What’s with the lousy air quality in Pattaya?

[Guderian]

What’s going on, the last week or two the AQI in our fair city has been dreadful, usually far worse than most of Bangkok, and sometimes even worse than Chiang Mai. It seems to be a problem all along the Eastern Seaboard and not much better on the other side of the Bight, yet the map shows only a few fires based on NASA data.

And it’s not a quirk, just look at the haze in the air, we’ve got a cloudless sky and yet it’s a washed-out blue colour, not the deep azure that it should be. I can see the tall condo blocks, but they’re looking decidedly hazy.

Does anyone know why the AQI is so bad and why it’s lasting for so long? I can’t say I’ve been plagued by poor air quality where I live in Pattaya over the years, but I’m starting to think it’s the pollution that might end up driving me to another country rather than changes to the Immigration rules.

[samuttodd]

I am not certain if all of the new years fireworks we've had at night and during our temple festival here and all of the open cooking on BBQ and open flame  have helped the matter.

 

 

Granted,  iT SMELLS LIKE A 4TH of July cookout, so that is good.

[sharecropper]

It is especially bad on the road from Pattaya to Jomtien today - disgusting, and I reckon baht buses are mostly to blame, as well as the thousands of tour buses belching their filthy way around the city unchecked.

[seasia]

The very poor air quality here is another reason added to my list of Thailand negatives.

 

That list is growing.

 

Seriously considering calling it a day to living here.

 

Yes I know I will not let the door hit me on the way out.

I will close it and walk away with a smile.

 

 

[johng]

1 hour ago, Guderian said:

What’s going on, the last week or two the AQI in our fair city has been dreadful,

It's idiots burning everything !! fields,forests,plastics,rubbish..add in the black smoke belching  pickup trucks,lorries and tour buses for some good measure.

[Guderian]

But then why is Bangkok's air so relatively clean? It's basically the same breed of idiot burning everything whether they live in Pattaya or Bangkok. And the last time I looked, the Big Mango didn't have any shortage of tour buses belching out diesel fumes. Not much in the way of songtaews there, though, so it must be their fault, lol!

[bkk6060]

35 minutes ago, seasia said:

The very poor air quality here is another reason added to my list of Thailand negatives.

 

That list is growing.

 

Seriously considering calling it a day to living here.

 

Yes I know I will not let the door hit me on the way out.

I will close it and walk away with a smile.

 

 

Depends on why one is here.

The list just gets better.

This morning spent a great hour with a very cute 22 year old in my nice air conditioned condo.

I certainly am going no where been smiling all day.

 

[darksidedog]

You are absolutely right in stating that the level of smog has been so bad of late that it is clearly visible as you are driving down Sukhumvit, especially near Pattaya Tai and all of the buildings look blurry from a distance. While we probably all become a little more conscious of health issues as we get older, one of the supposed benefits of living by the coast, is supposedly a better quality of air to breathe. It is something I am keeping my eye on, as with other factors in the mix, I am slowly beginning to consider what was previously inconsiderable, and have started at least researching other places. There is after all, only so much one can take before "paradise" becomes potentially untenable.

[RichardColeman]

Could be the 5 yearly burning of the tm30's

[johng]

The temple near me is having yet another  huge smokey bonfire   consisting of leaves and rubbish/plastic !! ????

[Golden Triangle]

I just checked the app on my phone, the nearest monitoring station to me is Tara Pattana School, reading now - 105 US AQI

 

I gave up smoking nearly 3 years ago but sometimes my chest wheezes as though I'm still on 40 a day ???? 

 

Getting my own PMI meter soon, see what's happening real time very soon.

[4MyEgo]

14 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

It is something I am keeping my eye on, as with other factors in the mix, I am slowly beginning to consider what was previously inconsiderable, and have started at least researching other places.

Same same, Phuket and Krabi seem to have the better air quality according to my readings on the IQAir app, I check most of the places, even Hua Hin which I was told by NCC that it was great for air quality, well not according to the IQAir app as its 149 at the moment, i.e. unhealthy for sensitive groups, and Phuket is 54 and Krabi 51 both moderate, all of the above said back in the old country the suburb I lived in is higher than both Phuket and Krabi at 72, go figure, bushfires possibly ?

