Bangkok Air Pollution

[garyk]

I'm out in the sticks in Issan, nightly burning and air quality sucks. I am hacking all day in the rice belt.... 

IMO just as bad or worse than BKK.

Edited January 29, 2019 by garyk

[Jajazazajaja]

Felt like crap after just going for a 20 mins walk around Thong Lo just then. 

(And I’m a fit man!)

 

 

this is no good 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Getting pretty consistent and predictable results this afternoon in a quiet, removed area of central BKK:

 

--As of 2:30 pm, my living room sensor after coming home, with the house closed up and no air con on, was showing a reading of 45 mcg / 124 AQI on the U.S. scale.

 

--The closest official sensor at Chula Hospital near Lumpini Park as of 2 pm was showing 55.5 mcg / 151 AQI.

 

--The closest private AirVisual sensor at a condo 1 KM or so away was showing 50 mcg / 136 AQI as of 3 pm.

 

One thing I've noticed from the various sensor reports, particularly the Thai PCD ones, is they sometimes distinguish between roadside sensors and other non-roadside locations, with the expectation I think that the roadside numbers are going to be higher. But on AirVisual and AQICN, AFAICT, there's no indication of the sensor's placement. Which I think sometimes explains why certain locations tend to be often higher.

 

Edited January 29, 2019 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[johng]

it just seems to hangout in the 40's-60's no matter where i take it.

Try spraying some deodorant near by it should go crazy.!

[MaxYakov]

3 hours ago, Jajazazajaja said:

Felt like crap after just going for a 20 mins walk around Thong Lo just then. 

(And I’m a fit man!)

 

 

this is no good 

Were you wearing a decent, particle-stopping mask? I haven't gone out without wearing one in the last ten years (and I still feel like crap too ????).

 

 

Edited January 29, 2019 by MaxYakov

[Jajazazajaja]

22 minutes ago, MaxYakov said:

Were you wearing a decent, particle-stopping mask? I haven't gone out without wearing one in the last ten years (and I still feel like crap too ????).

 

 

No, I’ve never worn one as they look a bit daft. 

 

Alas this pollution means I’ll go get one.

 

its unusually bad this year. Isn’t it?

[at15]

burning in isaan , i could smell it in my room so i pulled out my unit and its hovering around 100 pm2.5. cranked up the aircon and purifier. 

Edited January 29, 2019 by at15

[xylophone]

27 minutes ago, at15 said:

burning in isaan , i could smell it in my room so i pulled out my unit and its hovering around 100 pm2.5. cranked up the aircon and purifier. 

At my age, if I pull out my unit it doesn't hover at all ????

[Pib]

This morning at 8:15am the PM2.5 level in my little part of western Bangkok (Khet Talingchan) was 147 outside and 55 within my air conditioned house based on my SNDWAY PM2.5 indicator.   The wife had already been in and out of the house numerous times this morning as she is early riser.  She told me when I dragged my butt out of bed at 8am that the pollution was really bad this morning based on the thick white smog she saw this morning....much worst than normal.  And that PM 147 reading confirmed that as I've been taking reading early in the morning since I got my SNDWAY PM2.5 indicator and typically it's around 80 in my little part of Bangkok shortly after the sun rises....but today as mentioned it was up to 147.

 

At 9:45am its 101 outside and 45 inside.  The wife and I go in a outside a lot so we give polluted air plenty of chances to sneak in the house when going in and out two doors.  Glad I got A/C in the house at it helps to reduce the PM2.5 level within the house by around 2 to 3 fold without the need for an air purifier, additional filtering in the A/C, etc.  But I am going to try some 3M Filtrete filtering on my A/C...see how much that helps.  

 

Yes, yes, I know a reading of around 50 PM2.5 is not good for a person on a long term basis....in a clean air world it should be 12 or below.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 30, 2019 by Pib

[lopburi3]

I only measured 68 in open outside rooms (at 0800) here in Latphao and after air change in bedroom was 51 inside at 0718 and got down to green 12 at 0823 using Hatari on speed 2 and no airconditioning.  Bangkok looks very bad again today.  Expecting call for additional Songkarn holiday to clean the air any time now. 

[Pib]

Two days ago while driving on a major road just outside of Bangkok they had five fire trucks stationed about a kilometer apart just spraying water straight up into the air with water falling down on traffic. 

 

I guess that was the local government's  way of trying to show folks how the govt is fighting the pollution.

 

Of course all that was doing was briefly cleaning the air only where that narrow stream of water was shooting up and falling down.  Falling down onto traffic passing underneath causing your vehicle to get wet which my SUV did get wet for a quarter second as I drove through the falling water spray.  I guess the water stream was just depositing a bunch of PM2.5 particles on my vehicle so I could go wash them off later...or carry them up the road a little until they blew off as the water dried.

 

What a joke.  But I'm sure "some" thought it was a great idea.

