High Background Radiation Levels Found In Koh Phangan

[Jose]

Method

A hand-held digital Geiger counter was placed around different locations at Bantai beach.

Background Gamma radiation was measured at ground and 75cm levels, CPM (Counts Per Minute) averaged over 10-minute sample readings.

Survey results

Beach: 70-90 CPM ground level, 45-60 CPM waist level

Land-filled garden: 105-110 CPM ground level, 60 CPM waist level

House: 125-130 CPM floor level, 70 CPM waist level

Comparisons

Average US: 15-20 CPM

Tokyo, post-Fukuhima: 20-40 CPM

High-radiation areas in Brazil and SW India: 70-80 CPM

Soil considered low-level nuclear waste in the US: 100 CPM

Nuclear alert levels in the US: 100-120 CPM

Equivalence to a chest x-ray every day: 125 CPM

Typical flight at 10,000m: 250-300 CPM

Conjecture

Local beach sand may be rich in naturally-radioactive Monazite minerals

Landfill extracted from hillsides may be high in naturally-occurring Uranium 238 and Thorium 232

Local Radon gas levels may be higher than average

House ceramic tiles may contain UO2 glazing

Jose

[bungalowbob]

Am I the only person here that thinks you need to get a life ?

Who the hell goes anywhere with his own Geiger counter for crying out loud ?

Talk about paranoia. Do you go to bed at night wearing a tin foil hat ?

[chiang mai]

Some interesting and slightly scary numbers there, Tokyo, post-Fukuhima: 20-40 CPM vs KPG Beach: 70-90 CPM ground level, maybe this accounts for the odd behavior of some residents and visitors.

[Jose]

Am I the only person here that thinks you need to get a life ?

Thanks for the reality-check - you're absolutely right, bungabob.

I should instead be spending my day dealing with considerable more earthshaking issues... such as spam!

[bungalowbob]

Paranoid and no sense of humour.

Definitely need to get a life.

[BangrakBob]

Jose 1 - Bungalowbob 0

[Boater]

Jose 1 - Bungalowbob 0

haha, was about to say the same thing

[islandguy]

Jose 1 - Bungalowbob 0

haha, was about to say the same thing

Now back to the post, does anybody know enough about the geology of the area to comment on the speculation about local minerals causing the stated readings?

[matt111]

who is the say the readings are even correct, a cheapo 600 dollar uncalibrated/tested counter by someone unlikely to be trained... you dont get many professional from the nuclear industry travelling to kpg with their personal geiger counters.. but if am incorrect please share your credentials or sources..

Edited October 10, 2011 by matt111

[BangrakBob]

Now back to the post, does anybody know enough about the geology of the area to comment on the speculation about local minerals causing the stated readings?

no idea if it means anything but apparently there are high levels of Iron in the ground water

[FWIW]

Seems Koh Phangan is made of granite:

Koh Phangan is located in Jangwat (province) Suratthani in the Southern Gulf of Thailand and is part of the group of islands that make up the Samui Archipelago; a group of over 40 islands fashioned in granite from age old igneous formations

(snip).phanganproperty.com/kohphangan.htm

and granite is a source of radiation:

Granite is a natural source of radiation, like most natural stones. However, some granites have been reported to have higher radioactivity thereby raising some concerns about their safety.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granite

(look half way down the page).

Seem reasonable?

[doingok]

Am I the only person here that thinks you need to get a life ?

tell that to Alexander Litvinenko pmsl lol

[Jose]

who is the say the readings are even correct, a cheapo 600 dollar uncalibrated/tested counter by someone unlikely to be trained... you dont get many professional from the nuclear industry travelling to kpg with their personal geiger counters.. but if am incorrect please share your credentials or sources.

Valid points.

The Inspector and Inspector EXP Geiger counters are considered by some seemingly knowledgeable people to be one of the best of the hand-held units - it's not a coincidence that there is a 6-month waiting list for this relatively expensive unit. These units use a sensitive Geiger-Mueller (GM) tube for their detection, and are calibrated to a Cs-137 source prior to leaving the US factory.

This particular Geiger counter was personally tested by me at two suburban locations around Montreal (Westmount) two weeks ago and compared to a different unit. Background radiation in those two places ranged around 10-30 CPM based on 10-min sampling times, and readings agreed +/-5% with the base Prospector unit.

Sampling in KPG was also done with paper and aluminium sheets to filter out possible Alpha & Beta non-background radiation sources.

As for any industry experience, I have none. It's quite possible that the Geiger counter is overly-sensitive to particular sources of radiation. It is also possible that KPG's background radiation type may not interact biologically to the same extent as other well-known man-made sources.

