but I REALLY wasn't impressed with the stuff at all.  It's currently been removed pending a rethink.

Edited April 6, 2018 by SooKee

[mommysboy]

14 hours ago, utalkin2me said:

We are currently considering moving out of Bangkok just because of this issue. My wife has actually been complaining a lot lately about the air, totally independent of this thread and air quality numbers. I wonder if it will ever reach anywhere near Beijing levels here, or if that is out of the realm of possibility. 

 

 

You probably just mean can it get any worse: probably not.

 

But it is bad enough anyway and does not look set to improve markedly over the next couple of years,

 

However, this is a bad time of the year for air pollution and you will get short term relief.

[edwardandtubs]

2 hours ago, SooKee said:

Problem I find with the 3M filtrete sheet is that it REALLY impacts the effectiveness of the AC.  After fitting it last time I turned on the AC at its normal setting (25 / fan level 1) and came back home after an hour and it felt like the AC was not even on.  OK the room was not hot but had only been reduced to warm and was certainly not as cool / comfortable as it it would normally be.  Found I had to drop the temp down on the unit AND ramp up the fan to 2 or even 3 to achieve the same degree of cooling and to get the thermometer to drop and even then it took a while to get there.  I'm wondering how much this stuff might affect the size of AC unit you need for a given space as the impact on performance was significant.  Same in the bedroom.  Inevitable I guess seeing as your'e impeding the airflow through the unit even further but I REALLY wasn't impressed with the stuff at all.  It's currently been removed pending a rethink.

The recommendation is that only 70% of the filter should be covered with the Filtrete sheet. This improves airflow and should reduce the problem you describe.

[SooKee]

The recommendation is that only 70% of the filter should be covered with the Filtrete sheet. This improves airflow and should reduce the problem you describe.

Might give that a try. Fully covered it's a non starter for me.

Sent using Tapatalk

[balo]

Okay today has been like a roller coaster!  The air in Pattaya is almost at stand still, normally we have a light breeze from the ocean but not today. 

  

So I was thinking about doing a test from my bicycle .  I managed to mount my new gadget,  the SNDWAY, to my bicycle and off I went out in the traffic . 

 

It was smart thinking wearing a mask today , or I would not be very happy when I measured the AIQ   . On the main roads where all the traffic is , Central Pattaya and Beach rd , we could read between 42 and 50 or AIQ 116 to 132 .   

 

Then at one point something really crazy happened , at a construction site I had to stop for passing trucks and suddenly this terrible smell and my eyes got soar, and guess what the gadget started flashing red and  showed 141 or AIQ 195 which is very unhealthy .  I could not wait to get away and back to the normal range in the 40's.  I feel sorry for the people working there. 

 

So a very interesting test , the gadget is clearly working , I could experience the air pollution myself !.  

 

Then back to the condo and today there is no difference between my balcony on 23rd floor and ground level .  So I get 40 - 44 , unfortunately no difference.   But I am pretty sure when the ocean breeze starts coming in again it will get a lot better.    

 

So that was my observations for today . 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mommysboy]

50 minutes ago, balo said:

Okay today has been like a roller coaster!  The air in Pattaya is almost at stand still, normally we have a light breeze from the ocean but not today. 

  

So I was thinking about doing a test from my bicycle .  I managed to mount my new gadget,  the SNDWAY, to my bicycle and off I went out in the traffic . 

 

It was smart thinking wearing a mask today , or I would not be very happy when I measured the AIQ   . On the main roads where all the traffic is , Central Pattaya and Beach rd , we could read between 42 and 50 or AIQ 116 to 132 .   

 

Then at one point something really crazy happened , at a construction site I had to stop for passing trucks and suddenly this terrible smell and my eyes got soar, and guess what the gadget started flashing red and  showed 141 or AIQ 195 which is very unhealthy .  I could not wait to get away and back to the normal range in the 40's.  I feel sorry for the people working there. 

 

So a very interesting test , the gadget is clearly working , I could experience the air pollution myself !.  

 

Then back to the condo and today there is no difference between my balcony on 23rd floor and ground level .  So I get 40 - 44 , unfortunately no difference.   But I am pretty sure when the ocean breeze starts coming in again it will get a lot better.    

 

So that was my observations for today . 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good posting.  It seems like Pattaya is fairly polluted too, which surprises me as it is coastal.  Building dust is lethal imo.  Great work!

[edwardandtubs]

3 hours ago, balo said:

 

So a very interesting test , the gadget is clearly working , I could experience the air pollution myself !.  

 

I'm not sure it is working that well. There's one report that shows the mean exposure of bus drivers in Bangkok to PM 2.5 was 323.81 mg/m3, so being on the main roads should get a much higher reading than away from all that madness. 

