Air pollution soars in Thai capital, authorities issue warning

[from the home of CC]

5 hours ago, johng said:

Maybe Hydrogen would work better.

imo the fuel of the future..

[Bassosa]

2 hours ago, mike787 said:

This is nothing....wait till everyone gets a whiff of Chiang Mai for 5-6 months of carcinogenic air worse than arsenic. 

You're painting a rosy picture.

 

I live in Chiang Mai and the air quality is putrid each and every night, no matter what month. Even in the rainy season, the enormous amount of dirty diesels here will make the air horrific in the evening and night. Mornings can be alright.

[nobodysfriend]

1 hour ago, from the home of CC said:

imo the fuel of the future..

You are absolutely right ! Especially when produced with electricity generated by solar . Efficiency is not so good , just 2 : 1 , but solar is cheap and reliable .

[DaRoadrunner]

The only byproduct of Hydrogen combustion is water vapour. Problem is, it costs too much, as does the car that can run on it. Once we get the cost down, Hydrogen will solve our pollution problems.

 

As for the Thais, they are ignorant and totally lacking in responsibility, so do not hold your breath (pun intended) waiting for something to change.

[Morty T]

9 hours ago, Dustdevil said:

You have to take serious measures, not just issue warnings and have conferences about it. An example is the U.S. Clean Air Act of 1963. Pittsburgh used to be like Beijing at its worst; LA wasn't far behind. Yet now US air is generally cleaner than Western European (because nobody bought diesel-powered cars, which have raised havoc with the air over European cities. Coal is, of course, going the way of the dinosaurs, and Trump, anti-environmental pig that he is, won't be in office forever. In places like Thailand and Malaysia the head of state pretty much decides his/her own term length.)

That's a new one. Its Trumps fault that the air quality is pathetic in Thailand. Why don't we just blame him for the tourist numbers too. 

[impulse]

7 hours ago, justin case said:

13 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

ust simple , low cost EV's that can go 2 or 3oo km on a charge would be enough to reduce the toxic air quality and would be a huge step foreward for Thailand right into the future mass market of EV's .

expect in thailand, import makes an EV 4x more expensive than "normal" countries

 

Can't say I blame them...  The power grid in much of Thailand is already stressed.  Imaging adding millions of vehicles sucking juice every day to charge 'em up. 

 

[Bangkokazy]

Air pollution is no problem in Thailand, as long as you have a nice home.
Air pollution only kills poor people and beggars.
Rich and poor

Bangkok's population has more than doubled since the early 1950s, and the poor have lived together under poor conditions. Illness and crime ravaged the crowded slums, where Maha Vajiralongkorn enjoyed themselves. and rolled in the <deleted>

[Dustdevil]

On 12/19/2019 at 7:42 PM, NoBrainer said:

 

Electric vehicles will not work in Bangkok. That 300km range turns into 30km really fast, when sitting in traffic for hours at a time with Air Con, Stereo, TV's and Phone Chargers Ect. running full tilt, and going nowhere. Chaos will quickly ensue when the batteries start running out of juice in the middle of traffic, and you are nowhere near home, or a non existent charging station. The current power grid is also almost always maxed out, and uses a substantial amount of coal to produce it.

 

Wait another year or two, until the batteries in all these hybrid vehicles currently on the road start failing. These giant batteries are costing over a million baht for some models to get replacements. They are classed as dangerous goods, so shipping cost is more than double that of normal freight, dealers do not keep stock due to the high cost, and they take 6-8 weeks to get here by sea freight, which is also expensive. Technicians are scared to work on them, because of the high risk of massive electric shock as well.

 

The dealers are already seeing the problems, and are changing back to selling diesel, instead of hybrid. The market is becoming more informed, and rejecting electric cars.

 

You're conflating hybrid with pure electric. The Tesla S is still the best with a 250-mile (400) km range. But yes, it will probably go to 40km in BKK. If you're talking about hybrid, they have a normal internal combustion engine; their electric range is limited to low speeds. In normal driving they're using gasoline. If they run out of charge in heavy traffic, the car will simply switch to its internal combustion engine.

Edited December 21, 2019 by Dustdevil

[Dustdevil]

On 12/19/2019 at 6:56 PM, Zack61 said:

It’s not just a Thailand phenomena. It is a worldwide problem which requires actions other than the ostrich approach. 

Yes but in most of the world farmers don't slash and burn like they do in SE Asia. Other fires are brush fires and forest fires. They should leave them alone in California, except to save houses; natural burns, even if caused by climate change, are good for the soil and good for forest trees.

[Dustdevil]

21 hours ago, Bassosa said:

Everybody relax, it's a Thai "problem" and not ours to solve.

