When I was last at the vehicle inspection place the emissions test was done at idle. I see plenty of pickups on the road, some fairly new, that put out no smoke at idle but clouds of smoke when accelerating. Pretty sure some of them are actually tuned to do that. Maybe they need to change their emissions test.

11 hours ago, Logosone said:

That's not true, but yes the air is pretty bad. 

 

 

Sorry, but it is official now..................

 

1 minute ago, AhFarangJa said:

Sorry, but it is official now..................

 

+1

 

I was going to post the same thing but I'm not sure how to do the copy/paste of a TVF topic with the graphic like that.

While it's good to target pollution in any form, we have lived in rural Thailand for nearly twelve years and I am honestly thinking we may not be able to stay because of the pollution. The villagers are constantly burning garbage, plastic, the rice fields, brush, everything and anything that will burn.

    I think vehicles just make an easier target.

 I used to think that education was the key, but now I don't think so. It doesn't matter how much you know, if you just don't care.

9 hours ago, Airalee said:

But the rich guy driving the Porsche doesn’t really spend much time outdoors.  He doesn’t need to ride a motorbike in the filthy air or wait for a bus or even walk on the streets.  He goes from one air conditioned environment to the next.  Probably doesn’t even vacation in this country.

Some of these rich guys DO go to places like Khao Yai. Even if the rich guys lives in a nice house in a gated community in a wealthy part of town like say Nawamin, he will be affected by poor air quality.

 

The only way of escaping that would be to move abroad altogether, unless something is done about the air quality. As I said, everyone shares the same air, rich or poor. You don't escape it by going from car to shopping mall (which i tend to do too) you'll still be exposed somewhat.

21 minutes ago, alanrchase said:

When I was last at the vehicle inspection place the emissions test was done at idle. I see plenty of pickups on the road, some fairly new, that put out no smoke at idle but clouds of smoke when accelerating. Pretty sure some of them are actually tuned to do that. Maybe they need to change their emissions test.

Or manufacturers could do what the Americans have had to do, which is build mainly petrol/gasoline engines since diesels don't pass their stringent emissions tests. Most (all?) American full size pickups run on gasoline, while their mid-size Thai counterparts are all offered only in diesel, except one lone Toyota version a few years ago the 2.7L petrol/gas (not sure if this is still being offered as part of the current line-up).

1 hour ago, Yinn said:

You sound angry.

You right, a bit pollution today. Is 59 now. Maybe same tomorrow.  But will be Friday, Saturday etc.

Ranong is one of the cleanest provinces in Thailand, thanks to three factors: 1) it's heavily forested and 2) lightly populated. 3) It borders similarly sparsely populated and heavily forested Tanintharyi division of Myanmar.

 

Nearly everywhere else in Thailand, the situation is not looking as good. Chiang Mai is currently the most polluted city in the world, thanks to ignorant farmers and selfish locals burning fields and their garbage. Stagnant air in the valley from these sources, combined with vehicle emissions (lots of diesels that Europeans are now abandoning and 2-stroke motorcycle engines and lots of ancient vehicles on the roads) further contribute to the lousy air quality.

 

Bangkok is only a little better.

Total BS. We tried calling the hotline. The response my wife got was "why are you calling us? What do you expect us to do?". When she explained that there are signs posted all over asking people to report vehicles that are polluting, he reluctantly took the license plate number, and said they will "look into it". This is perhaps the least sincere administration ever. If they say something, it means it will not get done. If they make a declaration, it lasts two weeks, and is then forgotten. No follow up. No commitment, no decency, no integrity, no concern. There is nothing there. The army is the closest thing to an empty suit we have ever seen. 

 

 

12 hours ago, Yinn said:

Last year thailand reduce the plastic.

This year will be air pollution. 

Improving a lot. I love it!

are you really that naive ? 

15 minutes ago, drbeach said:

The only way of escaping that would be to move abroad altogether, unless something is done about the air quality. As I said, everyone shares the same air, rich or poor. You don't escape it by going from car to shopping mall (which i tend to do too) you'll still be exposed somewhat.

It's the same situation with noise pollution, they have to endure it the same as the rest of us, the traffic Police get their hearing destroyed on a daily basis as they are on the front line, yet - again nothing is done - beyond my comprehension? 

Thai people are happy to snitch on a falang for forgetting 20 day overstay even though he is contributing 100.000 baht a month to the local economy, but except there neighbours  sons go faster truck which belches out black smoke, it is not the falang that is slowly killing them and there children etc 

6 minutes ago, CGW said:

It's the same situation with noise pollution, they have to endure it the same as the rest of us, the traffic Police get their hearing destroyed on a daily basis as they are on the front line, yet - again nothing is done - beyond my comprehension? 

obviously all falling upon deaf ears

40 minutes ago, AhFarangJa said:

Sorry, but it is official now..................

 

 

Nah, the most recent figures comparing cities' annual pollution show Chiang Mai is not even in the top 50.

 

https://www.iqair.com/world-most-polluted-cities

 

Of course in March there are daily spikes due to seasonal factors and the figure for Chiang Mai can be the worst in the world on any given day in March. However, that's just a snapshot. If you look at the full film, ie compare annual pollution figures, as you can see above Chiang Mai is not even in the top 50.

