Bangkok Air Pollution 2020

[Pravda]

Yes, I know there are many pollution threads, but I would like to have one Bangkok specific.

 

The 2018 thread can be read here. Posts from 2019 can be read here.

 

So, today I woke up to 225 AQI. I know it was bad before I even looked at the app as the whole city was covered in fog.

 

Every single day... at least in the morning the pollution is always at dangerous levels - over 150 AQI

 

When is it going to be enough for you guys?

 

I really love this city and as I mentioned before I can tolerate almost everything in Thailand including Thainess, but I can't tolerate this.

 

 

 

[shadowofacloud]

Yeah, it is super bad today. I am on Sukh 71 and can barely see buildings around Thong Lo. Anything further is shrouded in toxic mist. ????

[Pravda]

...aaannnnnddd 1 hour laterz.... I guess nobody cares ????

 

[bkk6060]

If you think you will get a break coming to Pattaya, don't!

It is very bad here today also.

[blackcab]

@Pravda I've pinned this thread. If it receives regular updates it will stay at the top of the forum.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

As of 9 am this morning... Red Alert time!!!

 

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

Ho Chi Minh is "only" 102 by the AQICN.org and 93 by AirVisual. Believe it or not, Beijing is in the 40s-50s at various monitoring stations. KL the same as Beijing. Hong Kong in the 80s. Taipei in the 30s to 70s.

 

So Bangkok is No. 1 again.

 

Every morning I open my curtains and see the dark cloak of dirty air over what ought to be a rather spectacular view of the city. I am impatiently looking forward to leaving this all behind in the spring. 

[shadowofacloud]

Visually, it seems much better now, but the readings are still around ~170.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Yesterday, a bad morning got considerably better into midday and the afternoon. Have to see if today repeats that trend. The noon and 1 pm readings already are looking much better.

 

 

 

 

[Guderian]

Pattaya and environs currently looking quite a bit worse than Bangkok.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

For whatever reason, for the last two days, the late night / overnight /  early morning hours in BKK have been very bad, but the midday and afternoon hours have improved considerably. Probably because of the winds picking up in the afternoons.

 

 

Edited January 7, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[manchega]

Pravda are you next to a main road there? that is incredibly high

As the above states the winds can blow this stuff away and disperse it elsewhere, rain and spraying water has minimal influence over the seasonal issue of fluidised particles.

 

For me also this is not the same city I came to live in. This is like back in the 80/90's when I was travelling and we avoided the smoggiest of places. This could also be the deciding factor, I can tolerate the government and the I guess people now realise that maybe they should not be quite so happy about the military taking control of the country ( since it is structured for that purpose only ) but the air along with everyother bit of sensible environmental controls may well be the straw for me too

 

I don't understand why burning is not stopped

North of Hua Hin a short while ago, you can smell the smoke and see lots of bits of grass being burnt roadside in lots of small patches

[Wiggy]

6 minutes ago, manchega said:

I don't understand why burning is not stopped

Probably due to the perpetrators being poor farmers and therefore there's no incentive for the police to stop them as there's no money in it for the police. So we all continue to slowly suffocate. 

[hrrecruiter]

Like you, I love this city but I had enough. Packing as I type this and planning to leave Q2 2020 after many years. 

[Pdavies99]

Was 66 earlier in Nong Khai, unlucky where you live!

[brewsterbudgen]

It's just something you have to live with here.  Using air purifiers and wearing a mask helps, but not that much.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, brewsterbudgen said:

It's just something you have to live with here.  Using air purifiers and wearing a mask helps, but not that much.

 

You may have to live with it, if you choose to continue living here.

 

But using a good HEPA air purifier at home and a N95 mask when outside (when the air is bad) can make a major difference, and protect one's health from the seriously bad stuff in the air.

 

[marquis22]

Melbourne Australia is no better at the moment with the smoke haze getting worse as the bush fires rage over 200 km away.

[unblocktheplanet]

I grew up in NYC during the years ConEd was burning coal. Could see the huge, belching smokestacks from our apartment. Even in the winter with the windows closed, wiping the windowsills would have a layer of soot. It was said living in the city was like smoking three packs a day. In those days, what did we know about PPM.

 

LA (not Roi Et) suffered horrible car smog. Both those cities fixed the problem at source. Why can't we? (Answer below.)

 

Look: It's NOT the farmers--it's the CARS!!! All the condo construction doesn't help both in terms of dust & blocking any wind to blow the smog away.

 

Both cars & condos are HUGE revenue sources keeping Thai govt in business. The generals are not going to p*ss in the trough.

