Minister launches emergency plan as deadly dust chokes Thailand

[damian]

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Photo courtesy of NIDA

 

By Puntid Tantivangphaisal

 

Thailand Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin issued an urgent response to soaring PM 2.5 air pollution levels, which have breached safety thresholds in 14 provinces, threatening public health.

 

Chairing an emergency meeting yesterday, January 9, Somsak revealed a series of measures to combat the crisis, which has affected 53 provinces since October last year and is expected to persist until January 15.

 

“Prolonged exposure to PM 2.5 can cause severe respiratory, cardiovascular, and cancer-related illnesses. Vulnerable groups, including children, the elderly, and those with chronic conditions, face the highest risks.”

 

To protect affected communities, the ministry has established 4,700 dust-free rooms across 56 provinces, including public health facilities, schools, offices, and restaurants. Additionally, 1,338 anti-dust nets have been distributed to bedridden patients and homebound individuals. Face masks and dust nets will be provided to at-risk groups, including outdoor workers and volunteers.

 

 

A multi-faceted approach has been rolled out:

 

• Health screenings: Teams are conducting proactive screenings for respiratory, cardiovascular, and skin conditions in high-risk areas.
• Awareness campaigns: Digital tools and media are being used to alert the public, particularly high-risk groups like children, pregnant women, and the elderly.
• Work-from-home policies: Vulnerable groups are urged to avoid outdoor activities and stay indoors during peak pollution hours.
• Medical support: Emergency health teams are being deployed to assist hard-hit communities.

 

The Public Health Emergency Operations Centre has been upgraded to coordinate a swift response. Residents are urged to monitor PM 2.5 levels, wear protective masks, and seek medical help for symptoms like persistent coughing or chest pain, reported Pattaya Mail.

 

Source: The Thaiger

-- 2025-01-10

 

 

Well I for one am outraged that he has not considered rolling out the fire trucks to spray water into the air like last time. 

[NatureFilm]

The solution is simple, but Thai authorities don't really want it! They must be judged by deeds, not cheap words. These fires are illegal for good reasons. The police need a couple of drone teams, drones are cheap, the drone flies towards the smoke (thermal imaging camera at night), films the scene, the police can just go to the location, the person responsible a week's vacation in the Thai monkey house, the Thai media will cover it regularly, ignorant idiots will learn the hard way!

[Sydebolle]

Bla Bla Bla ......... again a verbal fart by a semi-divine excellency on a subject he has no clue about it.

ENFORCE the go*dam* law for once, there is no way around it. And, contrary to popular belief, nature does not obey any human made laws - not even if Thai law tries to be applied! 

You may now kiss the ring .......... 

[Aussie999]

How long before we, again, see cloud seeding, water spraying trucks, and if I remember correctly, portable air filters, only in Bangkok.... but what we never see is any attempt to stop the yearly pollution. 

[KireB]

16 hours ago, 0ffshore360 said:

Few seem to recognize that this annual issue is unpreventable unless centuries old farming practices are forcefully banned in South East Asia in total.

If much of the pollution does not drift  from one direction it comes from the other outside of Thai jurisdictional influence.

The percentage that is generated from burning off inside national Reserve areas could indeed be much better policed but in reality it is a small percentage of the total problem.

Pay generously to stop rice and cane growers and also pay generously for imported grains to satisfy expectation ?

Go for it !

Even fewer people seem to understand that you cannot compare traditional farming practices with modern day farming.
In the past farmers would grow different crops, would rotate their crops to preserve and enrich the soil, and would only grow 1 rice crop a year. Today we see farming on an industrial scale, thanks to companies such as CP, mostly aimed at exports. 

 

So yes, 30,000 people (women, children and elderly included) will choke this year, whereas millions of people are seeking medical help.

For what? For the profit margins of the big Agro companies. All preventable, if we are indeed willing to pay a few Baht more and if companies like COP or Mitr Phol are kept responsible. They are 100% responsible for the death and sickness of a lot of people. 
 

[SiSePuede419]

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

multi-faceted approach has been rolled out:

 

We prefer if you actually solve the problem. 👍

[Hardcastle P]

16 hours ago, 0ffshore360 said:

Few seem to recognize that this annual issue is unpreventable unless centuries old farming practices are forcefully banned in South East Asia in total.

If much of the pollution does not drift  from one direction it comes from the other outside of Thai jurisdictional influence.

The percentage that is generated from burning off inside national Reserve areas could indeed be much better policed but in reality it is a small percentage of the total problem.

