Where to go nearby to find decent air?

[JimmyJ]

My original plan of putting 800k THB in a Thai bank and getting a Retirement extension is literally up in smoke (polluted air) and it now seems that 6 months in Thailand each year is more realistic.

 

So where to go for the other 6 months?

 

Or are there areas in Thailand without dangerous PM 2.5 levels?

 

If not - the best air currently in neighboring countries per the aqi site seem to be:

 

Vietnam - Da Nang and a few other coastal cities;

 

otherwise go south - 

 

Malaysia;

 

Indonesia;

 

Philippines.

 

I'd like to again suggest a Pinned thread where posters traveling with air monitors could post actual real time readings.

 

 

[steven100]

You can head toward Hua Hin, Rayong, Bang Suan, Trat, or any coastal area near the ocean. 

Plenty of places ..... 

[sammieuk1]

Its like Switzerland here in Chiang Mai today I can almost see the house opposite????

[Martyp]

I went to Khao Yai a couple of weeks ago to see the sunflower fields. I was checking the air quality and even up there in the cool mountain air the AQI was in the 75-125 range. This seems like a good resource for what you are asking

 

http://aqicn.org/map/asia/

 

[JimmyJ]

11 minutes ago, steven100 said:

You can head toward Hua Hin, Rayong, Bang Suan, Trat, or any coaIstal area near the ocean. 

Plenty of places ..... 

Where can I find PM 2.5 readings for Hua Hin and Bang Suan?

 

Air Visual lists the other 2 today at 92 to 122.

Over 25 is unhealthy.

 

Have you seen lower figures, or are you listing coastal cities and assuming the air there is good?

[Gweiloman]

10 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

Its like Switzerland here in Chiang Mai today I can almost see the house opposite????

I’m doing better than you (I’m near Maejo). I can the cow in the opposite field, about 50 metres away. 

[Martyp]

1 minute ago, JimmyJ said:

Air Visual lists the other 2 today at 92 to 122.

Over 25 is unhealthy.

Do you have a particular health problem you are trying to accommodate or are you just looking for clear blue skies?

 

I used to live in the San Francisco Bay Area with arguably excellent air quality except when it is bad. Now I live in Bangkok. Winter air quality is nothing to admire but here is a comparison of the two cities

 

[sammieuk1]

1 minute ago, Gweiloman said:

I’m doing better than you (I’m near Maejo). I can the cow in the opposite field, about 50 metres away. 

That's not a cow its an elephant run if you can see the road????

[wasabi]

I also want to rotate out of Thailand during periods of every year. Pollution, heat and boredom are the reasons. I'm trying to figure out the most economical ways to do this while maintaining a high quality of life. Cost of living is one of the main reasons I live in Thailand so I don't want to blow my budget during months I'm rotating around the region. Phuket has some of the least pollution but not quite my taste there. The best option is likely outside of Thailand, but not sure where yet.

[Gweiloman]

Are Air Visual and IQAir connected in some way? I sometimes wonder about the accuracy of the readings and wonder if sales of certain air purifiers might be a factor. 

[VocalNeal]

29 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

Its like Switzerland here in Chiang Mai today

Your neighbour also has a rifle in his cupboard?

[Gweiloman]

12 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Your neighbour also has a rifle in his cupboard?

You might be confusing Switzerland with US. 

[Martyp]

39 minutes ago, Gweiloman said:

Are Air Visual and IQAir connected in some way? I sometimes wonder about the accuracy of the readings and wonder if sales of certain air purifiers might be a factor. 

The first half of my engineering career was developing air pollution monitoring instrumentation. I wouldn’t obsess over the numbers too much. Point measurements with instruments can have a lot of variation at a single location. Bin regional data into low/medium/high. If you have a respiratory condition you should chose carefully. If you are looking for yearlong beautiful vistas then the same. Compare cities that you are familiar with.

 

Above I posted data comparing AQI between Bangkok and San Francisco. SF has half the AQI but I don’t really experience Bangkok air to be out of my expectations for city air. Overall I prefer the Bangkok climate. If I moved to Chiang Mai expecting beautiful view of the mountains then I might be disappointed much of the year.

 

 

[donnacha]

9 minutes ago, Gweiloman said:

You might be confusing Switzerland with US. 

Personal gun ownership per head of population is roughly the same in both countries. Around 30% of citizens own guns in the US, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Austria, New Zealand, Canada etc. Thailand is around half that.

The main difference in the US is that individual gun owners tend to own several, there are a lot of collectors, whereas private citizens in Switzerland and most other countries tend to be satisfied with just one. This increases the number of firearms in America to more than the population, which is a fun statistic, but it really just means that Americans like owning more things. The actual number of armed citizens in America remains roughly the same as many other countries.

 

[Stocky]

3 hours ago, JimmyJ said:

I'd like to again suggest a Pinned thread where posters traveling with air monitors could post actual real time readings.

PM2.5 is 24 here in my part of Hat Yai this afternoon, sky is blue and I can see for miles.

[melvinmelvin]

 

I find the air in Bang Kon Tien quite pleasent and fresh, you can smell the salty sea.

Bang Kon Tien is in the very south west corner of Bangkok,

it has seaside -plenty of fresh seafood - laidback

 

 

[mickey rat]

17 hours ago, Stocky said:

PM2.5 is 24 here in my part of Hat Yai this afternoon, sky is blue and I can see for miles.

That's interesting, air visual is reporting PM2.5 is 141 presently in Hua Hin and the mountains have disappeared..????

[sammieuk1]

20 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

Your neighbour also has a rifle in his cupboard?

