Chiang Mai Air Quality and Pollution

[JimmyJ]

 

 

Quote

 

The government website aqicn.org says AQI near Kad Suan Kaew is 170-190.  Baloney! It is 325.

 

More baloney:

 

 

Edited February 29, 2020 by JimmyJ

[Yom]

5 hours ago, motdaeng said:

pm2.5 of 45-50 µg/m3 is not a good range at all ... see WHO

Correct.

https://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.calculator

 

[Yom]

4 hours ago, KrishnaCameb4Buddha said:

PM2.5 is 250

PM 10 is 350

Whatever you're measuring...

it is at least unhealthy.

 

[Ventenio]

Of course I'm in Thailand.  I'm in a place that is now around 90, and I deserve to be heckled for living in 90.  I can easily leave, but the pros outweigh the cons (in my mind).  

 

But CM, 300++++???  Look, you guys are in Wuhan (CM) and the virus (pollution) is sooooo bad that any rational person would escape if they could.  Over 300 leads to cancer!!!!  Lung, brain, and heart problems, everything!   

 

Look, if it was 100....I would go to CM!!  Great city!!!  But it's not safe there, and why wouldn't you try to save yourself for just a few months??  If you can't protect yourself, well, I'll keep telling you to go save yourself and come back in a few months.  Don't you have family who want you to be healthy???  How are the pros better than 300???  Impossible.

 

But you won't leave.......well, whatever, stay in Wuhan when you can leave and you will get no sympathy.  You think i'm trolling but I'm just trying to get you (all of you) to think and do the right thing.  

 

Even if you ONLY leave for March, it might really help.  

 

Blocking me won't make the pollution leave.  LOL

Edited February 29, 2020 by Ventenio

[Yorkshire Tea]

6 hours ago, KrishnaCameb4Buddha said:

 

I am not sure what Xiaomi meter is reading.  Is it an 'average'?  Because right now Xiaomi meter on air machine reads 19, but when I put my own high quality meter over the Xiaomi fan where clean air emerges my meter reads 5 for PM2.5.  In my room now my meter reads 30 PM2.5, the Xiaomi filter machine reads 19, and when I place my handheld meter directly over xiaomi outtake fan, it reads 5 PM2.5

I don't know the answer to that.  Only got my Xiaomi last week, have been using other air purifiers.  Don't trust the auto mode, just adjust the fan to keep pm2.5 good.

[cerox]

When I was in CNX in Dec/Jan, I measured with my handheld pm2.5 outside and it always was in line with the government stations.

 

Those who measure higher values than 200 now (because the stations worry me - it is only red and I worry they do not burn enough), please tell me the sky is not blue. You might laugh. But in December I noticed that at AQI 180+ and esp. above AQI 200 the sky is never blue, more grey and if it gets really high turns more white. So if you still see blue sky, the stations might be right and your handheld device might not be accurate. Please someone who is there confirm. We want to get it done - they need to burn more and not just a little.

 

Ventenio, why do you praise yourself to live in 90 AQI? Also unhealthy. Certain countries in Europe go crazy when AQI is above 50 because this is the normal safe limit. You are right that everyone should leave CNX. But as you might know, Chiang Mai as always attracted many people on budget who just do not have the money to leave. Others made a huge mistake and bought real estate - now they cannot sell. As you I also think everyone should leave for a certain period - but it is not possible for everyone.

[Yom]

Better than blocking is to ignore someone.

And listen to

 

[HaleySabai]

My 8am reading(Mar.01) out my back door in Mae Rim was a whooping 231(PM2.5), while the CM collective reading was 96.5. I've been making daily recordings since Oct.22/19,this is the first time the numbers broke the 200 mark (PM 2.5 concentration) and with such a wide gap in relation to CM. However, by noon the numbers were back in the ball park; Mae Rim-100 / CM-114 and now at 4pm it's down to MR-71 / CM-67.7. The sky remains a dull blue-ish/grey,resembling the approach of rain(we wish!).

 

Even though inside our house it is under 10 I walk outside into 60-90 and I'm hard pressed to noticed a difference,especially if there is a breeze. It's not until the levels creep above 100 that I clearly notice the air taking on a much more sinister quality.

 

[cerox]

Thanks for the update. Blueish-grey is not enough. It means mostly air quality is below 200. They really need to hurry, otherwise it takes all year. I always thought the promise was to burn certain months.

[Yom]

4 hours ago, HaleySabai said:

inside our house it is under 10 I walk outside into 60-90 and I'm hard pressed to noticed a difference

We would be very happy with 'under 10'!

 

Usually you can't smell it, you can't see it.

Only if it comes with some 'incense '. - Often misinterpreted  as fog, mist, haze...

 

If you doubt your monitor, may I suggest to buy a second one?

[NorthernRyland]

We're into March now and http://aqicn.org/city/chiang-mai/ has updated the historical data for February which is missing a couple weeks of data.

 

Is it possible the Thai government is censoring this? The website itself has all the data every day but do they allow countries governments to edit the data? I thought aqicn.org was the best resource we had but maybe it's been corrupted.

[Yorkshire Tea]

25 minutes ago, genericptr said:

We're into March now and http://aqicn.org/city/chiang-mai/ has updated the historical data for February which is missing a couple weeks of data.

 

Is it possible the Thai government is censoring this? The website itself has all the data every day but do they allow countries governments to edit the data? I thought aqicn.org was the best resource we had but maybe it's been corrupted.

That same block of days seems to be missing for all AQI stations I've just looked at, including Phuket & in Malaysia.  