[Leaver]

6 minutes ago, johng said:

The temple near me is having yet another  huge smokey bonfire   consisting of leaves and rubbish/plastic !! ????

And maybe a dead body.  ????

[4MyEgo]

5 minutes ago, Golden Triangle said:

Getting my own PMI meter soon, see what's happening real time very soon.

I have two SNDWAY 2.5PM detectors 1,380 baht each delivered, and I swear by them, I can see what the particulate matter is in the house and if required switch on the air purifier to bring the levels down to under 12 when and if they are up.

 

In the morning I stick one out the window on the ledge for a minute, and this morning the PM reading was 65, suffice to say it just goes to show people are burning their fields at night when no one is looking, slowly killing everyone, for me, indoors is better safe than sorry till the levels outside drop to under 12ug/m3.

Edited January 6, 2020 by 4MyEgo

[Golden Triangle]

3 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

I have the SNDWAY 2.5PM detector and I swear by them, I can see what the particulate matter is in the house and switch on the air purifier to bring it down to under 12 when and if they go up.

 

In the morning I stick one out the window on the ledge for a minute, and this morning it the PM reading was 65, suffice to say it just goes to show people are burning their fields at night when no one is looking.

I have a friend bringing one from the UK, I cant remember the make off the top of my head, but a damn site cheaper than the one advertised on the AQI site, I think they wanted in excess of $100.

[ianezy0]

Forecast is in the red band for the next 7 days.

damn if I know where it comes from but it has definitely come. Could be from Malaysia burn offs?

if on a motorbike, wear a full N95 mask.

Try to avoid AC as it draws the outside air.

 

and....

Try not to breath when you drink beer.

Close your mouth during orgasm.

don’t jump higher than 300 metres when excercising.

 

Edited January 6, 2020 by ianezy0

[CNXexpat]

2 hours ago, Guderian said:

sometimes even worse than Chiang Mai.

By far not perfect here but better than in Pattaya. Thankfully.

[URMySunshine]

Definitely worse than last year and it comes and goes. From our 15th floor condo we get a great view over to Bang Saray and on a bad day you can barely see D'Varee at the end of Jomtien promenade. Thinking of buying an air purifier as much for cooking smells as the AQ - but I definitely didn't sign up for this. I think a lot of it is coming over from other countries. When you look at the AQI map it looks like Asia is on fire. 

[Cake Monster]

55 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

You are absolutely right in stating that the level of smog has been so bad of late that it is clearly visible as you are driving down Sukhumvit, especially near Pattaya Tai and all of the buildings look blurry from a distance. While we probably all become a little more conscious of health issues as we get older, one of the supposed benefits of living by the coast, is supposedly a better quality of air to breathe. It is something I am keeping my eye on, as with other factors in the mix, I am slowly beginning to consider what was previously inconsiderable, and have started at least researching other places. There is after all, only so much one can take before "paradise" becomes potentially untenable.

I took the decision to move just a little inland from Pattaya some time ago, and have not regretted it.

OK, sometimes the Air is a bit  thick with dust and smoke, but mostly its fairly clean.

The problem in Pattaya could be the result of all the Road works, and the Irrigation Project that are taking place about 15 - 25 Km inland.

Its not the actual work that causes the issue, but all the dust kicked up by the Traffic.

The map above shows thew hot spots and they are directly to the West of these road works Etc, and the wind has been blowing from the East for quite a while now.

Just my thoughts

 

[baansgr]

Diesel fumes from coaches....thats all I can smell in Jomtien....

[CGW]

50 minutes ago, Golden Triangle said:

Getting my own PMI meter soon, see what's happening real time very soon.

Be warned! its a downward slope from acquiring to realising, shocked me how bad the air was most of the time, wind direction has a lot to do with it, to state the blindingly obvious! 

Actually I would say don't bother with the meter, just get a HEPA filter with one built in as once you realise how bad the air is you will most likely buy a filter anyway!

Edited January 6, 2020 by CGW

[4MyEgo]

47 minutes ago, Golden Triangle said:

I have a friend bringing one from the UK, I cant remember the make off the top of my head, but a damn site cheaper than the one advertised on the AQI site, I think they wanted in excess of $100.