Edited January 30, 2019 by Pib

[xylophone]

4 minutes ago, Pib said:

What a joke.  But I'm sure "some" thought it was a great idea.

Only Thais in highly paid positions where one doesn't have to have functioning grey matter!

[Misty]

Anyone know where to purchase or order filtrete paper?  Been searching and it looks like HomePro and Lazada are sold out for the forseeable future.

[Pravda]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a comfortable mask? I use 3M and it's really hurting my nose.

[wood]

32 minutes ago, Misty said:

Anyone know where to purchase or order filtrete paper?  Been searching and it looks like HomePro and Lazada are sold out for the forseeable future.

Had the same problem, nothing anywhere...

I bought a box of Bosch vacuum bags made from 3M HEPA material. 590 baht-  4 in a box..cut them up and had about 1sqm - used this to close any aircon external vents.

 

Plenty in Homepro.

 

Wood.

[edwardandtubs]

1 hour ago, Pravda said:

Does anyone have a recommendation for a comfortable mask? I use 3M and it's really hurting my nose.

3M Vflex 9105 is my favourite, though I think any mask can be made more comfortable by adjusting it. Masks hurt my nose if I clip them to the fleshy part but are fine if I clip them to the bridge. Then the chin part has to be loosened.

Edited January 30, 2019 by edwardandtubs

[uhuh]

[uhuh]

So i am sitting in an airtight sealed room,  go out into the toxic air only if i have to and only wearing a mask, try not to look out of the window because i don't want to see the brown haze...

 

It's a beautiful life. 

 

I am leaving on a jet plane

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

35 minutes ago, uhuh said:

 

that's about the worst overall set of daytime readings for BKK that I can recall since the current smog season started. It's a VERY BAD day out there today.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

38 minutes ago, uhuh said:

So i am sitting in an airtight sealed room,  go out into the toxic air only if i have to and only wearing a mask, try not to look out of the window because i don't want to see the brown haze...

 

It's a beautiful life. 

 

I am leaving on a jet plane

 

In the other, daily news thread on today's smog situation, some posters were talking about bailing out of BKK temporarily to places like Hua Hin where they air isn't nearly so bad at present.

 

Actually, almost everywhere in Thailand looks somewhat better today than almost anywhere in and around BKK.

 

BKK Region:

 

Surrounding Region:

 

https://www.airvisual.com/thailand

Edited January 30, 2019 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Meanwhile, how are folks' air purifiers keeping up with today?  Mine are NOT!

 

When I woke up today, the indoor non-filtered air inside my home was reading as much as 80 mcg of PM2.5....

 

The best my Sharp air purifier in my bedroom could do, running on high, (along with Filtrete media on my bedroom air con filters) was get those microgram levels down to the low to mid 20s....  that's in an older home with windows and doors that are not well sealed.

 

[madmen]

Meanwhile, how are folks' air purifiers keeping up with today?  Mine are NOT!
 
When I woke up today, the indoor non-filtered air inside my home was reading as much as 80 mcg of PM2.5....
 
The best my Sharp air purifier in my bedroom could do, running on high, (along with Filtrete media on my bedroom air con filters) was get those microgram levels down to the low to mid 20s....  that's in an older home with windows and doors that are not well sealed.
 

Perhaps a filter Chang is due?

[lopburi3]

My Hatari on number 2 speed has kept it at 10 or below all day - no windows but wall exhaust fan and 3 doors to unfiltered areas and exit every 20 minutes or so.

[wood]

22 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Meanwhile, how are folks' air purifiers keeping up with today?  Mine are NOT!

 

When I woke up today, the indoor non-filtered air inside my home was reading as much as 80 mcg of PM2.5....

 

The best my Sharp air purifier in my bedroom could do, running on high, (along with Filtrete media on my bedroom air con filters) was get those microgram levels down to the low to mid 20s....  that's in an older home with windows and doors that are not well sealed.

 

Hi John.

Worrying times...

The Xiaomi air purifier 2S I bought just before Xmas seems to be running  well...

Last night (as we know the pm 2.5 goes very bad into the early hours and it kept the pm 2.5 reading in the  bedroom at 1 mcg). Very happy with it's performance.

I move it into the living  area at 7am, where it registered pm2.5 at 34 mcg.

After 45 mins on full wack it got it down to 3 mcg.

We've had it on full wack all day to keep it at 6/7 mcg....

Wife doesn't want to go out, we're back in the UK in 5 weeks - can't wait..

Can only expect the pm 2.5 to get worse - that's what I am prepared for...

 

Wood.

 

[MaxYakov]

4 hours ago, Pravda said:

Does anyone have a recommendation for a comfortable mask? I use 3M and it's really hurting my nose.

