Patong air quality

[Olmate]

Anyone finding it hard to breathe over last few days, I have a cold maybe just me?

[schlog]

Nope all fine. It's hot and the last 2 days little wind only but air quality is good. Today fresh breeze.

Can't complain.

 

If you want super fresh and colder air then do a trip to Genting. Was there 2 weeks ago. 18 degrees and a perfect air like at Schladming last May.

[Old Croc]

Current air quality index, measured in Phuket City, is around 50 - considered moderate,

Could be worse, you could be in the Hang Dong district of Chiang Mai.

 

 

I often wonder why people sensitive to any raised air quality choose to reside in the tropics.

 

 

[Olmate]

5 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

Current air quality index, measured in Phuket City, is around 50 - considered moderate,

Could be worse, you could be in the Hang Dong district of Chiang Mai.

 

 

I often wonder why people sensitive to any raised air quality choose to reside in the tropics.

 

 

Thanks, yes spent a few months in CM, horrible ! I’m from TSV so very similar ,no crocs tho!

[Olmate]

11 minutes ago, schlog said:

Nope all fine. It's hot and the last 2 days little wind only but air quality is good. Today fresh breeze.

Can't complain.

 

If you want super fresh and colder air then do a trip to Genting. Was there 2 weeks ago. 18 degrees and a perfect air like at Schladming last May.

Yep today is better, was in Genting 30 yrs ago, great!

[Old Croc]

1 minute ago, Olmate said:

Yep today is better, was in Genting 30 yrs ago, great!

Mountain air always fresher.

Genting had one of the first casinos in the region. Very popular place in it's day.

[KhunBENQ]

The air might be very bad in the north but I bet that the "999" reading is an error, false measurement. Or Somchai just burns his rubbish near the station

 

Worst I see is (as usual) in Chiang Mai, 317. Still terrible.

 

I can't remember having seen alarming values from the south this year.

All in the green.

[Old Croc]

1 minute ago, KhunBENQ said:

The air might be very bad in the north but I bet that the "999" reading is an error, false measurement.

Worst I see is (as usual) in Chiang Mai, 317. Still terrible.

Yes, I presumed it was an error, everyone there would be dead.

However, it made a great visual!

[xylophone]

Air quality in PM 2.5 this morning on my balcony in Patong was in the 70s and haze was easily visible in the treeline.

[xylophone]

On 3/17/2019 at 10:48 AM, Old Croc said:

I often wonder why people sensitive to any raised air quality choose to reside in the tropics.

Maybe because they weren't sensitive to any raised air quality before they came here?

 

I certainly wasn't and spent my apprenticeship in an extremely dirty brickworks without suffering, then worked in the Sahara desert, in all for over a year, experiencing dust from quite frequent sandstorms, then in Nigeria for a year where at one particular time of the year the sand-dust from the deserts used to form a very thick haze/mist over the humidity laden air, and believe it or not it was so bad that the fruit bats onshore were often found many miles out to sea because their "radar" had been upset by the dust laden atmosphere.

 

Fast forward to here and I do suffer these days, in fact I've just come out of hospital here after spending five days on a couple of drips because of supposed pneumonia and sinusitis.

 

On the ward I was in, ear nose and throat speciality, the air was filled with the constant phlegmy coughing of the other patients and when I asked a couple of the nurses if there were many people suffering from respiratory ailments, they simply said, "mak mak".

 

This became obvious when I went to see the ENT specialist as there were people lining up to see her, with a few of them dressed in the green hospital garb, like me, and in wheelchairs. I spoke to one guy who was parked next to me and he had exactly the same symptoms that I had – – sore throat, raspy cough, rattling chest, fever and headache.

 

This type of thing has been affecting me for probably the last 3 to 4 years, about the time when the air quality down here has been declining.

 

The sad thing is, that there is so much more that could be done to improve the air quality here, but the officials are either bereft of ideas or bereft of the enthusiasm to do anything about it, or indeed just plain stupid – – take your pick.

[LivinginKata]

Been quite a haze these last 4 days in the mornings  looking out to sea over Kata. Seems to clear up by afternoon.

