Surat Thani Air Quality

[TerraplaneGuy]

Anybody in Surat Thani monitoring air quality?  Any observations?  I'm up in BKK and tired of the bad air, thinking of relocating.  On the air quality websites I see the air in ST looks pretty good but the data is from a single government station and I'm a bit skeptical.

[Yom]

Links

https://www.airvisual.com/thailand/surat-thani

I would be happy to be there:

 

http://aqicn.org/city/thailand/surat-thani/regional-environmental-office-14/

[Stocky]

On 12/24/2019 at 8:29 PM, TerraplaneGuy said:

Anybody in Surat Thani monitoring air quality?  Any observations?  I'm up in BKK and tired of the bad air, thinking of relocating.  On the air quality websites I see the air in ST looks pretty good but the data is from a single government station and I'm a bit skeptical.

I'm to the south in Hat Yai, my own little PM2.5 monitor tends to agree with the local municipal AQ monitor (when it's working). Basically anywhere on the peninsular is likely to have better air than Bangkok. That's the region from Cha-am south to the Malaysian border. However, the northern end can sometimes get the bad air from Bangkok, and the southern end can sometimes be affected by the haze from Indonesia. The sweet spot is the area between Chumphon and Nakhon Si Thammarat, just out of range of both. There's only light industry, agriculture is coconut, fruit, rubber and palm oil - so no stubble burning, and there's usually a good sea breezes.

[TerraplaneGuy]

22 hours ago, Stocky said:

I'm to the south in Hat Yai, my own little PM2.5 monitor tends to agree with the local municipal AQ monitor (when it's working). Basically anywhere on the peninsular is likely to have better air than Bangkok. That's the region from Cha-am south to the Malaysian border. However, the northern end can sometimes get the bad air from Bangkok, and the southern end can sometimes be affected by the haze from Indonesia. The sweet spot is the area between Chumphon and Nakhon Si Thammarat, just out of range of both. There's only light industry, agriculture is coconut, fruit, rubber and palm oil - so no stubble burning, and there's usually a good sea breezes.

Thanks.  So I guess you're a bit below the sweet spot (the map tells me Hat Yai is south of NST).  Do you have an idea how the air in your side of the peninsula compares with that on the Andaman side (Phuket etc.)?  Also, have you been living in the Hat Yai area very long, and  how do find life down there?

[Stocky]

Yes, Hat Yai can sometimes be affected by the Indonesian Haze, July to September. Usually it doesn't reach as far north as Hat Yai, but some years it does, this year it did and we had a couple of weeks in September with AQI readings of 160 to 180. Hat Yai is quite a large urban area, so there is traffic pollution and some from industry too. That said the air is generally very good, we've a good breeze blowing much of the time so the municipal PM2.5 readings are usually between 40 and 60. My readings are a little below the government reading as we live on the edge of the city.

 

We've lived in Hat Yai for fourteen years, it's not the prettiest town, but it functions very well. There are good connections by air to Bangkok, KL and Singapore and the Malaysian border is 40 minutes drive away. We've got good hospitals, with three private hospitals, plus the Prince Songkhla University hospital, Internet connections are reliable, we have all the main shops and there's a good selection of restaurants, bars and nightlife. But it's not Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai or Pattaya. There's no significant western expat community, it's not a western tourist hot spot, most visitors to Hat Yai are from Malaysia and Singapore.

 

Hat Yai isn't everyone's cup of tea, comments on TVF are always mixed, I guess it's a Marmite city, you either love it or hate it.

Edited December 30, 2019 by Stocky

[TerraplaneGuy]

8 minutes ago, Stocky said:

Yes, Hat Yai can sometimes be affected by the Indonesian Haze, July to September. Usually it doesn't reach as far north as Hat Yai, but some years it does, this year it did and we had a couple of weeks in September with AQI readings of 160 to 180. Hat Yai is quite a large urban area, so there is traffic pollution and some from industry too. That said the air is generally very good, we've a good breeze blowing much of the time so the municipal PM2.5 readings are usually between 40 and 60. My readings are a little below the government reading as we live on the edge of the city.

 

We've lived in Hat Yai for fourteen years, it's not the prettiest town, but it functions very well. There are good connections by air to Bangkok, KL and Singapore and the Malaysian border is 40 minutes drive away. We've good good hospitals, with three private hospitals, plus the Prince Songkhla University hospital, Internet connections are reliable, we have all the main shops and there's a good selection of restaurants, bars and nightlife. But it's not Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai or Pattaya. There's no significant western expat community, it's not a western tourist hot spot, most visitors to Hat Yai are from Malaysia and Singapore.

 

Hat Yai isn't everyone's cup of tea, comments on TVF are always mixed, I guess it's a Marmite city, you either love it or hate it.

Long time!  Do you have any idea what life is like in Surat Thani compared to Hat Yai?

[Stocky]

Just now, TerraplaneGuy said:

Long time!  Do you have any idea what life is like in Surat Thani compared to Hat Yai?

Sorry no, only ever passed through, never spent any time there.

[TerraplaneGuy]

59 minutes ago, Stocky said:

Sorry no, only ever passed through, never spent any time there.

OK.  About your area, do you have any air problems from burning garbage?  Time and again I've heard of some nice place in the countryside that should have clean air except people have neighbors who burn their trash and smoke them out.

[Stocky]

That's a perennial problem in any developing country.

 

Yes, we have someone nearby, I haven't worked out who, who sometimes burns rubbish. Though it's seldom as Hat Yai has daily refuse collection, the waste is used to fuel the 4.5MW incinerator power plant out by the airport, so there's little reason for people to burn rubbish themselves.

[TerraplaneGuy]

7 hours ago, Stocky said:

That's a perennial problem in any developing country.

 

Yes, we have someone nearby, I haven't worked out who, who sometimes burns rubbish. Though it's seldom as Hat Yai has daily refuse collection, the waste is used to fuel the 4.5MW incinerator power plant out by the airport, so there's little reason for people to burn rubbish themselves.

I guess that's good news and bad news.  Good that there isn't too much next-door-neighbor smoke.  But that incinerator must be spreading around a lot of pollution to replace it.  I guess it's a net gain to those who otherwise would have a neighbor doing it but a net loss to those who wouldn't.

[Stocky]

It's 10km out of town and down wind, I think you worry far too much. 

[TerraplaneGuy]

12 minutes ago, Stocky said:

It's 10km out of town and down wind, I think you worry far too much. 

haha I think you might be right.