PM concerned with Bangkokians’ health due to worsening air pollution

[rooster59]

PM concerned with Bangkokians’ health due to worsening air pollution

 

 

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ol-cha has ordered the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and Pollution Control Department to urgently tackle the dust particle pollution problem in Bangkok which has exceeded standard level, government spokesman Putthipong Punnakan said Saturday.

 

He said the prime minister was very concerned with the health of the people in Bangkok after it was discovered that the dust particulate in the city has exceeded safety level.

 

He added that the prime minister wanted the two agencies to come up with both short-term and long-term measures to deal with the air pollution problem in the city.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/pm-concerned-with-bangkokians-health-due-to-worsening-air-pollution/

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2018-12-23

[KhunProletariat]

2 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

He added that the prime minister wanted the two agencies to come up with both short-term and long-term measures to deal with the air pollution problem in the city.

Can't wait to see what these are going to be. Popcorn and beers at the ready 

[SoilSpoil]

Learn how to do a rain dance to douse the millions of big and small fires in the country. 

[lupin]

Diarrhea of the mouth; constipation of ideas

[Oziex1]

I want to be elected, quick fix it now. 

[Chang_paarp]

Uncle Tu is missing a chance to use article 44 to order the pollution to go away.

 

It will be as effective as ordering the government departments to do something. Some education is needed, from the top down. Uncle Tu needs to understand a pollution event like this require some political will to look past his next thought bubble in an effort to get a lot of things to change.

[Hayduke]

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

PM concerned with Bangkokians’ health due to worsening air pollution

 

....but a handful of Prozac later Uncle was back on top of the world.

 

 

[edwinchester]

An incapable impotent windbag who will come nowhere near achieving his goal of clean air.

Where we live, Kanchanaburi, the air quality is rapidly deteriorating. It is the sugarcane burning season and would you believe that the pre harvest burn is illegal in Thailand? Not by all the thick black smoke plumes rising everywhere.

Just how hard is it for the relevant authorities to spot a major fire and do something about it?

[Youlike]

He could start with replacing those ancient smoke spewing diesel buses....

[Cadbury]

 

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ol-cha has ordered the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and Pollution Control Department to urgently tackle the dust particle pollution problem in Bangkok

Using his usual modus operandi to get some problem solved we have a magic wave of the arm and the barking of an order and then bingo; the problem miraculously disappears. Just like he did the traffic problem which happens also to be the smog problem. At least he is consistent if nothing else.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I just can't tell whether it's deliberate or ignorant misdirection.

 

His statement above makes it sound like the air pollution problem in BKK is primarily a BKK problem that can be solved by making changes in BKK (which they're not likely to do anyway).

 

But the reality is, the air pollution problem is BKK is MOSTLY the same air pollution problem that exists throughout Thailand during this season, and that comes from agricultural burning and other agricultural activities.  And stopping that isn't something the urban BMA in BKK is going to have any great role in.

 

Sure you can make changes / improvements in BKK like dealing with construction dust, diesel emissions, industrial emissions, etc etc.  But past studies have shown those actually account for only a small portion of the smog problem in Thailand compared to the majority/much larger role played by agricultural activities.

 

And I didn't hear the PM saying peep one about crop/field burning in his statement above.

 

 

[Justgrazing]

Chickens coming home to roost this .. Chair P wanted the top slot and these are the sort of issues that come with the territory .. Many  European cities have wrangled with the same problem and have found it requires massive investment and planning not to mention time to get to grips with .. If he is serious about this then maybe he should consult with cities like London to see how they've dealt with it .. But seeking help and advice from others and outsiders is not really the Thai way so we shouldn't expect things to change in the short term .. Best double up on the face masks until whenever .. 

Edited December 23, 2018 by Justgrazing
Sp

[spidermike007]

If they are truly concerned about the health of the average person, which I doubt, all they have to do is start to curtail the sales of diesel vehicles here. A friend of mine, who was recently shopping for both a BMW and a new truck, told me on his visits to the showrooms, he was shocked at the small number of gas vehicles available. Most were diesel. In this day and age? Really? How do you take the environment seriously, then sell millions of diesel vehicles? Why is Thailand consistently behind the environmental curve, when it comes to areas like this?

 

The Volkswagen scandal showed that many diesel cars were producing higher levels of nitrogen oxides, NOx, on the road, than in laboratory tests. NOx is a significant contributor to pollution in cities and can cause respiratory diseases, making diesel cars a target of clean air campaigners such as Greenpeace. 

 

Diesel car sales made up 32.4% of the total car market in 2018, compared with 43.5% in March 2017. Thailand is more than likely not figured into these numbers. 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-43655703

 

 

There are now calls for the Government to introduce a scrappage scheme to encourage drivers to buy low emissions or EVs by trading in their older vehicles for financial incentive. 

“Governments have missed several opportunities to encourage drivers to switch to electric vehicles, starting way back in 2001 when there was a misconceived drive to get people to opt for diesels. “Now that it’s clear diesel is dying a slow death, the time is right for the government to take the initiative and offer up scrappage benefits to those who are prepared to ditch their diesels and switch to electric cars.

 

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/901834/diesel-car-sales-UK-petrol-decline

 

 

[CGW]

~25 years ago Bangkok air pollution was disgusting! They actually did something about it, it entailed folks getting off there butts and taking action not talking!

"Concerned" but not concerned enough to do something - 

Don't want to upset the "elites" who make money by not giving a dam about the environment! ????