 

I too have a raspy phlegmy cough. Especially after a few hours sleep. Need to get up and blow all the snot out of my nose. Then all Ok till get up in morning. Repeat blow nose and I am mostly Ok for much of the day.  Been like that for quite a few weeks now.

 

Wife thinks it's caused by sleeping in Air Con bedroom. Not bad enough to see Hospital doc.    

 

 

[Old Croc]

Xyl

Sorry you been crook mate, but I think you live in a place with some of the cleanest air in Thailand.  Phuket consistently records lower air quality figures than most of the rest of Thailand. It's rare it goes above the green.  IMO, this is due largely to the fact we live on an island, situated on the Indian Ocean, and benefit from the sea breezes.

Just to test my theory I just did a real time check of the air in the city:

 

You've outlined some history that may have contributed to problems you now have and, dare I say, your stated lifestyle involving frequent visits to clubs and pubs in Patong could trigger attacks.

I stick by my assertion that the tropics is not a great place for people with respiratory sensitivities, and I agree with you that expecting Thailand authority to do something about pollution of any sort is a bridge too far.

 

Incidentally, I too often get a persistent cough and do become clogged up most mornings, but regard it as just part of life. I have much bigger problems to worry about.

[Old Croc]

For comparison purposes, CM today:

 

[xylophone]

51 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

Been quite a haze these last 4 days in the mornings  looking out to sea over Kata. Seems to clear up by afternoon.

 

I too have a raspy phlegmy cough. Especially after a few hours sleep. Need to get up and blow all the snot out of my nose. Then all Ok till get up in morning. Repeat blow nose and I am mostly Ok for much of the day.  Been like that for quite a few weeks now.

 

Wife thinks it's caused by sleeping in Air Con bedroom. Not bad enough to see Hospital doc.    

 

 

Well just take care of yourself LiK and keep an eye on your chesty cough and well-being, especially if you start to get a temperature, which I did, and a high one that according to the nurse.

 

Yes there are those folk who suggest that it is brought on by sleeping in an air-conditioned room, but provided the air con cooling fins are clean, then that shouldn't be the case because all it is simply doing is taking the air in your room and cooling it.

 

Bacteria are the main causes and the more one coughs, then the more irritated the membranes become, which sets them up for any "passing bacteria" to take hold.

[xylophone]

33 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

Xyl

Sorry you been crook mate, but I think you live in a place with some of the cleanest air in Thailand.  Phuket consistently records lower air quality figures than most of the rest of Thailand. It's rare it goes above the green.  IMO, this is due largely to the fact we live on an island, situated on the Indian Ocean, and benefit from the sea breezes.

Just to test my theory I just did a real time check of the air in the city:

 

You've outlined some history that may have contributed to problems you now have and, dare I say, your stated lifestyle involving frequent visits to clubs and pubs in Patong could trigger attacks.

I stick by my assertion that the tropics is not a great place for people with respiratory sensitivities, and I agree with you that expecting Thailand authority to do something about pollution of any sort is a bridge too far.

 

Incidentally, I too often get a persistent cough and do become clogged up most mornings, but regard it as just part of life. I have much bigger problems to worry about.

I think we have differing opinions on that Old Croc, but thank you for your kind words with regards to being crook.

 

And I say that because I have taken readings on my balcony on several occasions and have posted them here, and just 12 days ago the reading was in the 70s, and it has been almost as high on a number of other occasions. Maybe it's the actual area as I am in the sort of tree line and it almost acts like a "net" to catch any haze there may be around the place and I can often smell it.

 

Since the history I wrote about ended some 40 years ago, and I've been free of it ever since, apart from the last few years here, I doubt whether that history has had any bearing on the current condition.

 

LOL, and I mean that in a not disparaging way, my forays out into the night life here are once weekly (in the main), and start at about 8.30 pm at a local restaurant, before moving onto a couple of open bars (with perhaps a go-go if I have visitors from out of town) and ending up in a large bar with large open frontage so not sure that this could be the real trigger as the total time spent out in these places in any week is about 5 to 6 hours!!

