POLLUTION
Acid rain a larger problem in Asia: study
Teerin Julsawad
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Worsening air pollution as a result of economic expansion is leading to higher acidity in rainwater in cities across Asia, according to a study.

Of 46 locations where the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET) set up systems to check the acidity of rainwater, there are six in Thailand, - two in Bangkok, and one each in Kanchanaburi, Chiang Mai, Nakhon Ratchasima and Chon Buri - according to the Pollution Control Department.

The rest are in 12 other Asian countries in the network, which aims to combat acid deposition.

Supat Wangwongwatana, coordinator for EANET Regional Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific and a deputy head of the Pollution Control Department, said the increasing number of vehicles led to higher consumption of fuel, while farmers still burn their fields. Coupled with smoke from industrial plants and residue from other human activities, this could worsen the situation.

In Thailand, the department's monitoring showed that from 2001-08 Bangkok was the city with highest chemical deposition, followed by Pathum Thani and Chiang Mai.

"Acid content in the rain has been rising," she said. However, she said the acid content was not yet at a dangerous level - meaning that rainwater is still safe for consumption.

"Overall, the situation is not yet as grave as in the US and Scandinavia and [elsewhere in] Europe, where acid rain destroys the ecosystem. Still, the increasing acidity shows a possibility of destruction on that scale," Supat said.

EANET yesterday kicked off a conference where regional academics exchange findings and experiences.

They warned that acid rain not only polluted rivers and streams and threatened marine life, it also posed a threat to human health and valuable cultural and national heritages (through corrosion of stones, metals and concrete).

The Pollution Control Department will set up more monitoring sites. It will also seek to impose stricter laws and regulations to try to control sulphur-dioxide and nitrogen-oxide emissions.

Other members of the network are Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, South Korea, Russia and Vietnam.


-- The Nation 2013-07-17

over the past few yrs.i have seen many neighbours whose fish have died including ours.having been a fisherman all my life i used to see the acid on the lakes after rainfall just like oil slicks,and yes it will get worse.

Acid rain FLOODS WILL BE a larger problem in Asia: study FACT

Bangkok ONLY BANGKOK, and sh***tload on the rest of Thailand.... dump the trash out of sacred Bangkok...

If Asia has a problem with acid rain, that is its own fault, since Europe solved the problem many years ago, by adding filters to prevent SO2 escaping from power plants.

Acid rain was identified in the 1970s and the problem addressed.

The technology exists; the question is whether Asia wants to adopt it.

It destroys the ecosystem

That's because places like Bangkok are concrete jungles. The ecosystem moved on long ago.

The rivers have and always been contaminated in Bangkok, I wouldn't like to go for a swim in one of them, could end up joining skeletor

I always wondered why, after a downpour people were walking around looking so "stoned"

So the rain is different here? Is that why they say you can catch a cold from the rain? And I thought it was a myth..

Maybe this is one reason why the Thai Gov did not want the yanks to do testing, easier to live in denial with your head burred in sand.

If Asia has a problem with acid rain, that is its own fault, since Europe solved the problem many years ago, by adding filters to prevent SO2 escaping from power plants.

Acid rain was identified in the 1970s and the problem addressed.

The technology exists; the question is whether Asia wants to adopt it.

Perhaps it will only get acted upon after many deaths have occurred?

When there is discussion on the air pollution, I never see any reference to the mountain burning in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces, where whole mountain ranges are set ablaze from late February to about the end of March every year. We have dense smoke everywhere which disperses only when the rains start. The news agencies refer to it as dust as though this is a phenomenon which occurs naturally after long dry periods. Central Government and the Municipal Officers do nothing about it.

There is certainly an appreciable amount of smoke produced by the constant burning of vegetable matter, rice stubble, and domestic waste, but this is nothing as compared with the deliberate torching of the mountains .

Don't know if this pollution results in acid rain but it causes a large increase in deaths.

stay away from chiang mai please

Acid rain can cause landslides with boulders crashing down. This lucky driver barely escapes death from a landslide in Taiwan. No audio but video is incredible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wWuH7MIeCA