Thailand Faces Severe Air Pollution Crisis as PM2.5 Levels Soar

[it is what it is]

48 minutes ago, AhFarangJa said:

Your last sentence bears a lot of truth to the problem, the Government does not want an educated population or they might start asking difficult questions.

 

the Government does not want an educated population

 

many of my thai friends studied at universities abroad, in their second language. could you?

 

my thai gf has a bachelor degree, two masters and two doctorates. how about you?

 

shock horror, thai's better educated than you

[CygnusX1]

1 hour ago, LittleBear57 said:

Had to go to immigration recently. Looked at the beach at Jomtiem, loads of tourists sunbathing. Sky had what appeared to be brown grey clouds but were pollution. Not a chance of seeing koh larn. 200m max visibility. I wore a mask that day but I was pretty much alone in that. Tourists don't care or don't believe,  I guess.

I’ve been one of those tourists at Jomtien beach for the last couple of months, though with a minimal amount of sunbathing. The smoke hasn’t been pleasant, and on a few mornings Koh Larn has been invisible from the section of the beach closest to that island, but 200m visibility is a bit of a stretch, to say the least. On the worst mornings, I’ve still been able to see Reflection condo from the Dong Tan section of the beach, 5km distance, albeit very hazily. Reminds me of the story here a couple of days ago about the driver who failed to take a bend, allegedly because he was blinded by the PM2.5 particles in the air.

[outsidetrader]

There should be a health warning when visiting Thailand as thats the only thing they would have to wake up too if they lost their precious tourist £$€.

Also slows,down any foreighn investments here too.

All they care is about their golf courses between the big 2 power leaders at the moment .They care SWA about being with toxic air ;(

[Fairynuff]

1 hour ago, soalbundy said:

In the 60's London used to be called 'the smoke', I've driven home from work when you couldn't see two cars ahead, nobody knew what at PM number was, or cared. I live 60 km from Surin (NE) in the countryside, blue sky and fresh air here.

Ah ok, so there isn’t a problem after all. Good to know.

[7euner]

1 hour ago, Andytheburiramman said:

If you read the news, most are fleeing a war in northern Europe 😴

And who exactly is that??? The Russians?

[Chongalulu]

1 hour ago, Andytheburiramman said:

If you read the news, most are fleeing a war in northern Europe 😴

I see your map reading skills are on a par with Thais if you think Ukraine/ Russia is Northern Europe... move to the right a bit....

[JimHuaHin]

When will this critical health problem be seriously addressed?

 

Maybe only after the powerful Thai business families realise that the pollution that their industries are producing is killing more and more of their potential customers and workers (but they can always import more workers from overseas), and thus impacting their obscene profits.

 

In any case, these powerful families have already sent their children and grand children overseas for secondary and tertiary education, and in the process they have foreign citizenship, and sizeable assets in those countries.  The wealthy can always escape (see the Taksin example); the masses cannot.

 

 

[Chongalulu]

12 minutes ago, CygnusX1 said:

Reminds me of the story here a couple of days ago about the driver who failed to take a bend, allegedly because he was blinded by the PM2.5 particles in the air.

At least it's more original than the ubiquitous "brake failure"!

[KannikaP]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

In central and western regions, six areas report figures from 17.0 to 72.6 microgrammes per cubic metre,

Rather a large range. my IQ Air app says 41 in Surat Thani up to 172 in Mae Mo. Who do you believe?

254 in Lahore, down to 13 in Vancouver.

[BoganInParasite]

Pretty bad in northern Nan province this morning. And not a breathe of wind to move it along.

[1FinickyOne]

5 hours ago, Lorry said:

Why is this in the "News" section?

Nothing new about it

Are you confusing the word "new" with "News" ? 

[Chongalulu]

15 minutes ago, it is what it is said:

 

the Government does not want an educated population

 

many of my thai friends studied at universities abroad, in their second language. could you?

 

my thai gf has a bachelor degree, two masters and two doctorates. how about you?

 

shock horror, thai's better educated than you

If you were better educated you'd would not make the schoolboy error of making an exception the rule. Instead you'd consult empirical evidence like Thailand's lowly and worsening position in the PISA educational tables, along with it's poor showing in English proficiency. 

Oh, and I did take my Thai stepdaughter to the UK where she obtained a degree in economics. However I understand she is largely an exception vs the bulk of the Thai population.

[JoePai]

12 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

The smog is finally clearing up here on Samui. 

One of the reasons that I moved here many years ago.

20 AQI at the moment rising to about 50 AQI by midnight.

How long has Samui has Fog ?

[Lacessit]

17 minutes ago, it is what it is said:

 

the Government does not want an educated population

 

many of my thai friends studied at universities abroad, in their second language. could you?

 

my thai gf has a bachelor degree, two masters and two doctorates. how about you?

 

shock horror, thai's better educated than you

It's only understandable the Thai elite would want to be educated abroad.

