This is truly awful -Pollution.

[tomazbodner]

6 hours ago, connda said:

These 3M P-100 masks do work. 

 

Saw someone wearing one near Silom yesterday.

 

But then again, many refuse to mask up out of principle - is breathing this <deleted> in a sign of freedom?

[kingstonkid]

My suggestion is simple to move out of BKK I live in Rangsit and can tell you things are definitely better and cheaper the BKK.  If you need to get in the city the BTS is now running very smoothly.

 

Immigration is easier to deal with

Stores actually want to sell to you.

people are friendlier

Housing is definitely cheaper.

 

 

[Elkski]

Can't believe the naysayers.  I can't seem to quote the OP but he asked for links to fire maps band said he is not sure he can live with this unhealthy air.  

The bad thing about the health effects of dirty air is it's like smoking cigarettes.  The bad health effects accumulate for many years slowly and it's hard to quantify the true financial costs and deaths from this.   It does cause breathing issues for some and that's why hospital numbers go up.  But most people are just going to die 5-10 years earlier. 

Are these fire maps accurate because it shows fires in California and Nevada but I haven't heard or can't find any fires in the news.  

[rwill]

Sugar cane season, around Jan-Mar, lots of fields being burnt.

[nigelforbes]

5 hours ago, Tom H said:

This is the situation:

Air pollution same same always but in February we have the so called weather inversion. They “burn whole year”. Point is the layer!

It's a temperature inversion, not a weather inversion, hot and cold are inverted or reversed and the upper band of cold air is far more dense than normal. Your point about they burn all year is well taken although the burning is much heavier and more widespread at this time of the year, as the NASA firemaps confirm.

[HuskerDo2]

9 hours ago, Celsius said:

 

I have been here 10 years bud. The pollution really started getting bad around 1-2 years before covid. Before that the joke was always on Chiang Mai.... now it is practically all over Thailand. 

 

I am not "elderly" yet and the pollution has no present effect on me whatsoever. That doesn't mean I am dumb regarding the issue.

"the pollution has no present effect on me whatsoever"....... sounds like something you'd hear a smoker say about cigarettes just before getting a lung cancer diagnosis.

 

BTW, the air quality has always been bad there. Much longer than 10 years. You were just too enamored by everything else around you that you hadn't noticed.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

11 hours ago, 1FinickyOne said:

Some people are more sensitive to air pollution than others... if it bothers you so much, please stay away, but do not assume it bothers everyone the same as you...

 

 If you're breathing in these current levels of air pollution -- specifically PM2.5 particles that are so tiny they can pass thru your lung tissue and directly into your bloodstream -- you're harming your health, regardless of your age or sensitivities. And whether you realize it or not.

 

There's a reason when the levels reach this high of red-coded pollution, the accompanying label is "unhealthy for ALL"!

 

 

https://aqicn.org/station/thailand/bangkok/phloen-chit-road/

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

11 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

One point, if it really was such an issue then I would not choose to stay here.

Continued exposure to high levels of PM 2.5 air pollution, overall, tends to shorten your life.... whether you realize it or not.

 

And the problem right now in Bangkok is predominantly the drift of pollution from agricultural burning, both in Thailand and adjoining countries.

 

Vehicle pollution, construction pollution and other sources contribute. But at this time of the year, it's the agricultural burning that sends the pollution levels skyrocketing.

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

8 hours ago, connda said:

These 3M P-100 masks do work. 

 

 

But you have to find and replace the pink colored filters periodically. Not sure those particular ones are so easy to source in Thailand.

 

A regular, well-fitting N95 face mask -- like those worn for COVID purposes -- will do a fine job of keeping out most PM2.5 pollution, which is the most important thing to avoid.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

7 hours ago, PremiumLane said:

He made no assumptions about anyone else, he just stated that the air pollution is bad, and it is, and does anyone have a link.

 

 

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ambient-(outdoor)-air-quality-and-health

 

"Air pollution is one of the greatest environmental risk to health. By reducing air pollution levels, countries can reduce the burden of disease from stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma.

 

The combined effects of ambient air pollution and household air pollution are associated with 6.7 million premature deaths annually.

Ambient (outdoor) air pollution is estimated to have caused 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide in 2019.

 

Some 89% of those premature deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries, and the greatest number in the WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific Regions."

 

[redwood1]

If your not a smoker....Well you are now....I would say about a one pack a day smoker, breathing in this air.

 

Cigarette smokers have stronger lungs from smoking, so the pollution does not bother them as much.

 

Sometimes being a smoker pays off...

 

.

 

[1FinickyOne]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 If you're breathing in these current levels of air pollution -- specifically PM2.5 particles that are so tiny they can pass thru your lung tissue and directly into your bloodstream -- you're harming your health, regardless of your age or sensitivities. And whether you realize it or not.

 

There's a reason when the levels reach this high of red-coded pollution, the accompanying label is "unhealthy for ALL"!

 

 

https://aqicn.org/station/thailand/bangkok/phloen-chit-road/

 

 

I am fully prepared to go down with the ship... just joking, sort of.. my affairs are mostly in order, the family is taken care of in the best way possible, and my air purifier is running though the levels in the bedroom are not that bad and it is clean in about 15 minutes

Edited February 2, 2023 by 1FinickyOne

[marioc]

There has been much worst in the past years.....  
Be strong na khap ????