I've been using this type for ten years and it's well-cushioned on the nose. They've been available at HomePro and Central Chitlom department store, but these days who knows if they're sold out or not.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

56 minutes ago, madmen said:

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Meanwhile, how are folks' air purifiers keeping up with today?  Mine are NOT!

Perhaps a filter Chang is due?

 

I don't usually drink Chang....    But...

 

I've been debating that. The current filter in my Sharp main bedroom purifier is almost a year old, the original one from purchase. It had been keeping up OK for our bedroom, just until the levels got into the 170-180 AQI outside. Then it started not keeping up...  I have several spare HEPA filters for it at home, and am debating making a change.

 

But meanwhile, desperate times call for desperate measures....

 

1. the current horrible conditions spurred me to do a project I'd been planning and preparing for for a long time, and that's to install weather stripping insulation on the two door frames in our main bedroom that have exposure to outside air... Just finished that job.

 

and 2. Unplugged my bigger Honeywell HEPA air purifier from the living room, and brought it into the bedroom to run alongside my smaller Sharp bedroom unit. So right now, after those two changes, the sensor in our main bedroom is now reading 3 mcg...  But the unfiltered living room is now at 47 mcg.

 

Edited January 30, 2019 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 minutes ago, MaxYakov said:

I've been using this type for ten years and it's well-cushioned on the nose. They've been available at HomePro and Central Chitlom department store, but these days who knows if they're sold out or not.

 

 

Is that N95 or FFP2 certified?  I've seen those in the past at home improvement stores here....and not recall seeing any certification for PM2.5.

 

[madmen]

 
I don't usually drink Chang....    But...
 
I've been debating that. The current filter in my Sharp main bedroom purifier is almost a year old, the original one from purchase. It had been keeping up OK for our bedroom, just until the levels got into the 170-180 AQI outside. Then it started not keeping up...  I have several spare HEPA filters for it at home, and am debating making a change.
 
But meanwhile, desperate times call for desperate measures....
 
1. the current horrible conditions spurred me to do a project I'd been planning and preparing for for a long time, and that's to install weather stripping insulation on the two door frames in our main bedroom that have exposure to outside air... Just finished that job.
 
and 2. Unplugged my bigger Honeywell HEPA air purifier from the living room, and brought it into the bedroom to run alongside my smaller Sharp bedroom unit. So right now, after those two changes, the sensor in our main bedroom is now reading 3 mcg...  But the unfiltered living room is now at 47 mcg.
 

If any beer needs to be filtered it would definitely be Chang [emoji16]

I have a screen display showing when filters need to be replaced. I've been away from Bangkok last 2 months and am interested to see the reading on my machine when I get back which usually sits around average 7

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

37 minutes ago, wood said:

Hi John.

Worrying times...

The Xiaomi air purifier 2S I bought just before Xmas seems to be running  well...

Last night (as we know the pm 2.5 goes very bad into the early hours and it kept the pm 2.5 reading in the  bedroom at 1 mcg). Very happy with it's performance.

I move it into the living  area at 7am, where it registered pm2.5 at 34 mcg.

After 45 mins on full wack it got it down to 3 mcg.

We've had it on full wack all day to keep it at 6/7 mcg....

Wife doesn't want to go out, we're back in the UK in 5 weeks - can't wait..

Can only expect the pm 2.5 to get worse - that's what I am prepared for...

 

 

That's interesting... thanks for that info....

 

A lot of the outcome folks will get, apart from the purifier, also depends on the room/living space you have, and whether it's well sealed or poorly sealed to allow of lot of intrusion of outside air.

 

In our case, our living room/main living area is very poorly sealed, and there's not much I can do about it given the designs/construction of the doors and windows.  The older Thai style windows and doors are such that there's not a whole lot I can do to change that.

 

However, in our main bedroom, there are fewer windows and doors, and those we do have there are more amenable to being sealed. So as I mentioned above, I just got finished sealing the two door frames and it seems to have helped considerably.

 

Before, with just my Sharp bedroom air purifier running on full tilt, I was getting mid 20s of mcg.

 

After sealing the two doorframes AND bringing in my living room Honeywell purifier to run alongside my Sharp purifier in the bedroom, it brought the room down to 2-3 mcg.

 

So now, I've turned off the Honeywell in the bedroom, and am just running the Sharp on full tilt with the two doors sealed, and that appears to be maintaining the bedroom at about 6 mcg, which is perfectly acceptable.

 

So the doorframe weather sealing in our main bedroom seems to have made an immediate impact.

 

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, uhuh said:

So i am sitting in an airtight sealed room,  go out into the toxic air only if i have to and only wearing a mask, try not to look out of the window because i don't want to see the brown haze...

 

It's a beautiful life. 

 

I am leaving on a jet plane

Got me thinking I should do the same for a while, even though down here (Patong) the reading on my balcony is around 40 with the SNDway unit, so not excessive but can still smell the burning and see a haze on the treeline.