Bangkok Air Pollution

[JimShorts]

6 hours ago, Terek said:

hmm, I'm searching for new condo now, which area is the cleanest? 

Staying away from busy roads, new construction, factories, etc can help a little perhaps. Staying on the water can help a little perhaps. But what we are experiencing now is ambient and affecting all areas of Bangkok (actually all of Thailand). Really only safe inside with proper air filters. 

 

You can buy a air quality monitor for around $100USD and test for yourself. 

 

 

[JimShorts]

6 hours ago, oval said:

This time of year is normally more polluted, no?

 

Bring on the wet season I say!

This time of year is always more polluted indeed, this year seems particularly bad.

 

Yes we need some serious rainfall and temperature increase to help clear the air!

[ExpatOilWorker]

6 hours ago, JimShorts said:

Looked out the window this morning and saw this (or rather couldn't see much)...

 

Walked to 7/11 this morning and got these readings...

Where did you get that air monitor from? How much was it?

[JimShorts]

5 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Where did you get that air monitor from? How much was it?

Amazon.com for $99

https://goo.gl/BJ1zN2

 

They also have on Lazada for less, different brand but seems like same device

https://goo.gl/PAHBnd

 

Lazada has a handful of options

https://goo.gl/1UBgp5

 

[ExpatOilWorker]

4 minutes ago, JimShorts said:

Amazon.com for $99

https://goo.gl/BJ1zN2

 

They also have on Lazada

 

 

Bit hard to calibrate in Bangkok at the moment.

 

Do Calibration well on initial use, otherwise, data may be inaccurate. Easy to calibrate with 3 steps for sensor calibration: take it to outdoors in fresh air environment,

[JimShorts]

1 minute ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Bit hard to calibrate in Bangkok at the moment.

 

Do Calibration well on initial use, otherwise, data may be inaccurate. Easy to calibrate with 3 steps for sensor calibration: take it to outdoors in fresh air environment,

Hehe indeed. I have a new HEPA air purifier, I set it next to the purifier to calibrate. Should be rather accurate. 

[edwardandtubs]

2 hours ago, JimShorts said:

Amazon.com for $99

https://goo.gl/BJ1zN2

 

They also have on Lazada for less, different brand but seems like same device

https://goo.gl/PAHBnd

 

Lazada has a handful of options

https://goo.gl/1UBgp5

 

 

What method are those things using for PM 2.5 detection? Those home detection kits were in the past very unreliable but nowadays Laser Egg is available which is supposed to be very reliable. The ones on Lazada seem the old school variety. They could be measuring humidity as pollution.

[LALes]

We cracked the International Top 10 worst polluted cities this morning with a whopping 190 reading.

We came in at #5.  Luckily, by afternoon, we were out of the running and it was back to the usual China

and India garbage.

[JimShorts]

49 minutes ago, edwardandtubs said:

 

What method are those things using for PM 2.5 detection? Those home detection kits were in the past very unreliable but nowadays Laser Egg is available which is supposed to be very reliable. The ones on Lazada seem the old school variety. They could be measuring humidity as pollution.

I don't know to be honest. I doubt if they are super precise. However, I did test it next to my HEPA and it was close to zero as expected. Then tested it out side and it was close to the aqicn.org readings. So it seems to be working. 

[JimShorts]

54 minutes ago, LALes said:

We cracked the International Top 10 worst polluted cities this morning with a whopping 190 reading.

We came in at #5.  Luckily, by afternoon, we were out of the running and it was back to the usual China

and India garbage.

Bangkok hit 203 today. 

[beautifulthailand99]

A taxi driver blamed dust from all the construction projects underway. I know anecdotally that my niece's health has increased significantly in the 3 years they have moved away from Bang Na to Jomtiem. 

[mommysboy]

It's always been pretty bad. 5 years ago it was routinely above 50 and sometimes as high as 150.  I used to suffer allergy symptoms sometimes for days on end. There's a myth that it is caused by poor air blown over from China, but in fact it is pollution that has drifted over from the East of Thailand mixing with city generated smog.

[mommysboy]

10 hours ago, beautifulthailand99 said:

A taxi driver blamed dust from all the construction projects underway. I know anecdotally that my niece's health has increased significantly in the 3 years they have moved away from Bang Na to Jomtiem. 

Mine did too. Not that Surat Thani doesn't have bad days, but in Bangkok the problem was almost relentless. 

[mommysboy]

On 25/01/2018 at 5:09 PM, JimShorts said:

Yes I think the rain yesterday helped, unfortunately back up to 102 now...

 

http://aqicn.org/city/bangkok/

2 weeks on and a quick check registers 125.

[SooKee]

I've been stuck with a flu type bug for nearly two weeks now, mostly better, just can't shift it off my chest.  Reckon this air pollution is mostly to blame, can feel it in my eyes too, like someone has chucked a handful of powdery sand into them.  Really looking forward to the rains coming and clearing this crap out the air.  Sure don't remember it being THIS bad last year.  

 

Not TOO bad at the moment at 134.  That's if you consider an 'Unhealthy' 134 to be not too bad.