 

What percentage of the Thai population are that wealthy?

 

The proposition a GF, educated to that level, would even give a foreigner a second glance, is my first encounter with supreme BS today.

[Lacessit]

PM 2.5 running at 55 in my Chiang Rai condo.

[KireB]

3 hours ago, Robert_O said:

The first thing is to replace the oil-burning Tuk Tuk 2-stroke engines! They all burn oil because of their design. Get rid of Two-stroke machines and the air quality will improve in a year!

Yes, that will solve 1% of the problem

[cardinalblue]

4 hours ago, Puccini said:

 

It's murderous, It's criminal. Yet the number of foreign tourists is increasing. Are they all suicidal?

No just stupid….you can’t cure stupidity 

[jwl53]

Where I live in Kanchanaburi there are big blue rubbish bins every 100 meters or so but some of the thais still burn plastics, bag, bottles,etc instead of walking few meters to the bin

Not a lot of problem you will say but times that by a hundred fires a week, then times it by thousands in thailand all goes up in smoke won't you say

[Joseph98765]

1 hour ago, harryviking said:

I remember those days from Norway when the coal smog (sulphuric acid rain!) came over Norway and killed of all life in thousands of lakes!! All due to burning of coal! I am certain the diesel cars (millions of them) are one of the causes in Thailand together with all the crop burning. Also, Thais have this thing about burning all kind if garbage at home. There is NO good system for garbage handling. People just do not care! (They actually do not understand, so get on with a campaign to teach them)

Yeah, like the campaign they did with covid...holy cow! that one worked in less than 2h....everyone wearing mask even they are riding a motorcycle without helmet!

Anyway...once the Local elections is over all the effort the government was putting to stop this before they went to vote (arresting people burning, stopping cars with black smoke..... just...banished.

[Harrisfan]

7 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

It's only understandable the Thai elite would want to be educated abroad.

 

What percentage of the Thai population are that wealthy?

 

The proposition a GF, educated to that level, would even give a foreigner a second glance, is my first encounter with supreme BS today.

Lots of educated women are unattractive and would look at whatever attracts them. Usually people are attracted to a certain type of look. For me its face, bum and quiet personality. I'm not attracted to loud women or kooky face. Women are the same mostly, they look at face and bum.

[klauskunkel]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

In response, health advisories recommend wearing protective masks or staying indoors

In response, people should go into the Parliament building and take a nap in one of those comfortable chairs, maybe sit on some MP's lap if the chair is occupied. No dust there I betcha!

[spidermike007]

This is the result of severe government sloth, and farmers who don't care one iota about their nation, combined with refiners who are not being held accountable. The problem will continue, until the youth are able to lead this nation forward. Now, highly corrupt families are leading Thailand further into the abyss. 

[KireB]

1 minute ago, Harrisfan said:

Lots of educated women are unattractive and would look at whatever attracts them. Usually people are attracted to a certain type of look. For me its face, bum and quiet personality. I'm not attracted to loud women or kooky face. Women are the same mostly, they look at face and bum.

Isn't there a minimum age requirement on AseanNow?

[Harrisfan]

Just now, KireB said:

Isn't there a minimum age requirement on AseanNow?

71yo I think.

[Sig]

Here we go again. Cue the meetings with new and amazing ideas to fix it....

[soalbundy]

Just now, Fairynuff said:

Ah ok, so there isn’t a problem after all. Good to know.

Not where I am but even if, what is the point of getting hysterical about it? You can change nothing and in all likelihood neither can 'the powers  that be' make much difference. Cities and towns produce pollution, even aboriginal tribes in Australia have lung damage due to lying close to open fires to keep insects away, pristine air conditions are a myth as is pure drinking water, processed food contains harmful chemicals, micro plastics have even been found in Antarctica, never mind in the air and food in cities. Most early Homines didn't live past 25 and yet we live to be 80 or more despite our modern pollution, everything is a trade off. PM 2.5 particles are a temporary problem, it's not all year round and will come and go.

[Harrisfan]

PM is 60 near me. Smog Mai is 123.

[soalbundy]

12 minutes ago, JoePai said:

How long has Samui has Fog ?

Depends on which bar he sits in.

[Bday Prang]

4 hours ago, Robert_O said:

The first thing is to replace the oil-burning Tuk Tuk 2-stroke engines! They all burn oil because of their design. Get rid of Two-stroke machines and the air quality will improve in a year!

 

3 hours ago, Zack61 said:

Not sure that their contribution is any more than a drop in the ocean. 

Their contribution is far less than a drop in the ocean, as Tuk Tuks are not powered by two stroke petrol engines they are powered by gas (LPG)  When was the last time either of you two geniuses saw a Tuk Tuk spewing out smoke ?

[Bday Prang]

lovely clear air here in Surin this morning, as usual. I'm wondering what all the fuss is about