11 hours ago, drbeach said:

Yes but the elite have to suffer the effects of poor air quality too. Wouldn't it make more sense to stop the problem in it's tracks?

Great idea! Incinerate the Elite......????

... there will always be someone(somewhere) else copping whatever has been diverted or however else avoided upstream

Los Angeles California pretty much solved most of their car pollution issues that a few decades ago was so bad that the Smog was blinding

39 minutes ago, drbeach said:

Ranong is one of the cleanest provinces in Thailand, thanks to three factors: 1) it's heavily forested and 2) lightly populated. 3) It borders similarly sparsely populated and heavily forested Tanintharyi division of Myanmar.

 

Nearly everywhere else in Thailand, the situation is not looking as good. Chiang Mai is currently the most polluted city in the world, thanks to ignorant farmers and selfish locals burning fields and their garbage. Stagnant air in the valley from these sources, combined with vehicle emissions (lots of diesels that Europeans are now abandoning and 2-stroke motorcycle engines and lots of ancient vehicles on the roads) further contribute to the lousy air quality.

 

Bangkok is only a little better.

I forgot to add a fourth factor Yinn. There is no industry in Ranong. It's a province surviving largely on agriculture and tourism.

14 minutes ago, gk10002000 said:

Los Angeles California pretty much solved most of their car pollution issues that a few decades ago was so bad that the Smog was blinding

Yes I remember that. Plus Los Angeles easily has 10 times more vehicles and 100 times more road space than Bangkok.

Good job Thaigov!

14 hours ago, Yinn said:

The stop plastic bag was not law enforcement. Big improvement.

Plastic bags have NOT stopped. Go to any market and they put a bag in a bag, which are then usually discarded in the countryside.

14 hours ago, Yinn said:

Last year thailand reduce the plastic.

This year will be air pollution. 

Improving a lot. I love it!

From small acorns. . . 

 

Oh, I forget - there's a drought!

???????????? so nothing will be done

good for these guys (if its followed up)

as an ex smog check technician from California .. ... they also can add videos from polluters  .. driving around CM i always see horrible exhaust belching out from cars trucks .. if only i had a camera i could get the license plate and video proof and a reward (?)  and these inspection stations they are talking about would be the perfect spot to check for the major offenders .. ( no need for a smog machine) just do a visual ck , rev up engine after idling easy peasy  also extend the years to include 15 year old vehicles or older

 

heck we can even help with this .. the government responds to social media reports .. what say we start a thread of video showing the polluters 

of course this is only a start it took california 30 years to completely clean up the air .. along with newer tech cars that dont pollute 

18 hours ago, Yinn said:

Last year thailand reduce the plastic.

This year will be air pollution. 

Improving a lot. I love it!

Meanwhile many unregulated factories opening in the rayong corridor likely to offset these gains.

8 hours ago, Yinn said:

You sound angry.

You're damn right I'm angry.  I haven't forgotten someone here saying that we can't cut off the Chinese because it would hurt their feelings.  What world have these people left my 13-year-old mostly American in the head (Thank Jesus) but born Thai son. 

 

Damn right I'm angry.

everything you need to know about this  virus. 

 

  

 

Didn't they try and implement something similar to this last year which then seemed to die out after a few weeks once the burning season ended. 

At least they start to consider the problem. Bouddha bless the day when they will replace the songtheos in Pattaya

8 hours ago, drbeach said:

Yes I remember that. Plus Los Angeles easily has 10 times more vehicles and 100 times more road space than Bangkok.

yeap.  I remember flying in and as we got within about 1/2 of landing and starting the descent you could smell and taste the metallic as the outside air now made it into the plane.  They formed the Air Quality Management Districts and they were pretty tough, laws on cars, laws on outdoor barbecues, laws on commuter ridership percentages, etc.

22 hours ago, Yinn said:

Last year thailand reduce the plastic.

This year will be air pollution. 

Improving a lot. I love it!

I wish they would improve politicians' brain activities. I'd love it.

 

  1. Tuk Tuks are only allowed to run their vehicles with a four-stroke engine.

 

 2. All the Diesel buses and pickups have to undergo a severe check, not what they're doing now, and people have to get their nozzles and Diesel Pump fixed.

 

Or the car won't be allowed to drive anymore.

 

3. The same goes for buses, and most of the old ones have this phenomenal problem that could easily get fixed.

 

If I were Mr. Prayuth, I'd pay for the poor people who don't have the cash to pay 6 to 8,000 baht for both.

Diesel Pump and nozzle overhauling with new parts.

 

Why not 50 % of the actual costs? That would help us and the car /bus owners/They need less fuel. 

 

4. Tell all people, including farmers, NOT to burn their rice fields at the same time when the toxic levels are too high.

 

5. Educate farmers in Isaan that burning plastic bags and making food is a No Go.

 

6. I could go on and on, but that would be enough for me. 

 

I'd not like to leave a comment about the virus load in Thailand.

 

Thank you. 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 11, 20206 yr by Isaanbiker