[ExpatOilWorker]

2 hours ago, SooKee said:

I've been stuck with a flu type bug for nearly two weeks now, mostly better, just can't shift it off my chest.  Reckon this air pollution is mostly to blame, can feel it in my eyes too, like someone has chucked a handful of powdery sand into them.  Really looking forward to the rains coming and clearing this crap out the air.  Sure don't remember it being THIS bad last year.  

 

Not TOO bad at the moment at 134.  That's if you consider an 'Unhealthy' 134 to be not too bad.

I doubt your symptoms are entirely related to the current pollution. You probably got some kind of a flu and the pollution just make it feel worse.

[SooKee]

34 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

I doubt your symptoms are entirely related to the current pollution. You probably got some kind of a flu and the pollution just make it feel worse.

Yeah, most likely you're right.  I lived in Chiang May year before last and some days there it was really, REALLY bad.  Never felt like this with it though.  Like you say, probably a flu bug that's just lingering on and taking ages to finally shift.  Must admit, mostly rarely get colds in these parts but this, jeez, dropped me like a stone, couldn't get out of bed for 3 days.

[Lumbini]

If one is going to run say (Lumpini Park) is it best to run at night say 8:00PM as opposed to during day ?


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[ExpatOilWorker]

51 minutes ago, Lumbini said:

If one is going to run say (Lumpini Park) is it best to run at night say 8:00PM as opposed to during day ?


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As long as you wait until May, any time of the day is good.

[Lumbini]

Ran tonight at 8:00 PM and the air was night and day better than today ! When out right after I posted question above to see for myself . I could even see skyline clear but when I walked out of park it was as if I was in different place and in a few steps the smell of cars and foggy streets was back . It's as if that lark Lumpini in and island in the storm and so many working out in park now in the evening the number of people has doubled in little over a year so if the smog has got you feeling like trapped indoors missing nature head to Lumpini park for a retreat to reload in the early morning or evening just after sundown .


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[JimShorts]

3 hours ago, Lumbini said:

If one is going to run say (Lumpini Park) is it best to run at night say 8:00PM as opposed to during day ?


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It changes day to day, depending on temperature, humidity, wind. Best to monitor the http://aqicn.org/ website, or better yet get a portable measuring device. 

[JimShorts]

this is an interesting post about portable monitoring the air pollution in Bangkok...

http://www.greenpeace.org/seasia/blog/just-because-you-dont-see-it-doesnt-mean-it-w/blog/59898/

 

 

[LALes]

the mornings have been the worst for smog this year.  It gets a little better by afternoon but starts going downhill

again with evening rush hour.  I'm not doing any outdoor exercise until I see real, blue skies again.   Late March or April for that.

[edwardandtubs]

It seems the pollution is so bad today they are refusing to publish the data.

[JimShorts]

1 hour ago, edwardandtubs said:

It seems the pollution is so bad today they are refusing to publish the data.

Most the monitor stations are back online. They go offline if the readings vary too much station to station. 

[edwardandtubs]

41 minutes ago, JimShorts said:

Most the monitor stations are back online. They go offline if the readings vary too much station to station. 

Thanks for the info. To be fair, the P

Pollution Control Department is doing quite a good job of publishing the data and explaining it to the public. They correctly pointed out that this level of pollution is not unusual for this time of year.

 

[mommysboy]

On 11/02/2018 at 1:53 PM, SooKee said:

Yeah, most likely you're right.  I lived in Chiang May year before last and some days there it was really, REALLY bad.  Never felt like this with it though.  Like you say, probably a flu bug that's just lingering on and taking ages to finally shift.  Must admit, mostly rarely get colds in these parts but this, jeez, dropped me like a stone, couldn't get out of bed for 3 days.

Maybe, maybe not:  perhaps you wouldn't have succumbed to any bug in the first place if your airways were not irritated, and undoubtedly exposure afterwards would hamper recovery.  There is a nasty bug going round - I guess there always is, but I have witnessed many in your position over the last few weeks.  When recovery is protracted, it is often the case that bacterial infection has followed the initial virus.

[mommysboy]

9 hours ago, edwardandtubs said:

Thanks for the info. To be fair, the P

Pollution Control Department is doing quite a good job of publishing the data and explaining it to the public. They correctly pointed out that this level of pollution is not unusual for this time of year.

 

I could see a major discrepancy between the Thai figures, and those published by external bodies.  So, I would disagree there.  Although it is unusually bad, it is nevertheless bad most of the time in Bangkok due to the sheer volume of traffic and construction work.  The trouble is by highlighting how bad it is now, we normalise the usual state of affairs.

[mommysboy]

On 08/02/2018 at 4:06 PM, ExpatOilWorker said:

Where did you get that air monitor from? How much was it?

These are similar to 'non Thai' figures.

[edwardandtubs]

26 minutes ago, mommysboy said:

I could see a major discrepancy between the Thai figures, and those published by external bodies.  So, I would disagree there.  Although it is unusually bad, it is nevertheless bad most of the time in Bangkok due to the sheer volume of traffic and construction work.  The trouble is by highlighting how bad it is now, we normalise the usual state of affairs.

There is no discrepancy. The external bodies take the data published by the Pollution Control Department and convert it into their own index.