[Northstar1]

17 hours ago, Tom H said:

stay at home. put some filtrete over your ac in case you dont have an air purifier or money to buy one. filtrete please google. homepro or lazada.

Stay at home with air purifier’s? Sounds like a grand place to retire!

????????????‍♂️

[Northstar1]

16 hours ago, connda said:

These 3M P-100 masks do work. 

 

Who wouldn’t want to wear one of these in their retirement?

????????????????????????

[Robert Tyrrell]

Good Morning ,

 

Pollution is pollution PERIOD !! The real truth is wether you show symptoms or not , Physically it is harming you !! Short term or long PERIOD !! 

[nigelforbes]

1 hour ago, Northstar1 said:

Stay at home with air purifier’s? Sounds like a grand place to retire!

????????????‍♂️

I doubt as though your home country has crystal pure air. at least here air purifiers and common place and inexpensive:

 

"Air pollution is the United Kingdom’s biggest environmental health threat, with outdoor pollutants estimated to contribute towards 40,000 excess premature deaths per year, costing the UK economy upwards of £20 billion (US $25 billion) annually".

 

https://www.iqair.com/us/uk

[rwill]

I live in Ratchaburi.  Opened the front door this morning and it smells strongly of smoke.  Got my PM2.5 meter out and it is reading 188.

[tgw]

1 hour ago, Northstar1 said:

Who wouldn’t want to wear one of these in their retirement?

????????????????????????

ah, but you have this rose-tinted mask on

[KhunLA]

Apparently there's an all inclusive weather / AQI station just up the road from me.   Does agree with my AQI meter more than IQair, which is usually higher than my meter.  Still 'poor', but better than IQair readings, which I think come from Hua Hin, as doesn't state location of meter, but would make sense.

 

I like that right after the poor AQI report, there's and advert to "Retied in TH" ????

[Tom H]

11 hours ago, nigelforbes said:

It's a temperature inversion, not a weather inversion, hot and cold are inverted or reversed and the upper band of cold air is far more dense than normal. Your point about they burn all year is well taken although the burning is much heavier and more widespread at this time of the year, as the NASA firemaps confirm.

….temperature caused by the weather:).

But thanks, I am not native speaker.

Well burning points are nearly the same in April:).

[Tom H]

3 hours ago, Northstar1 said:

Stay at home with air purifier’s? Sounds like a grand place to retire!

????????????‍♂️

Three seasons. Hot, rainy and smoggy. Even the governments says: stay at home these days. Thats it. The other 350 days are better????. I guess this place is better than yours?

[Tom H]

1 hour ago, tgw said:

ah, but you have this rose-tinted mask on

I guess not because he thinks its morning dew the whole day????

Edited February 3, 2023 by Tom H

[Scott]

Troll post reported and removed.

 

[cncltd1973]

I've heard a damp face mask captures smoke particles

[KhunLA]

2 minutes ago, cncltd1973 said:

I've heard a damp face mask captures smoke particles

If concerned, just wear a N95/99 mask, and one with a vent, for a bit more comfort. 

 

Holiday in the south, or get some indoor hobbies with some air purifier use.  Works for me, but our AQI is usually around 75+/- ... when higher, I stay indoors and keep myself occupied.

[Celsius]

2 hours ago, nigelforbes said:

I doubt as though your home country has crystal pure air. at least here air purifiers and common place and inexpensive:

 

"Air pollution is the United Kingdom’s biggest environmental health threat, with outdoor pollutants estimated to contribute towards 40,000 excess premature deaths per year, costing the UK economy upwards of £20 billion (US $25 billion) annually".

 

https://www.iqair.com/us/uk

It is always so easy to bash Western nations when Thai government is always hiding something. From your own link.

 

https://www.iqair.com/us/thailand/bangkok

 

"However, despite the readings classing it at a moderate level, there are times when it crosses rapidly over this line to significantly worse pollution with levels of PM2.5 and other contaminants found lingering in the air. A large number of schools were closed in January of 2019, an unprecedented order at the time because the level of air quality has only something that has recently been made more transparent and available for the average citizen, as well as the government keeping a closer eye on it."

[nigelforbes]

5 minutes ago, Celsius said:

It is always so easy to bash Western nations when Thai government is always hiding something. From your own link.

 

https://www.iqair.com/us/thailand/bangkok

 

"However, despite the readings classing it at a moderate level, there are times when it crosses rapidly over this line to significantly worse pollution with levels of PM2.5 and other contaminants found lingering in the air. A large number of schools were closed in January of 2019, an unprecedented order at the time because the level of air quality has only something that has recently been made more transparent and available for the average citizen, as well as the government keeping a closer eye on it."

There's no bashing there, a poor choice of words on your part. I was simply pointing out that pollution is  a global problem, not something that is unique to Thailand.

[Northstar1]

3 hours ago, nigelforbes said:

I doubt as though your home country has crystal pure air. at least here air purifiers and common place and inexpensive:

 

"Air pollution is the United Kingdom’s biggest environmental health threat, with outdoor pollutants estimated to contribute towards 40,000 excess premature deaths per year, costing the UK economy upwards of £20 billion (US $25 billion) annually".

 

https://www.iqair.com/us/uk

The AQI in my city is 2 today 

yes I am quite content to be living where I am!

[Northstar1]

3 hours ago, tgw said:

ah, but you have this rose-tinted mask on

No, I moved from that <deleted> hole!