Uncanny or have you got binoculars he is some kind of Thai swat team commander in black with loads of guns???? 

[Nyezhov]

20 hours ago, wasabi said:

I also want to rotate out of Thailand during periods of every year. Pollution, heat and boredom are the reasons. I'm trying to figure out the most economical ways to do this while maintaining a high quality of life. Cost of living is one of the main reasons I live in Thailand so I don't want to blow my budget during months I'm rotating around the region. Phuket has some of the least pollution but not quite my taste there. The best option is likely outside of Thailand, but not sure where yet.

If you are here all year, you may want to be in Korat, Buriram or Ubon, they have been nice and blue on my particles map for a while.

[Krataiboy]

21 hours ago, steven100 said:

You can head toward Hua Hin, Rayong, Bang Suan, Trat, or any coastal area near the ocean. 

Plenty of places ..... 

Are you kidding? The air quality right now here in Cha Am is an "unhealthy" 151, with locals being advised by online pollution monitoring sites to avoid exercising outdoors and stay inside with doors and windows shut.

 

Hua Hin is a bit lower but still "unhealthy for sensitive groups". Both have PM counts double the WHO recommended safety level and pollution counts far substantially higher than Bangkok (103) and Chiang Mai, where one can only assume the season burning has abated.

 

I'd love somebody in authority to explain why the air at these busy seaside resorts is so rank and why nothing is being done to protect residents and tourists alike from the associated health dangers.

[Pravda]

2 minutes ago, Krataiboy said:

I'd love somebody in authority to explain why the air at these busy seaside resorts is so rank and why nothing is being done to protect residents and tourists alike from the associated health dangers.

 

And I'd love to be 20 again

[CGW]

1 hour ago, mickey rat said:

That's interesting, air visual is reporting PM2.5 is 141 presently in Hua Hin and the mountains have disappeared..????

When looking at the readings it helps to know where they are located, a lot are put in areas where there is heavy traffic to see just how bad the AQ gets. 

I live 12km outside Udon Thani, the AQ PM2.5 at present is  ~30, (I have 3 separate monitors) yet if I look at what is posted online for UT the AQ is much higher at ~110, the readings can be misleading due to placement of monitors.

Unless everyone is living in the middle of the city with the noise and traffic?

[motdaeng]

3 minutes ago, CGW said:

When looking at the readings it helps to know where they are located, a lot are put in areas where there is heavy traffic to see just how bad the AQ gets. 

I live 12km outside Udon Thani, the AQ PM2.5 at present is  ~30, (I have 3 separate monitors) yet if I look at what is posted online for UT the AQ is much higher at ~110, the readings can be misleading due to placement of monitors.

Unless everyone is living in the middle of the city with the noise and traffic?

i suppose your 3 monitors do PM2.5 µg/m3 readings ...?

an AQI of 110 is equal with PM2.5 of 39µg/m3 ...

maybe the readings are not so much misleading ...

 

but for sure, if the monitor is close to a burning rice field,

the reading will react immediately ..

 

 

 

[CGW]

Just now, motdaeng said:

but for sure, if the monitor is close to a burning rice field,

the reading will react immediately ..

Yes they are PM2.5, sorry for not specifically stating that, they are all working well, at 20:00 last night they were at ~120 after the neighbours bonfire started to smoulder! ???? 

Right now my reading is ~32 (PM2.5) its a beautiful day, clear skies temp 26c, yet if I go to "Air Visual" the two readings I get for UT are 113 & 135.

[Stocky]

1 hour ago, mickey rat said:

That's interesting, air visual is reporting PM2.5 is 141 presently in Hua Hin and the mountains have disappeared..????

Hat Yai is 600km south of Hua Hin, Bangkok pollution doesn't get as far as us.

[nickmondo]

22 hours ago, steven100 said:

You can head toward Hua Hin, Rayong, Bang Suan, Trat, or any coastal area near the ocean. 

Plenty of places ..... 

are you serious?

Hua Hin?

the reading in Hua Hin at 0900 this morning was 151, and getting worse.

Hua Hin does not have safe air

HUA HIN AIR QUALITY  FOR PM2.5 IS 141 AT 0900

UBON AIR QUALITY FOR PM 2.5 IS 130 AT 0900

CHIANG RAI AIR QUALITY FOR PM 2.5 IS 55 AT 0900

MARBELLA AIR QUALITY  FOR PM2.5 IS 4 AT 0900 - GOOD

[steven100]

4 minutes ago, nickmondo said:

are you serious?

Hua Hin?

the reading in Hua Hin at 0900 this morning was 151, and getting worse.

Hua Hin does not have safe air

HUA HIN AIR QUALITY  FOR PM2.5 IS 141 AT 0900

UBON AIR QUALITY FOR PM 2.5 IS 130 AT 0900

CHIANG RAI AIR QUALITY FOR PM 2.5 IS 55 AT 0900

MARBELLA AIR QUALITY  FOR PM2.5 IS 4 AT 0900 - GOOD

ok,  Koh Samet 

[ChipButty]

Beautiful in Phuket today in the night we had a really strong breeze 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

23 hours ago, JimmyJ said:

Air Visual lists the other 2 today at 92 to 122.

Over 25 is unhealthy.

 

Just because some location is along the coast here doesn't guarantee it's going to have good air quality all the time.  Such places may be better than CM or BKK overall, but they certainly can have their own problems, especially when the cause is pollution/burning blown in from other areas.

 

 

https://www.airvisual.com/thailand

 

 

And Rayong:

 

[ChipButty]

I know a few Smog refugees get out of CM and go to Pattaya is that out of the frying pan into the fire?