Thailand’s smog showdown: Clearing the air with a bold 30% cut

[webfact]

In a bid to wipe the smog off the map, Thailand’s Pollution Control Department (PCD) is gearing up for a 2024 blitz on air pollution, aiming to slash hotspots by a daring 30%.

 

PCD Chief Preeyaporn Suwanaked held court at a buzzing press conference, revealing the National Environment Board’s stamp of approval on an ambitious blueprint to combat haze. This all-encompassing plan targets smog culprits lurking in forests, farms, and cityscapes.

 

With a sharp eye on cutting traffic snarls, the PCD’s playbook includes trimming public bus fares, putting vehicles under the microscope, and rolling out work-from-home days in bustling urban hubs.

 

Turning up the heat on fire prevention, the department has drawn a risk map for 14 forest complexes across the northern and northeastern landscapes, with new rules demanding farmers log in with government officials before sparking any flames, said Preeyaporn.

“Our mission is crystal clear: we’re out to trim nationwide hotspots by a robust 30% next year.”

 

On the meteorological front, Thailand is sailing through the La Nina phase, stretching from September to March, bringing with it torrents of rain that are likely to dampen hotspot numbers compared to past years.

Yet, even as cleaner skies beckon, Preeyaporn assured the public that vigilance remains the watchword. The PCD is set to team up with allied agencies, ready to tackle any pollution setbacks head-on.

 

Meanwhile, Sakda Tridech, the PCD Air Quality and Noise Management Division chief, issued a heads-up for Bangkokians as he predicted a spike in pesky particulates next month, thanks to an impending cold blast blowing in from China.

 

Only two weeks ago, Bangkok and its neighbouring provinces awoke to find themselves enveloped in a thick blanket of smog, as pollution levels reached dangerously high levels. The stagnant air trapped hazardous levels of PM2.5, leaving the city gasping for breath.

 

According to the Pollution Control Department, PM2.5 (tiny particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter) breached the safe threshold of 35 microgrammes per cubic metre in several areas of Bangkok and nearby provinces.

By 11am, October 8, readings across the capital ranged from 37 to 48.8µg/m3, with Sathorn district topping the chart. Neighbouring regions like Nakhon Pathom, Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan, and Samut Sakhon were also suffocating under similar levels of smog.

 

by Bob Scott
Picture courtesy of CNN

 

Source: The Thaiger 

-- 2024-10-22

 

 

[mdr224]

Complete nonsense. Kiss the sky goodbye until next rainy season

[bkk6060]

I bet this high season is the worst ever.  It will never change and would take years and billions of dollors to do it.  No way.

[motdaeng]

6 minutes ago, webfact said:

According to the Pollution Control Department, PM2.5 (tiny particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter) breached the safe threshold of 35 microgrammes per cubic metre in several areas of Bangkok and nearby provinces.

 

the safe level for pm 2.5 in thailand is set at 35 micrograms per cubic meter, but the world health organization (who) has a very different standard ...

 

 

[connda]

Blah blah blah.  The same lip-service as we hear annually about how they are going to control flooding, which never gets controlled.

[anchadian]

What is required is more cops on the roads, not only on Bkk roads (are there any?) to reduce pollution and whilst you're at it, ensure all motorbike riders are wearing helmets.

 

Will never happen in our lifetime.

[Will B Good]

39 minutes ago, webfact said:

with new rules demanding farmers log in with government officials before sparking any flames, said Preeyaporn.

 

......and this will help how?

 

"Hi, Just calling to let you know I'm burning 200 rai of sugarcane leaves"

 

"Okay. Thanks for letting us know".

[Will B Good]

 

 

 

How come the swivel eyed loons on here aren't lining up to call this a huge hoax driven by scientists trying to claim grants?

[ikke1959]

The pictures says it all.. too many cars in a overloaded city, many out of date and cause a lot of pollution. Start with driving new EV taxies, busses and forbid parts of the centre forbidden for old cars as in many European cities already is...But talking and doing nothing will never solve this problem

[Emdog]

"...smog culprits lurking in forests, farms, and cityscapes."

Hardly lurking... simply follow the smoke trail to the offender... and then do nothing as is now the standard procedure

[Will B Good]

59 minutes ago, webfact said:

With a sharp eye on cutting traffic snarls, the PCD’s playbook includes trimming public bus fares, putting vehicles under the microscope, and rolling out work-from-home days in bustling urban hubs.

 

Turning up the heat on fire prevention, the department has drawn a risk map for 14 forest complexes across the northern and northeastern landscapes, with new rules demanding farmers log in with government officials before sparking any flames, said Preeyaporn.

 

 

So this is the key section, the rest is out and out waffle.....I hope and pray there is a lot more being done, but for the sake of brevity it just hasn't been covered here.....so we have.....

 

Cutting traffic snarls .......(that will help in Isaan??).....how?.....ain't going to happen

 

A risk map......? Something to look at whilst they ignore the satellite images showing Thailand 'on fire'.

 

Farmers to call before burning......? They won't, they'll just burn....they have no option.

 

 

....and these are going to cut the AQI by 30%.

 

People usually say I don't know whether to laugh or cry......there's no doubt in my mind.....cry.

 

 

 

 

[Des1]

31 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

The pictures says it all.. too many cars in a overloaded city, many out of date and cause a lot of pollution. Start with driving new EV taxies, busses and forbid parts of the centre forbidden for old cars as in many European cities already is...But talking and doing nothing will never solve this problem

getting people out of their cars and onto transit with reduced fares is a good start.

[KhunLA]

Good luck with that.  I wish they could just keep it at last year's level.  Seems to have gotten worse every year since I've been here.  The numbers don't lie.

 

First 10 ish years here, I really didn't notice it.  Then the 2nd house (Udon Thani), having a 2nd floor, and view of hills in the distance showed me the light.