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/23130504/

 

So it seems the Sndway may be under-reporting PM 2.5 levels, similar to the Xiaomi sensor in the Smart Air article I posted. I suppose you get what you pay for.

 

Then again, Pattaya might be less polluted than Bangkok. It would have been interesting to see what readings you got if you'd stayed for a few minutes near that stinky construction site.

Edited April 6, 2018 by edwardandtubs

[siamcrut]

Where can you buy a good air pollution sensor online?
Any links? Thanks.

[balo]

1 hour ago, edwardandtubs said:

So it seems the Sndway may be under-reporting PM 2.5 levels, similar to the Xiaomi sensor in the Smart Air article I posted. I suppose you get what you pay for.

Could be . 

 

But it was not under reporting when I fried tomatoes in the kitchen tonight .  I nomally open all the windows and balcony door when I fry something , but before I could get to that , the gadget were flashing red on 346 !!  That's right , it went crazy .  After I opened and tried to get some air inside , it slowly went down to 200 and 100 but it took almost 1 hour before it went back to normal 10-15. 

 

So be careful in the kitchen . 

 

 

 

[balo]

1 hour ago, siamcrut said:

Where can you buy a good air pollution sensor online?
Any links? Thanks.

This is where I bought mine , from Lazada . I paid 1780 but now the price is 1840 baht.. Delivery time 1 - 2 weeks. You can ask for cash on delivery so no need to pay in advance, 

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/sndway-digital-led-air-quality-monitor-pm25-detector-temperature-humidity-meter-intl-i165802565-s202876683.html

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

10 hours ago, SooKee said:

Problem I find with the 3M filtrete sheet is that it REALLY impacts the effectiveness of the AC.  After fitting it last time I turned on the AC at its normal setting (25 / fan level 1) and came back home after an hour and it felt like the AC was not even on.  OK the room was not hot but had only been reduced to warm and was certainly not as cool / comfortable as it it would normally be.  Found I had to drop the temp down on the unit AND ramp up the fan to 2 or even 3 to achieve the same degree of cooling and to get the thermometer to drop and even then it took a while to get there.  I'm wondering how much this stuff might affect the size of AC unit you need for a given space as the impact on performance was significant.  Same in the bedroom.  Inevitable I guess seeing as your'e impeding the airflow through the unit even further but I REALLY wasn't impressed with the stuff at all.  It's currently been removed pending a rethink.

 

I've been using the Filtrete sheets covering the entirety of both of the permanent filters on my Mitsubishi inverter air con in our main bedroom for the past two months or so, and haven't noticed any significant difference in terms of its room cooling capability.

 

I was running the air con set to 25 degrees at night and fan speed of 2 of 5 before, and have continued that in the wake of adding the Filtrete sheets. Haven't felt any need to turn up the fan or turn down the temperature setting. Though it hasn't been very hot lately in BKK, and we really only use the bedroom air con at night and overnight when it's also not so hot outside.

 

One thing has been noticeable, however, and that's a big reduction in the ambient dust I find in the bedroom that used to coat tabletops and such, even though the windows were always kept closed.

 

FWIW, I'm also using the Filtrete sheets on our floor standing large air con in our living room during the daytime, and likewise, haven't felt any need to turn up the fan or turn down the temperature since adding the Filtrete media.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, balo said:

Could be . 

 

But it was not under reporting when I fried tomatoes in the kitchen tonight .  I nomally open all the windows and balcony door when I fry something , but before I could get to that , the gadget were flashing red on 346 !!  That's right , it went crazy .  After I opened and tried to get some air inside , it slowly went down to 200 and 100 but it took almost 1 hour before it went back to normal 10-15. 

 

So be careful in the kitchen .

 

Have had the exact same kinds of experiences with cooking at home. And those lead me to believe the Sndway model is a pretty good indicator both when readings get very high and likewise when your purifier brings levels way down.

 

Also, when I take my unit outside at home, the readings I get outside typically match very closely with what the nearest official PM2.5 reporting station is showing.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

4 hours ago, edwardandtubs said:

I'm not sure it is working that well. There's one report that shows the mean exposure of bus drivers in Bangkok to PM 2.5 was 323.81 mg/m3, so being on the main roads should get a much higher reading than away from all that madness. 

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/23130504/

 

 

Thanks for posting that... It was interesting to see and read some of the other linked abstracts over in the right hand column on similar topics, including some with different (lower, but still bad) results. Including this one published in 2012 using 2008-09 readings from Bangkok, including the January smog season period:

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22393811/?i=4&from=/23130504/related

 

Quote

 

Measurements were conducted over 10 days in August (rainy season) 2008 and 8 days in January (dry season) 2009. The mean PM2.5 exposure level of the Tuk-tuk drivers was 86 microg/m3 in August and 198 microg/m3 in January. The mean for the non-air-conditioned bus drivers was 63 microg/m3 in August and 125 microg/m3 in January.