 

I'm sure you are right that the tropics are not the right place for people with respiratory sensitivities, however as I respectfully pointed out I've never had them until the last three years and that is when I believe the equality in Patong began to go downhill.

 

Agree that expecting the Thai authorities to do anything about this, other than spraying water up into the air and hoping it clears it – – yeah right, is as you say, a bridge too far.

 

Luckily enough I don't have any other health problems at the moment to worry about, and I sincerely hope that yours are not serious and very manageable.

 

PS. I have just been out on the balcony and my PM 2.5 reading is about 37, so as you say, no problem really, however I think it's on the days when it goes way above this that the problems begin.

 

Take care out there trans-Tasman cousin.

[schlog]

35 minutes ago, xylophone said:

I think we have differing opinions on that Old Croc, but thank you for your kind words with regards to being crook.

 

And I say that because I have taken readings on my balcony on several occasions and have posted them here, and just 12 days ago the reading was in the 70s, and it has been almost as high on a number of other occasions. Maybe it's the actual area as I am in the sort of tree line and it almost acts like a "net" to catch any haze there may be around the place and I can often smell it.

 

Since the history I wrote about ended some 40 years ago, and I've been free of it ever since, apart from the last few years here, I doubt whether that history has had any bearing on the current condition.

 

LOL, and I mean that in a not disparaging way, my forays out into the night life here are once weekly (in the main), and start at about 8.30 pm at a local restaurant, before moving onto a couple of open bars (with perhaps a go-go if I have visitors from out of town) and ending up in a large bar with large open frontage so not sure that this could be the real trigger as the total time spent out in these places in any week is about 5 to 6 hours!!

 

I'm sure you are right that the tropics are not the right place for people with respiratory sensitivities, however as I respectfully pointed out I've never had them until the last three years and that is when I believe the equality in Patong began to go downhill.

 

Agree that expecting the Thai authorities to do anything about this, other than spraying water up into the air and hoping it clears it – – yeah right, is as you say, a bridge too far.

 

Luckily enough I don't have any other health problems at the moment to worry about, and I sincerely hope that yours are not serious and very manageable.

 

PS. I have just been out on the balcony and my PM 2.5 reading is about 37, so as you say, no problem really, however I think it's on the days when it goes way above this that the problems begin.

 

Take care out there trans-Tasman cousin.

 

Do you see a correlation between cruisers at patong bay and worse air quality?

Imho there is a correlation. The mornings with 2 arriving cruisers are stinky mornings.

I'm often in Maikhao and there air is always good. 

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, schlog said:

 

Do you see a correlation between cruisers at patong bay and worse air quality?

Imho there is a correlation. The mornings with 2 arriving cruisers are stinky mornings.

I'm often in Maikhao and there air is always good. 

Cant see the ships from here schlog, but it is very possible that they add to the worsening air quality.

[Olmate]

6 hours ago, LivinginKata said:

Been quite a haze these last 4 days in the mornings  looking out to sea over Kata. Seems to clear up by afternoon.

 

I too have a raspy phlegmy cough. Especially after a few hours sleep. Need to get up and blow all the snot out of my nose. Then all Ok till get up in morning. Repeat blow nose and I am mostly Ok for much of the day.  Been like that for quite a few weeks now.

 

Wife thinks it's caused by sleeping in Air Con bedroom. Not bad enough to see Hospital doc.    

 

 

Interesting response as my post was a pre cursor to most of the symptoms I experienced and you and others have displayed. Sure sounds like a localised virus of some sort. Almost headed to hospital a few days back but has since improved ,and yes agree aircon on is a suspect!

 

[Old Croc]

16 hours ago, schlog said:

 

Do you see a correlation between cruisers at patong bay and worse air quality?

Imho there is a correlation. The mornings with 2 arriving cruisers are stinky mornings.

I'm often in Maikhao and there air is always good. 

They do tend to keep their engines going the whole time they're parked in the bay. (No doubt necessary to keep all electrical systems going)

This would add to toxins floating around in Patong.

Pollution there was one of the main reasons I moved to the other side of the hill.