[NorthernRyland]

13 minutes ago, Yorkshire Tea said:

That same block of days seems to be missing for all AQI stations I've just looked at, including Phuket & in Malaysia.  

Interesting. I've been looking at the website on and off and there is always data available throughout Chiang Mai so that means someone is intentionally doing this. The official number also doesn't correspond to any average that makes sense to me.

 

They provide an API so it's possible to make a better tool that actually keeps real numbers. I think I may look into doing that if it's not too time consuming.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

17 hours ago, genericptr said:

We're into March now and http://aqicn.org/city/chiang-mai/ has updated the historical data for February which is missing a couple weeks of data.

 

Is it possible the Thai government is censoring this? The website itself has all the data every day but do they allow countries governments to edit the data? I thought aqicn.org was the best resource we had but maybe it's been corrupted.

 

No the Thai government is not censoring anything.  They're the reason we have solid information going back over two decades so they deserve some credit for that.  (Let that sink in: way before there were Farang digital nomad ladies protesting about the air and vlogging about it, the Thai PCD was already running a big facility to monitor air pollution.)

That all the data is there you can readily see on the website of the Thailand Pollution Control Department.  That's where the below graph comes from, which shows all the data, and it's not good for February.

 

As for Aqicn, I'm not a fan of them.  I do like Airvisual.org, just that all news media persist in misinterpreting their clickbaity 'world ranking'.  But if you can forgive them for that (a site like theirs needs clicks after all) then it's excellent information.

 

Below is from the Thailand PCD, for both of their stations for February.  (35t is out in Mae Rim near the government offices, 36t is in the old city.) 

The Thai health limit is at 50ug/m3. In the US EPA AQI scale the red zone starts above 55, which is an AQI of 150 and above.  So all things considered you could say that anything below the 50 line is 'pretty good for the time of the year', anything above it isn't. And the second half of February was mostly above it, and the first half was still close to or slightly above 50 ug/m3. 

 

 

And you can compare to last year, below. (Note that the Y scale is different, look at the 50 ug/m3 line to compare.). 

 

 

Looking back at previous years, this February was similar to 2016 which isn't good.  That's the average across the whole month of course so it doesn't show individual good spells and bad spells.   Data is all from the old city station.

 

Edited March 3, 2020 by WinnieTheKhwai

[Ventenio]

3 hours ago, WinnieTheKhwai said:

I do like Airvisual.org

I believe it is DOT COM.  

 

appreciate the information  

[Yom]

5 hours ago, WinnieTheKhwai said:

That's where the below graph comes from, which shows all the data, and it's not good for February.

... and it's not good for February.

This is the message. I can fully agree with that.

2020 March, April and May(?) will be 'not good' too, I suppose.

Anyhow, thanks for your work.

 

[WinnieTheKhwai]

2 hours ago, Ventenio said:

I believe it is DOT COM.  

 

appreciate the information  

 

Yes it is, thank you for the correction!

[HaleySabai]

On 3/1/2020 at 9:17 PM, Yom said:

We would be very happy with 'under 10'!

 

Usually you can't smell it, you can't see it.

Only if it comes with some 'incense '. - Often misinterpreted  as fog, mist, haze...

 

If you doubt your monitor, may I suggest to buy a second one?

No reason to doubt my monitor since it has been consistent with other readings.

I prepared the house this season for the arrival of the "death-cloud". Sealed and treated all windows which has made a huge difference with the ambient temperature in the house.  Have yet to turn the AC on.

The air purifier is running continuously and will maintain a 10 or better depending on the outside air quality. Over 200 and Im hard pressed to get the house below 20, but I'm quit alright with that.

 

So far,my impression is that the AQI is not as extreme as last year. However,if the same March pattern unfolds we will be experiencing a crescendo of bad air peaking above 600 by the end of this month.

Lets hope not.

 

[GeorgeCross]

wow looks bad today. stay safe northern peeps ????

 

[vivid]

[cerox]

I am happy to see an improvement in getting things done.

But there is too much red. It should be all above 200. Otherwise burning all year. But still, thank you all the people involved, I hope you can burn some more so we finish on schedule for the rainy season.

[GeorgeCross]

8 minutes ago, vivid said:

 

wow thats beyond ridiculous

 

 

 

[Yom]

1 hour ago, GeorgeCross said:

stay safe northern peeps 

Thanks for that, GeorgeCross.

       ****************

 

[Ventenio]

it's too bad, many people don't talk about the toxic chemicals used and burned.  really toxic.

 

it gets in the rivers, everywhere...  

 

now i'm in a place that is 59.  you can too!!!!  nah, you guys love the toxic air sooooo much.  can't get enough.  imprisoned yourself for fun.

 

research the toxic chemicals sprayed and they are being burned as well while going into the water.  some are "banned"... yea, ok

[Cheesekraft]

tourists are down because of the virus, though. Nothing to do with the air we must breathe.

[Thailand]

Drove down to Chom Thong today, almost like UK fog of old. But much more dangerous.

Chom Thong showing Aqi 97, considered good,relatively.????

[Yorkshire Tea]

????

[PowerKat]

12 hours ago, Yorkshire Tea said:

????

CM City Hall. It seems like the government stations are always far cleaner than most other reading. Could this be because they spray water into the air in order to bring readings down? They put their readers inside air purified rooms? The PM2.5 particulate matter sees the medals, from all the hard fought wars they've been in, of the ex military generals turned politicians and thinks twice before going anywhere near their lungs for fear of being destroyed?

[KrishnaCameb4Buddha]

AQI is 280 now--not the 180 aqicn.org claims--near Kad Suan Kaew now 7AM. 

[vivid]

Gaining traction.