Pay generously to stop rice and cane growers and also pay generously for imported grains to satisfy expectation ?

Go for it !

Import it from where ?

[Woke to Sounds]

14 hours ago, MikeandDow said:

There is a lot of factors it is just not the burning that is causing the polution

Agreed - and there is also the burning of hundreds of thousands - if not millions - of acres of forests to enable mushroom growth and harvesting for the Chinese market.

[DonniePeverley]

6 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

Seems like....NOT..... an emergency.

 

Best solution is to

 

a. Seal all windows in the house.

b. Buy air purifiers.

c. Buy air conditioner units.

d. Buy plenty of 3M N98 respirators.

d. Hire a reliable company to check the envelope of one's house for any "drafts" from outside.  This is beneficial, because...when the wind blows, the wind will blow smoke into homes if homes are not properly sealed.

e. Follow advice given by true experts who base their advice on SCIENCE.

 

We are entering the Smoking Season.

Pointless to complain about it.

 

Just as it is pointless to complain or expect any solution to Global Warming.

 

There WILL be smoke, every year.

Ten years from now, the smoke will be even worse.

 

To think otherwise is Pie in the SKY thinking.

 

Therefore, just learn to adapt, and protect one's health.

 

 

 

 

I'm just curious do you never let any 'fresh' air into your home then?

 

Cooking smells, dust everything just lingering around ... 

[Woke to Sounds]

30 minutes ago, NatureFilm said:

They must be judged by deeds, not cheap words.

 

[GammaGlobulin]

19 minutes ago, DonniePeverley said:

 

 

I'm just curious do you never let any 'fresh' air into your home then?

 

Cooking smells, dust everything just lingering around ... 

 

Cooking is done outside.

 

Just like Thomas Edison, in Florida.

 

[DonniePeverley]

10 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

Cooking is done outside.

 

Just like Thomas Edison, in Florida.

 

 

 

What about levels of oxygen in your home? If you have everything sealed tite, of course air will get through  - but i dread to think how much your place stinks. 

 

What about your toilet ?

[0ffshore360]

28 minutes ago, Hardcastle P said:

Import it from where ?

There is the conundrum in the issue.

As a significant factor in the economy of Thailand and neighboring countries agricultural product and the food component such as rice are of extreme importance as exports and a staple of diet.

Sugars'  modern mechanical harvesting methods are reducing the pollution factor rapidly.

Mechanical harvesting of rice not so much.

So it seems that the urban based objections ignore realities.

 

[Jonathan Swift]

17 hours ago, Upnotover said:

Top work!  It's already clearing, although the wind may have had some impact today.

Makkasan noon today, strong winds fixed it

[Jonathan Swift]

24 minutes ago, 0ffshore360 said:

There is the conundrum in the issue.

As a significant factor in the economy of Thailand and neighboring countries agricultural product and the food component such as rice are of extreme importance as exports and a staple of diet.

Sugars'  modern mechanical harvesting methods are reducing the pollution factor rapidly.

Mechanical harvesting of rice not so much.

So it seems that the urban based objections ignore realities.

 

Ignoring reality seems to be a lot of people's favorite pastime. 

[samtam]

1 hour ago, damian said:

Well I for one am outraged that he has not considered rolling out the fire trucks to spray water into the air like last time. 

 

Will this do instead?... 

 

1 hour ago, Aussie999 said:

How long before we, again, see cloud seeding, water spraying trucks, and if I remember correctly, portable air filters, only in Bangkok.... but what we never see is any attempt to stop the yearly pollution. 

 

Oh, they're trying. The imagination has gone wild:

 

And this zinger:

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

28 minutes ago, DonniePeverley said:

What about levels of oxygen in your home? If you have everything sealed tite,

 

From the beginning of recorded history in Thailand, there has never been a Thai home that was sealed tight.

And, until very recently, insulation was also unknown.

 

What....?

Me worry?

 

 

[Jonathan Swift]

29 minutes ago, DonniePeverley said:

 

 

What about levels of oxygen in your home? If you have everything sealed tite, of course air will get through  - but i dread to think how much your place stinks. 

 

What about your toilet ?

Just a sec, I'll check everything. Oxygen, good. Airflow good, reasonably tight. Toilet and stink? Well I guess I'll have to call for professional help on that. 

[kimothai]

If they don't tackle the problem at the source all these knee jerk reactions/remedies are nothing more than lipstick on a pig.  Of course, they know the pollution sources, but they refuse to crack down on the burning which would be a good starting point along with vehicle smog/exhaust checks.  I don't live in Bangkok, but I go there frequently, and I can't stay more than a few days before my allergies go crazy.

