Air pollution hits hazardous levels in North, Northeast

By The Nation

 

 

Air pollution intensified in the North and Northeast, as the level of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) was found to have reached harmful levels in many provinces.
 

Data from the Pollution Control Department (PCD) air quality monitoring system yesterday showed that the daily average PM2.5 levels in Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen and Lampang had risen beyond Thailand’s safe level of 50 micrograms per cubic metre of air. PM2.5 measurements in those provinces were at 80.65, 64.95 and 50mg respectively.

 

 

The other PM2.5 monitoring stations in these regions, which are at Tak’s Mae Sot district and Nan’s Chaloem Phra Kiat district, showed daily average levels of PM2.5 had still not exceeded the safe limit, but the data showed that the levels were slowly increasing.

 

Currently, there are five air quality monitoring stations in nine provinces of the Northern region, which can measure PM2.5 levels and report the realtime results on the PCD website, while there is only one station that reports PM2.5 levels for all 20 provinces of the Northeastern region.

 

Greenpeace has encouraged the PCD to install more PM2.5 monitoring devices to cover the entire nation, to include PM2.5 level in the national Air Quality Index (AQI) and to report realtime PM2.5 levels on an hourly basis.

 

According to the PCD, the AQI, which does not include PM2.5 levels, showed that air quality throughout the country yesterday, including areas affected by smog in the North, were within safe levels.

 

It was reported in the North that dense smog throughout Chiang Mai resulted in lowered visibility. Doi Su Thep Mountain could no longer be seen from Chiang Mai’s downtown area.

 

The dense smog also reduced visibility at Chiang Mai Airport, as planes could not be seen in the distance, but air traffic had not been disrupted.

 

Suthep Phongsri, head of Occupational and Environmental Health at the Chiang Mai Provincial Public Health Office, said officials were closely monitoring air quality in the province and had already prepared 64,550 facemasks for distribution, while health volunteers had been dispatched to educate people to protect themselves from air pollution.

 

Suthep advised people to wear a facemask when going outside when the air quality was bad and to refrain from outdoor exercise, while four groups of vulnerable persons – children, pregnant women, the elderly and persons with chronic diseases – should remain indoors and monitor their health conditions.

 

The ban on outdoor burning was already in place in Chiang Mai and it would be enforced until April 20 in order to prevent air pollution in the province.

 

In Lampang, the military led a team of officials from relevant agencies to inspect top soil mining businesses, as local people had complained that lorries transporting soil without covering their loads through their communities had intensified air pollution.

 

Authorities determined that many soil mining businesses did not have dust prevention measures and the volume of lorries contributed to a significant source of air pollution.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30339964

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-03-02

The fine art of moving the focus of the problem in Bangkok to what they call insignificant areas is on the roll.

More wringing of hands and wailing .....

Map of pollution in Asia today

Big difference between CM and Lampang.

The culprit is normally Indonesia but in this case, it is burning in Myanmar - http://asmc.asean.org/asmc-hotspot#Hotspot

It’s worse....

Can you just imagine how high the levels would be if they did not ban smoking on the beaches!

I don’t remember there being any beaches in Chiang Mai

Its gotten worse The health index is now at 163 and listed as unhealthy But I do not see authorities doing anything about it

 

Not even lip service This does not go away it gets worse over time

Are expats going to pack up and move?

40 minutes ago, hakancnx said:

It’s worse....

 

Interesting app you have there. Can you disclose which app it is? Thank you. As you can see from my avatar, I come from a country with possibly the cleanest air on the globe.

Issuing free face masks won't help, the simple cloth ones do not stop anything from going in only out. You need proper HEPA masks which are not cheap and not easy to find. 

50 minutes ago, realenglish1 said:

Its gotten worse The health index is now at 163 and listed as unhealthy But I do not see authorities doing anything about it

 

Not even lip service This does not go away it gets worse over time

It hasnt been 83 as the media quote for a long time; FAKE NEWS. Last 2 weeks averaging 155, highest was 163. Gee even the photos display levels exceeding 100 <deleted>.

These useless government bureaucracy only knows how to bark and did not find ways to solve this problem instead have a lot of time creating statistics! 

1 hour ago, realenglish1 said:

Its gotten worse The health index is now at 163 and listed as unhealthy But I do not see authorities doing anything about it

 

Not even lip service This does not go away it gets worse over time

Some people would call the 'Government' irresponsible criminals for allowing this direful situation to develop and continue. Some of us are really suffering with our breathing, coughing, etc. That's how much the 'Government' cares about people living in this country ...

32 minutes ago, wvavin said:

These useless government bureaucracy only knows how to bark and did not find ways to solve this problem instead have a lot of time creating statistics! 

law enforcement is useless in thailand.