 

 

Even though those non air con bus numbers are different/lower numbers than the non air con bus numbers from the prior article you posted, needless to say, the rainy season PM2.5 values reported in this study would be considered in the unhealthy for all AQI category. And for the dry/smog season, the tuk tuk driver number very unhealthy for all, and the non air con bus driver number unhealthy for all.

 

Then there was this much older report on roadside PM2.5 levels in BKK and Nonthaburi, data from 1999 and published in 2002:

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/12269671/?i=2&from=/22393811/related

 

Quote

 

PM2.5 in the H area varied between 82 and 143 microg/m3 in the daytime and between 45 and 146 microg/m3 at night.

 

 

Edited April 6, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

7 hours ago, balo said:

Then back to the condo and today there is no difference between my balcony on 23rd floor and ground level .  So I get 40 - 44 , unfortunately no difference.

 

So much for the "a high floor condo will get me out of the smog" theory...

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Here's Sat morning food for thought:

 

It rains all night in BKK, and still can't get this morning's air into the green/good category:

 

 

Although, this morning's post-rain reading is better than any BKK daytime reading lately on a dry day.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Well well, I spoke too soon. Made GOOD with not one extra point to spare.

 

A RARE occurrence in BKK now. Bet it won't last for long.

 

[lopburi3]

That is the 0900 report so may be better now - remember the AQI site is very much behind the time on reporting Thailand conditions.  Of course if it gets any colder we may have snow (24 at almost midday the week before Songkran is really unusual).

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

50 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

That is the 0900 report so may be better now - remember the AQI site is very much behind the time on reporting Thailand conditions.  Of course if it gets any colder we may have snow (24 at almost midday the week before Songkran is really unusual).

 The aqicn.org site seems to be anywhere from one to two hours behind for BKK stations.

 

The latest 10 am reading is still showing 50 AQI green for Chula.

 

Just took my sensor outside now, 12:20 pm in BKK lower Suk, about 500 meters from the main road on a quiet soi with no vehicle traffic. Light cool breeze blowing. PM2.5 sensor reading 7-8 mcg, which is a very pleasant change, which is 29-33 AQI, Green/Good.

 

Edited April 7, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[mommysboy]

20 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 The aqicn.org site seems to be anywhere from one to two hours behind for BKK stations.

 

The latest 10 am reading is still showing 50 AQI green for Chula.

 

Just took my sensor outside now, 12:20 pm in BKK lower Suk, about 500 meters from the main road on a quiet soi with no vehicle traffic. Light cool breeze blowing. PM2.5 sensor reading 7-8 mcg, which is a very pleasant change, which is 29-33 AQI, Green/Good.

 

Bottle it!  It could be a rare thing.

 

Bkk is my favourite place.  If they could sort air pollution out I would return to live there.

[balo]

What a pleasant surprise this morning !

 

We had a thunderstorm during the night and the outside air on my balcony,  I get 18 on my gadget or AQI 63 !  The air is fresh and cool . Just love it. 

 

It's time for a long walk , no masks needed 

 

Edited April 7, 2018 by balo

[utalkin2me]

18 minutes ago, balo said:

What a pleasant surprise this morning !

 

We had a thunderstorm during the night and the outside air on my balcony,  I get 18 on my gadget or AQI 63 !  The air is fresh and cool . Just love it. 

 

It's time for a long walk , no masks needed 

 

Yeah, if Bangkok was like this everyday. The temp is just outstanding. 

 

I made a point point to open our sliding doors to get the, probably, now relatively crappy air out and the new good air in as fast as possible. I don’t know how that works exactly, but yeah the air this morning smelled and felt like it was from an unmolested paradise. 

Edited April 7, 2018 by utalkin2me

[balo]

We now have a very cold wind , and we are now down to  13 or AQI 52 outside my balcony . This is the best reading I have seen since I got my SNDWAY .

And you can actually feel it , fresh air , just inhale it and feel good. 

 

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Sorry to spoil the fun, but look what's supposed to be ahead. Enjoy it while you can!

 

 

 

 

[The manic]

That what I call a mask wearing environment.

[mommysboy]

4 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Sorry to spoil the fun, but look what's supposed to be ahead. Enjoy it while you can!

 

 

 

 

Yeah, the situation is synonymous with Brits celebrating a nice summer's day and assuming the rest of the summer is going to be the same!

 

And doesn't the fact that one day of healthy air is greeted so enthusiastically tells us what it is like most of the time?

 

Still think Bkk is the best place in the world though.

[balo]

For the first time since I got my SNDWAY , my bed room is down to a steady 1 - 2 . 

It will not move above 2 tonight.  

 

And we are only using a fan , no AC since it's pretty chilly here , 24 degrees C.