[unamazedloso]

stop the field burning and rubbish burning, forest fires, charcoal manufacturing, etc... most of which is totally illegal.

Farmers dont need to burn anything. How do i know? IM A FARMER! 

No one would listen anyway. Too fn ignorant stupid selfish greedy fake ego driven morons.

[jak2002003]

5 minutes ago, unamazedloso said:

stop the field burning and rubbish burning, forest fires, charcoal manufacturing, etc... most of which is totally illegal.

Farmers dont need to burn anything. How do i know? IM A FARMER! 

No one would listen anyway. Too fn ignorant stupid selfish greedy fake ego driven morons.

The farmers just seem to get entertainment and a kick out of burning stuff here.

 

I think most are also ignorant of the health hazards of the smoke and pollution they make.

 

The fact is the soil in their fields would be much better quality, have more nutrients, and produce a better crop yield if they simply ploughed the rice / crop stubble back into the earth.  No need for any burning at all, and it would save them money in the long term on buying fertilisers anyway.  

 

A farmer near me never burns his rice fields.  He also rotates other corps now and them when there are water shortages, and even make himself in irrigation pond complete with ducks and fish to add nutrients to the water and act as natural pest control in the fields.  

[marko kok prong]

2 hours ago, edwinchester said:

An incapable impotent windbag who will come nowhere near achieving his goal of clean air.

Where we live, Kanchanaburi, the air quality is rapidly deteriorating. It is the sugarcane burning season and would you believe that the pre harvest burn is illegal in Thailand? Not by all the thick black smoke plumes rising everywhere.

Just how hard is it for the relevant authorities to spot a major fire and do something about it?

Same where i live every evening you see the smoke all around,then comes down the 'black snow',we got a direct hit last week,i have never seen it so bad the whole road and driveway covered in it. 2 days later after it had settled i cleaned my pool,this is time consuming with this stuff as it collects in about 5 diffrent spot's and you have to come at it from above otherwise it breaks up and floats in the water,no sooner had i finished than it started falling again so add all this smoke to all the other emmisions from a large city of course you will have problems. One thing about the cane burning did the Pm himself not say it was allowed to burn this season,strange that with an election coming up,but to be honest even if he had said it was prohibited it would not make any difference,as to anyone doing anything in rural area's well the Ampur shut's at 4pm most of the Police seem to knock off too so who would enforce it,it is not like you can rush around the country side with a fire truck,and when a big field goes up little short of an aireal water bomber would put it out then the farmer would be claiming compensation for ruined crops,sorry but they will never stop.

[bbi1]

43 minutes ago, unamazedloso said:

stop the field burning and rubbish burning, forest fires, charcoal manufacturing, etc... most of which is totally illegal.

Farmers dont need to burn anything. How do i know? IM A FARMER! 

No one would listen anyway. Too fn ignorant stupid selfish greedy fake ego driven morons.

Stop all those street vendors using those roadside grills, those produce so much smoke and pollution too.

[yellowboat]

His only friends are in Bangkok.  They won't be able to take to the streets to 

de-democratize, destabilize the country

[holy cow cm]

He is so full of ulterior malarkey. He could care less except for the junta voters he needs and the Thai he will tax the crap out of next year. 

[connda]

Cool season BKK concerns: Air pollution

Hot season BKK concerns: Drought and air pollution

Rain season BKK concerns: Flooding

Wash, rinse, repeat ad-infinitum.....

[finnishmen]

PM need truye only worry thaialnd idiot visa system and end this shit idiots plan system first, then him can start him project europe what him say alltime want build thailand europe guality, not can if all base systems have idiots plan, visa system have first what him need end, then can plan more normal systems, 

[newnative]

PM 'concerned'?  Umm, no, he's not.  Been in absolute power for years now and has done nothing to speak of about pollution--when he has the power to actually make what might be unpopular but necessary decisions.  Just more empty useless rhetoric.

[edwinchester]

9 hours ago, marko kok prong said:

Same where i live every evening you see the smoke all around,then comes down the 'black snow',we got a direct hit last week,i have never seen it so bad the whole road and driveway covered in it. 2 days later after it had settled i cleaned my pool,this is time consuming with this stuff as it collects in about 5 diffrent spot's and you have to come at it from above otherwise it breaks up and floats in the water,no sooner had i finished than it started falling again so add all this smoke to all the other emmisions from a large city of course you will have problems. One thing about the cane burning did the Pm himself not say it was allowed to burn this season,strange that with an election coming up,but to be honest even if he had said it was prohibited it would not make any difference,as to anyone doing anything in rural area's well the Ampur shut's at 4pm most of the Police seem to knock off too so who would enforce it,it is not like you can rush around the country side with a fire truck,and when a big field goes up little short of an aireal water bomber would put it out then the farmer would be claiming compensation for ruined crops,sorry but they will never stop.

It would be simple to stop sugarcane burning.

The law says that it illegal to burn sugarcane but also that it is not illegal to buy burnt sugarcane.

Simple make it illegal to buy sugarcane burnt before harvesting and I guarantee the practice would cease overnight.

[Oziex1]

It's time to become the hub of electric vehicles, remember that one, No? 

 

While traffic is a major factor in the smog it's not the only one. 

[SoilSpoil]

42 minutes ago, Oziex1 said:

It's time to become the hub of electric vehicles, remember that one, No? 

 

While traffic is a major factor in the smog it's not the only one. 

But its the most difficult to curb. Stop burning fields and garbage is relatively easier. If the country would have a functioning police force, that is.