How Do You React To Polluting Vehicles

[sagaris]

Its my number two bugbear here in chiang mai.

I hate pick ups, buses, and dumper trucks spewing out carcinogenic fumes. The drivers of said vehicles seem to take a delight in getting as much crap out the exhaust as possible. If i meet them at lights or passing them I gently try and intimate that they should get the vehicle checked.

My wife doesnt agree with this saying that they; the drivers don't care and it just makes me look like a jai rawn farrang.

BTW there seems to be less of them than say three years ago.

Im sure theres some stats to say that they arent actually polluting and the plumes of black smoke are actually good for us. Not interested in those stats.

Badly tuned two stroke bikes arent good either.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

LOL..

Welcome to Thailand.

BTW, if I drive my truck pretty slowly and with low revs (2000-2500 rpm) for a couple days/weeks and then suddenly take it past 3000 rpm in third or fourth gear then I get a huge cloud of smoke. It's great, it means being able to emit smoke at will, so you can treat them to some pay-back.

That only works once though, after that there's no smoke when taking it over 3000rpm. Must be something to do with a lot of crap building up in a filter of some sort. Anyway, I'm not trying to understand it, just to enjoy it.

[imaneggspurt]

You might as well try changing it in India also, the thais coulnt give a toss it seems, if ive got a "smoker " in front of me i get past as quick as i can,

[slapout]

Winnie and I use the same method. Seriously, the diesel fuel sold in this country is high sulfur content compared to the real world, thus even new vehicles will emit black smoke. I have had ejectors checked etc and still get black smoke after driving in city and getting out on ring road and kicking into passing gear. The last highway patrol emission check I went thru, showed them service record and ticket they gave me in December 2008 and they acknowledged these 2 items and did not issue ticket, even through the emission measurement was over the limit. (lots of black smoke)

[kaorop]

Seem to me they have the injector set to rich from the factory

I asked a thai friend (mechanic) said that they liked them that way as it "made more power"

and every one wants more power out of their truck!!!

Which to me is a moot point use more diesel with rich settings or just put your foot down a bit more,

but if you want to drive economically then you cant as it rich all the time!!!!!

Very bad when your on a bike in a clean white shirt following billowing clouds of black soot.

[alant]

classic case of never mind, this stuff makes cigarette smoke look like fresh air yet the smokers are castigated whilst trucks are allowed to belch poison everywhere

[Ulysses G.]

My wife doesnt agree with this saying that they; the drivers don't care and it just makes me look like a jai rawn farrang.

Wifey sounds worth a listen.

[MonsieurHulot]

How do I react? Well, I start coughing.

I was one of the "smokers". It took me (and 4 different mechanics) 2 or 3 months to understand the root cause of the problem but I am now the happy owner of an old but "clean" car. No more smoke, no more guilt-feelings.

Edited June 10, 2009 by MonsieurHulot

[Mapguy]

My wife doesnt agree with this saying that they; the drivers don't care and it just makes me look like a jai rawn farrang.

Wifey sounds worth a listen.

Yes and no.

UG's suggestion is frivolous, certainly not to the point. Nonetheless, I agree with it; it is not useful to complain in traffic while at the wheel of a vehicle, never mind whether you are a farang or not. THere is a certain art to that! However, there is a problem that his (to me) frivolous post does not speak to at all.

In Chiang Mai, we have two (often three) measurement stations to check air pollution levels of various sorts. One is in town; one is out of town. So is the third one. That's it, friends, for the whole province!! Want to check? Go to http://www.pcd.go.th/AirQuality/Regional/Default.cfm. Yesterday (10 June) for readings in the previous 24 hours, you'll find things have been "OK." Actually, if you do a graph, the level of pollutants in this area (as measured by two, sometime three) instruments for the province have actually been a lot better! I have no wish to "tilt" an argument with pointless misapplied or miss-communicated [i.e., the use of accurate descriptive statistics in the wrong context that may give the wrong impression].

The overall impact of pollution in Chiang Mai (central and Northern Thailand) is seasonal (in some important ways, but not all). Now (looking at air particulate matter), it is generally very, very good now (early June) because of the regular rain. In comparison, when there is very, very little if any rain (mid-February - early April), air pollution is positively gruesome for many, many people here. Check out other threads on TV Chiang Mai about this. There are LOTS (actually far too many, but who's organized!) of them! Just use appropriate variations of key words.