It depends on what you want it for, i.e. the one on the IQAir website can be used for inside and outside, however if used outside it can be set up as a monitoring station that reports the air quality in your area for others to also know what the air quality is like, good for schools etc etc, not cheap, but great for such purposes.

 

I found the IQAir AirVisual app downloaded on my mobile gives me an air quality reading for as close to my area as possible, albeit 15km-20km away in either direction, but it's done from satellite data, so not 100% accurate, but as the kids go to school in one of those area, I know what the air is like.

 

The SNDWAY 2.5 detector give me only the particulate matter reading, not the other, although that is the most important to me, as they are the nasty ones, so for the 1,380 baht outlay per monitor, it's a great cheaper investment for my purposes.

 

Good luck with it and maybe download the IQAir AirVisual app for free.

Edited January 6, 2020 by 4MyEgo

[Golden Triangle]

4 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

It depends on what you want it for, i.e. the one on the IQAir website can be used for inside and outside, however if used outside it can be set up as a monitoring station that reports the air quality in your area for others to also know what the air quality is like, good for schools etc etc, not cheap, but great for such purposes.

 

I found the IQAir AirVisual app downloaded on my mobile gives me an air quality for close to my area, albeit 15km away, but it's done from satellite data, so not 100% accurate, but as the kids go to school in that area, I know what the air is like.

 

The SNDWAY 2.5 detector give me only the particulate matter reading, not the other, although that is the most important to me, as they are the nasty ones, so for the 1,380 baht outlay per monitor, it's a great cheaper investment for my purposes.

 

Good luck with it and maybe download the IQAir AirVisual app for free.

I already have the Airvisual app, currently reading 118, and Tara Pattana School is only 1 km away, not good, not sure about buying an air purifier, might be out of my financial league ???? 

[4MyEgo]

2 minutes ago, Golden Triangle said:

I already have the Airvisual app, currently reading 118, and Tara Pattana School is only 1 km away, not good, not sure about buying an air purifier, might be out of my financial league ???? 

Wait till you see what the PM2.5 reading is inside, then make a decision. I have read recent posts that people are very happy with the ones they have purchased for under 4,000 baht, no doubt it only good for a room and can be moved around depending on where they want to be breathing, that said, as long as the air purifier has a HEPA filter, your on your way.

[Rimmer]

Have a look on the NASA fire map where the fires are:

https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#z:8;c:103.5,13.2;t:adv-points;d:2019-01-13..2019-01-14;l:firms_viirs,firms_modis_a,firms_modis_t

 

Then consider the wind direction at this time which is predominantly from the NE so not that hard to see where its  coming from.  More recently the last few days wind has been more easterly than North Easterly

 

 

 

 

[Pan 82]

I was in Pattaya last week for New Year's. I was highly annoyed. I thought that I could trade in

the polluted Samut Prakan/BKK air for some fresh sea breezes, but boy, was I wrong. The haze looked even worse than  in

SP. I'm tired of having to wear a mask. I'm definitely leaving Thailand soon.

[Guderian]

I think the comment about burning stuff at night might be right, the app reading at the school is now 179 just after 22:00.

[BobinBKK]

6 hours ago, seasia said:

The very poor air quality here is another reason added to my list of Thailand negatives.

 

That list is growing.

 

Seriously considering calling it a day to living here.

 

Yes I know I will not let the door hit me on the way out.

I will close it and walk away with a smile.

 

 

We should all leave as the Thais don't act like they want us here anyway. I say good riddance ????

[Ron jeremy]

1 hour ago, Pan 82 said:

I was in Pattaya last week for New Year's. I was highly annoyed. I thought that I could trade in

the polluted Samut Prakan/BKK air for some fresh sea breezes, but boy, was I wrong. The haze looked even worse than  in

SP. I'm tired of having to wear a mask. I'm definitely leaving Thailand soon.

I agree with u and have brought this subject up, only to be told by those living there that the air is clean , and the poster wven stated people from Chang Mai should move to pattaya for the fresh air.

And that no one has ever had ill effects from the polluted pattaya air.

[swissie]

Was same same last year at this time of year.

A sad state of affairs if one has to monitor the air-quality in paradise. Being chained to rooms equipped with "air-purifiers", instead of "enjoying life to it's fullest".

Non smokers might as well take up smoking: It doesn't make any difference anymore.