[fredwiggy]

17 hours ago, KannikaP said:

My home is 350km north of Bkk, so must I just put up with it?

Or a car from up t'North belching black smoke must get it fixed 200km before Bkk?

Silly idea. Stop the pollutants in ALL of Thailand.

However, in my village there is no waste collection so what can we do with it?

I use plastic bags and bring them to the closest collection spot about 6 kilos away. Our village and others near here also have no collection service. Another thing the government should be paying for instead of trying to buy submarines and planes they'll never need.

[fredwiggy]

4 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

The burning will go on.

 

Suck it up.

 

It affects people who go outside, so I understand why you would say that.

[Jonathan Swift]

1 hour ago, DonniePeverley said:

 

 

What about levels of oxygen in your home? If you have everything sealed tite, of course air will get through  - but i dread to think how much your place stinks. 

 

What about your toilet ?

What are you, planning to stop by for dinner and a ϲrap?

[fredwiggy]

7 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

Seems like....NOT..... an emergency.

 

Best solution is to

 

a. Seal all windows in the house.

b. Buy air purifiers.

c. Buy air conditioner units.

d. Buy plenty of 3M N98 respirators.

d. Hire a reliable company to check the envelope of one's house for any "drafts" from outside.  This is beneficial, because...when the wind blows, the wind will blow smoke into homes if homes are not properly sealed.

e. Follow advice given by true experts who base their advice on SCIENCE.

 

We are entering the Smoking Season.

Pointless to complain about it.

 

Just as it is pointless to complain or expect any solution to Global Warming.

 

There WILL be smoke, every year.

Ten years from now, the smoke will be even worse.

 

To think otherwise is Pie in the SKY thinking.

 

Therefore, just learn to adapt, and protect one's health.

 

 

You do realize people have to go outdoors for a lot of things right? Shopping, eating out, doctor appointments,etc. Complaining is the only way things are changed, but it's the locals that need to complain. They won't listen to foreigners because it isn't our country. Being controlled has most locals not wanting to complain, so things that need to be changed will never happen, unless it affects the rich in charge.

 

The same goes for driving on the roads and the daily deaths and injuries. There has to be a care for things to stop. Talking about things doesn't change anything. Students will fall off buses and others will continue to be killed by inadequate maintenance on them.

 

There is only one way to stop the pollution. Stop burning altogether. It isn't necessary as there are other methods of using the chaff from rice and sugar. People think it's okay because "everyone" does it. Staying indoors all day long is what many officials do, so they think they aren't affected. What you can't see can kill you, as lung disease takes time to kill. You don't adapt. You eliminate the problems.

[Upnotover]

35 minutes ago, Jonathan Swift said:

Makkasan noon today, strong winds fixed it

Yes, I believe they've put some planes in the air tethered to tall buildings to create the wind. Same people that push water upstream to avoid floods.

[Burma Bill]

21 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

an urgent response to soaring PM 2.5 air pollution levels, which have breached safety thresholds in 14 provinces, threatening public health.

 

Well I never - safe and trusted Thailand (according to TAT!!)

[Skeptic7]

Reactive to this...and every other health & life and death issue...every year. Never proactive or actual action active about anything. All talk...zero action, ever. 

[SS1]

Just imagine if they used the same energy to stop burning here as had with the retarded Covid circus? Police arresting people for swimming in the sea or for having wine at home. Never going to forget those months of total madness. If there is a will there is a way. 

[geisha]

Which are the worst pollution areas and which months ?
Id like to spend more time in the least polluted area. So where ? 
Dessert islands excluded. 

[IsaanT]

It's not a problem now on Saturday evening, according to my Windy app...  I expect the strong winds we've had in the past couple of days cleared it away.

[puck2]

51 minutes ago, geisha said:

Which are the worst pollution areas and which months ?
Id like to spend more time in the least polluted area. So where ? 
Dessert islands excluded. 

My advice and experience: stay in the Pang Mapha Ampoe of the Mae Hong Son Province.

In the last years we left when the smoke polluted the air here. Last year, the smoke started in the middle of March and disappered 1 week after Sonkkran (on 23/4/2024). We leave our home here in this vally and go to Hua Hin on the beach, which was smoke-free at this time of the last years.

That's our way to avoid the dangerous smoke. I know it's a money problem, too. I  guess, that there isn't any province in Thailand, which is completely smoke-free. (i don't know about all the islands).