But --- to get back to the OP --- if you are following "smokers" [visible fume-emitting vehicles] down the road in any season, you should consider your own subjective on-the-spot assessment of the problem very seriously. If you had one of the three general pollution monitoring stations mounted on your front bumper, or in your bicycle basket, or in your handbag --- and you averaged the readings among all similarly-equipped "vehicles" --- what do you think the results might show? More generally, and to use a different frame of reference, have you cleaned your air conditioners lately? Have you checked the residue on room fan blades recently?

[Editorial Note: Those of you who happen to live downwind of trash burners, sorry, nothing to say about that here but you have my sympathy. I live close to but fortunately not directly downwind of a hotel which burns at night !!]

Now, UG, since you have a history of only grudgingly admitting to any pollution problems in Chiang Mai. [This can be checked out on any number of TV "air pollution" or similar threads if anyone has the patience for that!] I challenge you to get on your bicycle and join the "boys in brown" (BIB) traffic police for a week between 07:00 - 09:00 (alternatively 16:30 - 18:30) at significant intersections in morning or evening traffic rush. There are any number of places you can go. Try any of the east or west ends of the city's bridges, or try the junction of the Super Highway with Huey Kaew Road. Actually, there are any number of spots. Is that not fair? Well, then I'd suggest doing a "cruising" survey for a week up and down Huey Kaew or around the moat (so that you are not too far away from the store), but I don't want you to get forced off the road by some testosterone-pumped, diesel-fueled farang jockey (see above!) or an absent-minded ill-tuned song taew driver looking for a fare! Still, you won't be bored watching your in-shop security camera screens for backpackers trying to rip you off and it might get you off TV Chiang Mai a bit. There's a rest!

Your usual sort of rejoinder would be to issue, at best, some sort of challenge to me (a very weak debater's technique), or fob off any suggestion with some other sort of diversionary or frivolous remark. Get real! I am not concerned with the details of the challenge! Those are rhetorical, as most people who live in the city of Chiang Mai realize.

But, UG, I don't want to completely let you off the hook. Why don't you get off it (about air pollution in Chiang Mai) or get with it?! That is, quit with the quips and get serious about the town you have chosen to live in and improving living in it! I do think that does make a difference to you. Life can not only be monitoring the security cameras in your shop and forays daily to Chiang Mai's remarkably diverse (and often remarkably good) restaurants.

But then, maybe a good cook at home..............

Or learning how to cook? That can be joyful, too!

[Ulysses G.]

My wife doesnt agree with this saying that they; the drivers don't care and it just makes me look like a jai rawn farrang.

Wifey sounds worth a listen.

Yes and no.

UG's suggestion is frivolous, certainly not to the point. Nonetheless, I agree with it; it is not useful to complain in traffic while at the wheel of a vehicle, never mind whether you are a farang or not.

You agree with me, but you don't agree with me, but you do agree with me. Make up your mind.

What is "frivolous" about agreeing with his wife? She is absolutely right, "the drivers don't care”.

By the way, I thought that I would mention that I have never claimed that Chiang Mai has no pollution, which you know very well. I have said that it does not usually bother me and a lot of other posters have said the exactly same thing. Here is one of about a million posts in which I acknowledge Chiang Mai's pollution problem. You really are full of it!

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?s=&showtopic=238749&view=findpost&p=2576826

[getgoin]

My wife doesnt agree with this saying that they; the drivers don't care and it just makes me look like a jai rawn farrang.

Wifey sounds worth a listen.

Yes and no.

UG's suggestion is frivolous, certainly not to the point. Nonetheless, I agree with it; it is not useful to complain in traffic while at the wheel of a vehicle, never mind whether you are a farang or not.

You agree with me, but you don't agree with me, but you do agree with me. Make up your mind.

What is "frivolous" about agreeing with his wife? She is absolutely right, "the drivers don't care".

By the way, I thought that I would mention that I have never claimed that Chiang Mai has no pollution, which you know very well. I have said that it does not usually bother me and a lot of other posters have said the exactly same thing. Here is one of about a million posts in which I acknowledge Chiang Mai's pollution problem. You really are full of it!