 

I'm 70. I like it here. Gonna die of something. (No medical insurance!)

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

34 minutes ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Look: It's NOT the farmers--it's the CARS!!! All the condo construction doesn't help both in terms of dust & blocking any wind to blow the smog away.

 

Sorry, but that's simply not true. The reality is, it's BOTH agricultural and other types of burning and vehicle emissions in BKK...  And the mix, greater or lower, depends on the time of the year.

 

Thai scientists have actually done analysis/studies on the constituent makeup of smog/PM2.5 in BKK.... During the rainy season, it's more heavily weighted to vehicle emissions. But during the dry season, when more burning is occurring, it's more heavily weighted to agricultural and other burning.

 

Both sources are significant contributors to PM2.5 pollution in BKK, but the relative mix varies depending on the time of the year.

 

 

Edited January 7, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Golden Triangle]

1 hour ago, marquis22 said:

Melbourne Australia is no better at the moment with the smoke haze getting worse as the bush fires rage over 200 km away.

What was the air quality like prior to the fires ? Here it's pretty much all year round now. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

31 minutes ago, Golden Triangle said:

What was the air quality like prior to the fires ? Here it's pretty much all year round now. 

 

Re BKK, it's season, not year round....

 

 

[Number 6]

I think that you need to leave Bangkok and perhaps Thailand if this is an issue for you because the government will do nothing.

 

The problem is so solvable.

 

We will be moving south in 3-5 years or leave the country all together.

 

With such a lack of accountability I imagine Thailand will look like China, India in a few short years. The only refuge will be the far coastal south. Even then a possibility of haze from Indonesia during the year.

 

Wearing a mask is just stupid and people look plague stricken and/or like Bane (idiots). If it's an issue don't be an idiot, move.

Edited January 7, 2020 by Number 6

[Number 6]

11 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Re BKK, it's season, not year round....

 

 

It's all year round now. Even that graphic of one year shows only three moderately acceptable months.

 

It's a city, I can accept bad air but in 2020 this is ridiculous.

[Caldera]

Truly horrible and it just seems to get worse. I, for one, am not unhappy that I'll be spending less time in Bangkok this year.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, Number 6 said:

It's all year round now. Even that graphic of one year shows only three moderately acceptable months.

 

It's a city, I can accept bad air but in 2020 this is ridiculous.

 

The green in the chart is "good" air. The yellow in the chart is "moderate" air.

 

It's not until you get into the orange/unhealthy for sensitive folks and red/plain unhealthy that it should start impacting anyone's habits or lifestyle.

 

The red-orange parts of the year for PM2.5 are really mostly clustered around November to January, sometimes a bit earlier, sometimes a bit later. But most of the rest of the year is reasonable.

 

 

[DaRoadrunner]

Huge fires in Australia and the Amazon (the lung of the planet). Mankind is in big trouble. It's not like we have another planet to go to.

 

In Bkk it smells like crop burning plus insecticide to me. This being Thailand, will they ever do something to educate the farmers? Don't hold your breath waiting (pun intended).

 

It comes to the point where it does not matter what immigration do about the visa reg's. TM30 or 90 day reports vanish into insignificance as we are all going to leave to escape the pollution.

 

And who is going to pay millions of Baht for a condo in Bkk when the air is not fit to breathe? I foresee a Chinese Thai in Bkk, with a fist full of money.... but he is dying as the air and water have turned to poison.

 

Take a look at air quality in Da Nang and Nha Trang Vietnam. Coastal cities and islands are the only places left with clean air. Roadrunner is planning to leave Bkk this year.

 

When will man learn?

 

 

[mickey rat]

4 hours ago, Number 6 said:

Wearing a mask is just stupid and people look plague stricken and/or like Bane (idiots). If it's an issue don't be an idiot, move.

When breathing is unhealthy it's an issue for us and I'm no idiot. ????

 

However, we will be wearing masks until we leave mid February. Don't care <deleted> it looks like or what people think. But, I do feel sorry for the ignorant and those with no other option. 

 

 

[edwardandtubs]

14 hours ago, blackcab said:

@Pravda I've pinned this thread. If it receives regular updates it will stay at the top of the forum.

Why not pin this one instead:

 

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1021518-bangkok-air-pollution/

 

It's a treasure trove of information about Bangkok air pollution and how to protect yourself from it.

[blackcab]

@edwardandtubs Thanks for the suggestion and the link. The main issue is that most people won't read through nearly a hundred pages of posts.

 

I take your point on board, however, so I have edited the original post in this thread to include links to the previous thread for those people that want to refer back to it.