 

Rainy season, crystal clear, and can see 4 distinct ridges.  Smog season, you wouldn't even know they are there. 

 

Same here now, PKK, and some days, you wouldn't know the hills to the west exist, and only 10 kms away.  Gotten so I can almost tell what the AQI # is, simply by looking toward the headlands of the bay, from back veranda at present house.   They are only 5 kms away.   Clear or blurry ... hmm, better run the air purifiers 

 

My only negative about TH ... pollution

 

[findlay13]

Sounds like more money will be changing hands

 

[Presnock]

Yessir, gonna cut that pollution - I have my own 2.5 micron  meter - this morning at 4 AM in Prawet District of  Bangkok, the reading ws 56 - about 20 points above the WHO recommendation of health air.  I  see more days in BKK polluted than I did while living in CM.  Even if they could stop the polluters here in Thailand, all the surrounding countries burn everything too and even though they are mostly in the same ASEAN group, they have never been able to get any otber country to stop their  pollution either.  Good luck. Sure hope it succeeds and that Thailand can convince their own citizens to stop polluting and then maybe neighbors will heed the call too.

[Woke to Sounds]

It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.

- Upton Sinclair

[Burma Bill]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Pollution Control Department (PCD) is gearing up for a 2024 blitz on air pollution, aiming to slash hotspots by a daring 30%

 My laugh for the day!

Wait until the commencement of burning seasons in neighbouring Burma, Laos, Cambodia and faraway Indonesia.

[CMHomeboy78]

[dinsdale]

24 minutes ago, CMHomeboy78 said:

This is where people get it a bit wrong. It ain't all about the burning. Sure burning adds fuel to the fire so to speak and makes things a whole lot worse but this is BKK and it's surrounds today without the annual burning season. 

https://aqicn.org/station/@421450/#/z/10

 

[UWEB]

Just stop the Farmers burning their Fields and Waste. Sorted.

[Rolo89]

Their own old decrepit buses in BKK account for a fair bit of the pollution outside of the burning season. 

[Peabody]

Gearing up for 2024- 10 months into 2024

[harryviking]

 Bla Bla Bla....talk, only talk..

[sherwood]

6 hours ago, UWEB said:

Just stop the Farmers burning their Fields and Waste. Sorted.

Add to that locals burning rubbish, tyre shops burning waste after dark, the wife's cooking!

I'm just glad I live away from a large City.

[GammaGlobulin]

10 hours ago, KhunLA said:

First 10 ish years here, I really didn't notice it.  Then the 2nd house (Udon Thani), having a 2nd floor, and view of hills in the distance showed me the light.

 

Please do not venture up to your 2nd floor during the months beginning in November through to middle of July.

 

Problem solved.

 

[Middle Aged Grouch]

All the vow's and waïs will not help....as long as people continue burning their garbage or crops all over, nothing will change. Places like Hua Hin (hin lek fai area) have become worse with burning stench all over every third day. And of course nobody gives a hoot. All the more reason here not to stay in Thailand for more then 60 to 90 days maximum (for those who can).

[spidermike007]

If the government was truly serious about improving air quality they would have programs encouraging farmers to switch to more progressive crops other than rice and sugar which require massive burning and they would go after the sugar refiners and force them to prove that they've acquired their product from farmers that don't burn. Sugar and rice for fine in the 19th century, they don't really work in today's world.

 

There is a very simple solution to this problem. If the authorities were interested in solutions. The burning has to stop. There are alternatives, to this 19th century technique of burning after the sugar cane harvest. Either the government starts to encourage farmers to switch to more environmentally friendly crops, or they start to penalize farmers for burning. This heinous burning, is leading to a tremendous degree of environmental degradation, and alot of lung disease. So here is what I propose-

 

1. Fine the farmers 5,000 baht for a first offense, and give them a stern warning, that burning is now prohibited, and the second fine will be very harsh.

2. For a second offense, fine the farmer 100,000 baht, and warn them that if the burning continues, their land will be confiscated.

3. On the 3rd offense, confiscate their land. Period. No questions. No legal proceeding or appeals on the part of the farmers. Allow others to come in and purchase the land at a fair price, with the caveat that sugar and rice are prohibited as a crop to be grown on that land.

 

The news would travel faster than the toxic smoke, and farmers would change their ways overnight, and move into the 21st century.

 

Progressive reform on burning - green harvesting

https://youtu.be/thXstqQcdQ4?si=yExPfXaED66a4vyP

[Burma Bill]

I agree, an admirable solution but with respect, have you lived for several years in rural Thailand where sugar cane and maize are grown? I have. 

Both crops are subject to burning but for different reasons. Sugar cane is burnt to remove the dry leaves so that when the canes are cut more easily and delivered to the sugar refinery, the price is based on weight - more cane, less leaves more money! With maize (also sweet corn) after the cobs have been harvested, the remaining dead leaves and stubble in the fields are burnt. More convenient.

There is a third source, the burning of mountain forests prior to the wet season, for the growing and collection of mushrooms.

When it comes to "official" intervention with fines to stop the burning, what one must realise is that many national and local government officials, including police, own the farmland and support tenant farmers to harvest the crops. It is okay for Bangkok to suggest massive fines for burning but in reality out in the sticks it will not happen soon, I can assure you. 

I now live in Siem Reap and Cambodia has the same problem. However when the wind is in the right direction, the smoke is blown westwards over the border to Thailand. 

[kimamey]

I didn't see any mention of enforcement. Did I miss it?

[Stargeezr]

I hope that some effort is applied by the government and people are fined for burning crops

etc. At least Thailand is not still building and using coal fired power stations. or using coal for

manufactoring, like a few other countries still are.  Just do not start some carbon tax scheme.