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?s=&showtopic=238749&view=findpost&p=2576826

I happen to think that UG is a large part of the pollution problem in CM. Whether it be the amount of energy that powers the lights in his shop or the amount of charcoal used in cooking his food. Shame on you, UG. You should be prancing around Thailand with a big floppy yellow hat and a bicycle planting trees to offset your daily read of CityLife Magazine. Yes, you should have to plant trees anytime you read a glossy magazine.

And yes, you think we don't know that the recycled book thing is really a front. In reality you sit around in your off hours with brand new selected books, some still in the original packaging in an orgasmic haze just as if you were sniffing the exhaust from these polluting vehicles. It shames me to even think about it.

But if it's OK with Mapguy, I say take him with you and repent your evil ways. Clean up trash, plant trees, dig sewer ditches and point out to people who live in their own country that you and Mapguy, will not stand for pollution or destruction of the environment. That you and Mapguy will be there watching them, just as Mapguy eagerly awaits your each and every post.

Go out and rectify, you and Mapguy. It's what Mapguy wants to do. Plant a lot of trees, that is.

[Ulysses G.]

But then, maybe a good cook at home..............

Or learning how to cook? That can be joyful, too!

I have been cooking since I was a child and I have worked in a number of restaurants. However, I don't really enjoy it and I don't need to cook for any reason as I can always eat a Thai meal for a more reasonable price. I don't clean my apartment or my skivies or my clothes myself either.

Mapguy, please remove these from your nutty lists of things that you demand that I do that are none of your business - along with riding my bicycle in heavy traffic at certain hours.

Don't worry, Febuary will be coming soon and you will have lots of folks agreeing with you and getting all upset about the pollution.

Don't take this wrong, but this is getting old. Isn't it about time that you started stalking someone else?

[BigSnake]

Not much any farang can do about Polluting Vehicles just grin and bear it, make sure your motorbike/car/truck is in good condition and not a part of the problem. Hate does old smoking buses/ten wheelers

[uptoyoumyfriend]

i would like to have a little note in thai that says : your vehicle really stinks-please have it fixed

and while it is "un-thai behaviour" i am sure it works if we hand it to them when we can.especially the pros like tuk tuks, song teaws and so on that make a living driving all the time.i have adopted the habit of holding my breath when i see the black cloud coming my way....

but it is no laughing matter - the air here will kill us

[Jungian]

If you have taken notice the fuel prices are once again on the rise and people driving big SUV's are not helping, I understand the need for pickup trucks for work but my car seats as many people as a fortuner, I think I could have used a truck once last year but why bother when they have free delivery. Diesel pollutes no doubt about it and there is very little you can do to filter it but Bio diesel is an alternative. Tuk-Tuk's are horrible supposedly they run on LPG well, LPG when installed correctly burns so clean that you can breathe the vapors thus forklifts (fork trucks) run inside buildings on LPG. The more fuel we burn the more we pollute the more we pollute the harder it is to breathe and the more fuel we burn the higher the cost of fuel. Thailand said they are now going to discontinue in the very near future 91 so, those old smokers running on regular petrol will be retired once and for all or they will run a little longer until the gasohol burns a hole in their pistons and melts down the fuel system. We have a saying where I come from, if you drive a truck you are a farmer or a construction worker not hi-so. When I lived in the USA I used to ask people who drove Hummers if they included the 50 caliber roof mount machine gun or if it was an option.

[cmjantje]

How do I react? Well, I start coughing.

I was one of the "smokers". It took me (and 4 different mechanics) 2 or 3 months to understand the root cause of the problem but I am now the happy owner of an old but "clean" car. No more smoke, no more guilt-feelings.

Please share the solution with us! Or pm me.

[uptoyoumyfriend]

two things :

tuk tuks run on lpg but have two stroke engines and burn oil especially when they get older

so they need to overhaul their engines like diesel trucks to stop that from happening.i have a twenty year old isuzu with countless miles on it but very little if any black smoke just when starting.the engine was overhauled and fitted with new pistonrings etc.not an expert on that but it is done all the time especially with bigger engines .it costs money though.