 

Khon Kaen from my hotel window looks fine this morning. Not 100% clear but certainly not like the places shown in the photos on this thread. 

50 minutes ago, wvavin said:

These useless government bureaucracy only knows how to bark and did not find ways to solve this problem instead have a lot of time creating statistics! 

These "useless" government bureaucrats as you name them... know what the problem is and all the information needed to solve the issue is widely known also.

Putting up the hard cash & making hard decisions is the "stumbling point!!

Lets face-it... we all know you can't do anything to stop the Thai company owner from polluting the atmosphere or stop the worker from earning a pittance every day...

if you know how to stop the pollution for free without cutting jobs or production you'd have clean air tomorrow!!!

But it ain't gonna happen anytime soon!

 

3 hours ago, Bangkokazy said:

Map of pollution in Asia today

Hehehehehehe, go figure that one out you air quality controllers. let's see how you get out of this one....

This sentence from the original posting says it all:

 

"According to the PCD, the AQI, which does not include PM2.5 levels, showed that air quality throughout the country yesterday, including areas affected by smog in the North, were within safe levels. "

 

It is the 2.5 particulates that are the most dangerous, they are the ones that actually get deep into the lungs.

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The ban on outdoor burning was already in place in Chiang Mai and it would be enforced until April 20 in order to prevent air pollution in the province.

Seems the ban is being pretty much ignored.

1 hour ago, 1337markus said:

It hasnt been 83 as the media quote for a long time; FAKE NEWS. Last 2 weeks averaging 155, highest was 163. Gee even the photos display levels exceeding 100 <deleted>.

I think you're confusing two different kinds of numbers.

 

The under 100 numbers quoted in the OP article are the actual PM2.5 readings in micrograms (or micro something).... the actual measurements of that particular pollutant.

 

The 150+ numbers you mention are the Air Quality Index (AQI) levels for PM2.5, which is a different, standardized scale that instead tracks whether that and other pollutant levels are moderate, unhealthy for sensitive, unhealthy for all, etc etc...

 

There are websites that convert actual pollution levels into AQI levels, and AQI levels into actual pollutant measurements. The reason for the AQI is different pollutants have different measurement levels that are considered problematic, so the AQI is a way of converting all those into a common, standardized scale that's easier for the public to understand.

 

As follows:

 

 

There are five or so pollutants that are tracked via the AQI index. The highest level among them, usually PM2.5 for Thailand, becomes the overall AQI number for that day for any particular location.

 

So for the North, the 150+ AQI numbers for PM2.5 mean unhealthy for all.

Edited March 2, 20188 yr by TallGuyJohninBKK

 

And the quote of the week award, this week, goes to the Pollution Control Department (PCD) for this little gem:

 

"It was reported in the North that dense smog throughout Chiang Mai resulted in lowered visibility."

 

Evidence, if it were needed, that not only is Chiang Mai's dense fog so thick that it's difficult to see through, the guy's describing this phenomenon are even thicker.

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The ban on outdoor burning was already in place in Chiang Mai and it would be enforced until April 20 in order to prevent air pollution in the province.

and...? Who cares?. In night time something is burning in different places, included plastic garbage. Enforcement? zero.

I wonder why this narcissistic PM can't do anything using section 44. Maybe this time the culprit is Myanmar, but in general Thais gives a damn.

welcome to Thailand, land of future bullet trains where there wont be any people on them because they will all be dead.

What a great place to retire. You of course wont live long.

Pity all the kids with emphysema and bronchitis. There will be a national health crisis on the horizon.

56 minutes ago, Tongjaw said:

Khon Kaen from my hotel window looks fine this morning. Not 100% clear but certainly not like the places shown in the photos on this thread. 

Was at 161 at 9: AM this morning.  Unhealthy. 

Edited March 2, 20188 yr by PhonThong

"It was reported in the North that dense smog throughout Chiang Mai resulted in lowered visibility. Doi Su Thep Mountain could no longer be seen from Chiang Mai’s downtown area. "

 

wow that is nasty! got to feel bad for the poor expats stuck out there

26 minutes ago, Belzybob said:

This sentence from the original posting says it all:

 

"According to the PCD, the AQI, which does not include PM2.5 levels, showed that air quality throughout the country yesterday, including areas affected by smog in the North, were within safe levels. "

 

It is the 2.5 particulates that are the most dangerous, they are the ones that actually get deep into the lungs.

 

There are sites that report the PM2.5 levels from locations around Thailand, including the following:

http://aqicn.org/city/chiang-mai/

 

The scale is showing the AQI levels for PM2.5, not the actual measurement of that particular pollutant.

 

The current AQI level for PM2.5 works out to an actual PM2.5 measurement of about 84.5

 

 

https://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.calculator

Please!

Concentrate on ending (non existing) prostitution!

Who cares, if you can breathe?!