Finally, it should be pointed out that whilst high background radiation may increase the chances of developing malignant cancers later in life,

is key to the body's ability to stop those cells from growing uncontrollably.

[nod]

AaaaaaaaH I see!

This must be the "let's make sure we never ever see another tourist around here ever post" of all time!

I thought the normal whingers and whiners on here were doing a pretty good job but this has to be the ultimate!

[angiud]

Jose, should i be worry?

Did you (they) check only in Bantai or in other locations too?

I have found that the max radiation level that the human boy can absorb is about 500 millirem/year.

[BusyBee123]

must be all the flourescent wrist bands and necklaces the full mooners are wearing

[Jose]

Jose, should i be worry?

Did you (they) check only in Bantai or in other locations too?

Generally I wouldn't worry too much for the short/medium term - both smoking and asbestos dust are more likely to kill you first.

The higher background radiation levels inside our house are a real concern to us. If I had little ones growing up, I would probably consider moving family to a more traditional wooden house raised on stilts.

I haven't had the time or inclination to check other places other than my immediate area, my neighbour's house and the resort next door. Anyway, PM me if you are worried and you'd like to test your home area for background radiation.

[Tropicalevo]

AaaaaaaaH I see!

This must be the "let's make sure we never ever see another tourist around here ever post" of all time!

I thought the normal whingers and whiners on here were doing a pretty good job but this has to be the ultimate!

I am inclined to agree with you.

However, my money is on dying of alcohol poisoning, drug abuse, motorbike accident or drowning before dying of radiation sickness.

Edited October 10, 2011 by Tropicalevo

[MengWan]

Talk about paranoia.

Hi,

I think those measurements are PROOF that Thaïland is secretly building a nuclear bomb ...

And this idea is INTOLERABLE, just the fact that some thai people can have the related knowledge is INTOLERABLE !

Where are the IAEA inspectors, we need to send a team to KPG for the next Full Moon ...

And, if their report is even slightly "cloudy", we will have to bomb this place, rendering it unequivokely radio-active "for ever"

[Zolt]

My kind of nerd! Where the hell did you find a geiger counter in Thailand?

[PoorSucker]

My kind of nerd! Where the hell did you find a geiger counter in Thailand?

[goatboy]

I'm sure he's an old skool raver who just wants Altern8 to do the blackmoon party. They were Awful

[Jose]

My kind of nerd! Where the hell did you find a geiger counter in Thailand?

I ordered my unit from geigercounters.com a couple of weeks after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and picked it up three weeks ago when I was in Canada. I wish I was resourceful enough to make my own, but don't have either the necessary talent or time.

[joeserious]

I'm sure he's an old skool raver who just wants Altern8 to do the blackmoon party. They were Awful

i can't believe you're cussing altern8?! how good would it be to have an old skool night here hosted by them in addition to ratpack and baby d etc?

[goatboy]

I just think they are a poor man's version of the Prodigy but it would be great to get an old skool night on KPN!

[Jose]

Just did a sample of my landlord's (next door) house lower floor: 142 CPM (7-9x US avg) averaged over 10 minutes. It seems the darker glazed ceramic floor tiles there may have a higher UO2 content. Hard to believe they used to use the same glazing in Fiesta dinnerware.

[Obiwan]

If you got water from a deep well in the granite, you may want to check the carbon and resin drinking water filters with your counter.

[SOTIRIOS]

Jose 1 - Bungalowbob 0

My hat off to you Jose. I would love to acquire one myself. More about preserving life and preventing serious illness, let alone 'getting a life'. They say you can probably detect radiation in the bottled milk, like they did in the U.S. a few weeks back.

There is so much that we are ignorant of. Ignorance is bliss, I guess, but then you put your life in other peoples hands.

Radon is a killer....

So are E.M.F.'s eventually...

They also say that the springs in your mattress act as antennae, picking up all kinds of ultra high frequencies and microwaves, causing heart arrhythmia and palpitations in some people...then you go to the doctor and he puts you on medication to mask a symptom of unknown origin....and your life goes downhill from there....

[Jose]

Thanks, Sotirios.

If you got water from a deep well in the granite, you may want to check the carbon and resin drinking water filters with your counter.

That map from the Dept of Mineral Resources looks interesting - what is it about?

Next time I'm up on the hills I'll take some background radiation samples from the black granite rocks found there and in some parts along the coastline. As a comparison, our kitchen's black marble counter top isn't giving off any radiation above the background levels.

[PoorSucker]

They also say that the springs in your mattress act as antennae, picking up all kinds of ultra high frequencies and microwaves, causing heart arrhythmia and palpitations in some people...then you go to the doctor and he puts you on medication to mask a symptom of unknown origin....and your life goes downhill from there....

Tinfoil hats protects from that.