 

The majority of Thais don't care about the smoke and in all honesty, they're too ignorant to understand the consequences.
 

There's a certain beauty in seeing a country going down the toilet. Living in Thailand for the last 5 years has completely changed my perspective on the world and its people. Kind of fascinating!

 

 

 

Well they certainly know how to ruin beautiful beaches. Phi Phi Island was beautiful and seemed unique (plus a lot of topless hotties) in 2000 when I took my wife there. (Nice to see her take off the top and walk around as well). It's an island that harkens to our dreams of the South Pacific, Bali Hai sort of place. Except for the damned water taxis--they ran until midnight. I was surprised that my Swedish hut neighbour, a professor, didn't think the noisy water taxis were annoying at all. Clueless! There was garbage all over the interior of the narrow isthmus. Ruined in 2000 already. I was lucky enough to visit Koh Samui in 1987 before they ruined it. No airport, no hotels, just huts and 100% naked young women everywhere. The island was so quiet and beautiful and the star-gazing at night was another nice activity. Yes, they really ruined that one soon enough, made it into another Pattaya disaster.

[Dustdevil]

22 hours ago, RotMahKid said:

Not the whole world, see the map and zoom out, then you see green places and also the dirty ones where most of the problems are.

https://aqicn.org/map/

Shows China as the filthiest place on earth. I knew that long ago.

[Dustdevil]

15 hours ago, Morty T said:

That's a new one. Its Trumps fault that the air quality is pathetic in Thailand. Why don't we just blame him for the tourist numbers too. 

My comment does not conflate the U.S. with Asia.

[Pravda]

On 12/19/2019 at 8:51 PM, snoop1130 said:

air pollution returned to Bangkok following months of clear air

 

This is a lie. 

[mike787]

17 hours ago, Bassosa said:

You're painting a rosy picture.

 

I live in Chiang Mai and the air quality is putrid each and every night, no matter what month. Even in the rainy season, the enormous amount of dirty diesels here will make the air horrific in the evening and night. Mornings can be alright.

wow!!! thank you for opening my eyes...I was there last spring and vowed never to return. 

[Derek B]

On 12/20/2019 at 12:50 AM, nobodysfriend said:

If Thai government would be clever , they would do everything to produce Electric vehicles in Thailand now . Just simple , low cost EV's that can go 2 or 3oo km on a charge would be enough to reduce the toxic air quality and would be a huge step foreward for Thailand right into the future mass market of EV's .

The chinese will do it anyway , but Thailand will definitly be left behind if there are no incentives NOW .

Electric tuk tuks would be a start - saw one in Chiang Mai recently and in Lisbon, Portugal so the technology is up and running - a bit too quiet though need some fake noise.

[30la]

On 12/19/2019 at 8:51 PM, snoop1130 said:

Authorities in Thailand’s capital warned people to wear face masks or stay indoors on Thursday after choking air pollution returned to Bangkok following months of clear air in one of the world’s top tourist destinations.

Months of clean air ??? When was this ??? Probably before the discovery of the fire! ????

[30la]

On 12/19/2019 at 8:51 PM, snoop1130 said:

Air pollution soars in Thai capital, authorities issue warning

You always forget that your country burns in the true sense of the word, the situation is critical wherever you look.
If you think that with what you call protection masks you solve the problem, well, have fun!

[observer90210]

Ban those pesky farangs from smoking in public and in 7 days problem solved....(c)

[Ventenio]

i saw a young family, four kids.  I offered them 4 facemasks for the children and was denied like i was a monster.....i knew i would be denied, so i smiled and shook my head, then i forced a cough.  they are off to pattaya and if the kids all grow up will lung and brain issues, well, they will not blame their selfishness.  

[overherebc]

On 12/20/2019 at 7:52 AM, phantomfiddler said:

We are destroying the cities ! All vehicles emitting noticeable smoke should be sent to the knackers yard. When you look around and see 30% of the people around you wearing pollution masks one wonders about where we are heading ????

Hell in a handcart.

[bristolgeoff]

Quote

 

the burning in the nth will continue as usual air quality will be bad mask need to be used. no change in bkk unless u stop busses cars and anything that moves.that is not going happen just hope it improves,the people in bkk know this allready

[ChipButty]

One of the main reasons I live right in the south of Phuket Im surrounded by the ocean and the last few weeks a lovely breeze coming off the ocean early in the morning is best 5-30 am 

[overherebc]

On 12/20/2019 at 9:17 AM, samsensam said:

 

what about the, much heralded, 'clean air machine' outside central world? the phrases 'publicity stunt' and 'white elephant' spring to mind...

 

 

As soon as the smog clears they'll find it again.