Whats wrong with the air on Phuket

[madmax2]

Just got back from 3 days in Bangkok and i am enjoying the clean fresh air of Rawai

[trd]

Okay, then try this link: http://aqicn.org/here/
 
Current air quality in Phuket.
 
 

The air quality monitoring station in Phuket hasn't given any readings for more than a year now. It seems to have closed down. Pity.

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, trd said:

15 hours ago, Jimi007 said:

Okay, then try this link: http://aqicn.org/here/
 
Current air quality in Phuket.
 
 

The air quality monitoring station in Phuket hasn't given any readings for more than a year now. It seems to have closed down. Pity.

Not only that the air quality link above shows Aceh air quality as good, yet just last week..............

 

JAKARTA: Five Indonesian provinces have declared states of emergency as peatlands burn in Aceh and the risk of fires spreading elsewhere increases during the annual dry season, an official said Wednesday.

 

If you look at the newspaper article in the link I provided in an earlier post you can read the full story, so who to believe,  BUT one good thing is that the rain and wind today have meant no smell.....great!!!

[schlog]

HKT air better then all the rest?

[thaibutty]

Have to dig out this old thread.

 

last few days the air in the south has been quite bad again imo. 

 

Visibility is definitely reduced, air smells bad and also the air quality index shows unhealthy levels. 

 

So yes, there definitely is a problem with the air. 

 

I don’t remember it being that bad 10-12 years ago. Even on the worst days. 

[schlog]

1 hour ago, thaibutty said:

Have to dig out this old thread.

 

last few days the air in the south has been quite bad again imo. 

 

Visibility is definitely reduced, air smells bad and also the air quality index shows unhealthy levels. 

 

So yes, there definitely is a problem with the air. 

 

I don’t remember it being that bad 10-12 years ago. Even on the worst days. 

 But not on Phuket. The last mornings the air was fresh and clean which reminds me little bit of the summer air in Grindelwald.

[Old Croc]

2 hours ago, thaibutty said:

Have to dig out this old thread.

last few days the air in the south has been quite bad again imo. 

Visibility is definitely reduced, air smells bad and also the air quality index shows unhealthy levels. 

So yes, there definitely is a problem with the air. 

I don’t remember it being that bad 10-12 years ago. Even on the worst days. 

Rather Phuket than anywhere further north.

http://aqicn.org/map/thailand/

[stevenl]

7 hours ago, schlog said:

 But not on Phuket. The last mornings the air was fresh and clean which reminds me little bit of the summer air in Grindelwald.

Same here, very clear as well. I just don't see how the OP can write it is bad in the South (presuming he means Southern Phuket).

[thaibutty]

You are apparently not living in Chalong. Air is pretty bad atm. 

 

Mornings are better but far from clear and very fresh. 

 

Yes, it’s a bit cooler, which is nice. But it’s hazy and on the road you can actually see the pollution. 

 

Might just making that up but I‘ve been hearing that same opinion from tourists. Not the Chinese obviously but Europeans, people living closer to the real Grindelwalds :)

 

Sure it’s much worse in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. But it’s sad that Phuket’s air quality has gone downhill so much with all of these stinking Chinese tourist busses. 

 

We are having regular levels of PM10 above 50. 

In most Western European countries that level is reached maybe on 2-3 days. In the most polluted areas. 

 

But yeah, whatever, if you guys feel everything is alright with the air than good for you. 

[thaibutty]

That is air quality atm. Not really fresh and clean is it?

Better than in Chiang Mai for sure but not far, far from good. 

[thaibutty]

And just because it’s green and states moderate it’s not healthy.

 

In Germany for instance more than 3 days of 50+ per year is considered critical. 

 

Sure the risk of dying in traffic is higher than by air pollution but with so many things here it would be quite simple to improve things if the authorities would be willing to do so. 

 

Or the general public would actually give a shit but these things.

Edited February 9, 2018 by thaibutty

[Old Croc]

Have you thought of moving to Punta Arenas?

[sebastion]

Dry season is normally the burn season.
Its like that every year. Some years worse than others.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, thaibutty said:

You are apparently not living in Chalong. Air is pretty bad atm. 

 

Mornings are better but far from clear and very fresh. 

Air is not good in Patong as I write this (8.40 am), and looking out across my balcony I can see the haze in the tree tops and across in the forested hills........this along with a slight smell.

 

It has been heading that way for a week or so now and not surprising that a few folk I know have respiratory disorders.

[thaibutty]

18 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Air is not good in Patong as I write this (8.40 am), and looking out across my balcony I can see the haze in the tree tops and across in the forested hills........this along with a slight smell.

 

It has been heading that way for a week or so now and not surprising that a few folk I know have respiratory disorders.

It is all over the south of the island. Not sure how some don’t want to notice it. 

 

Yeah, sure it’s worse in Bangkok, LA or Beijing but this used to be a nice tropical island. 

 

Now we have all of the big city problems without most of the big city perks. 

 

Still nice to live here and favorable to  most other places in the world. But the air and the traffic really start to bother me. 

Edited February 9, 2018 by thaibutty

[schlog]

22 minutes ago, thaibutty said:

It is all over the south of the island. Not sure how some don’t want to notice it. 

 

Yeah, sure it’s worse in Bangkok, LA or Beijing but this used to be a nice tropical island. 

 

Now we have all of the big city problems without most of the big city perks. 

 

Still nice to live here and favorable to  most other places in the world. But the air and the traffic really start to bother me. 

Different places and different time of the day. 

 

The last 3 mornings at 5.30 am the air at Patong beach was very good to do my 1.5 hours runnings.

 

Today at Maikhao beach at 5.45am it was close to perfect. Air was clear. I nearly could see India lol.

 

My advice wake up and come to the coast for a run and not sit next to the main road in Chalong.

 

About the traffic i'm with you. Horrible.

[thaibutty]

7 minutes ago, schlog said:

Different places and different time of the day. 

 

The last 3 mornings at 5.30 am the air at Patong beach was very good to do my 1.5 hours runnings.

 

Today at Maikhao beach at 5.45am it was close to perfect. Air was clear. I nearly could see India lol.

 

My advice wake up and come to the coast for a run and not sit next to the main road in Chalong.

 

About the traffic i'm with you. Horrible.

I do my runs early morning. Chalong Dam, Bangwad Dam, sometimes in Nai Harn. I also run in the late afternoon.

 

So I am still active.

 

I just see that the air quality is much worse than it used to be. 

 

To be fair. At the moment it’s much better as the wind has picked up again.

 

Problem in Chalong for sure is the heavy traffic with tons of buses. And the air seems to be trapped if there is no wind. 

 

 It was much better last weekend with stronger winds. 

 

[xylophone]

38 minutes ago, schlog said:

My advice wake up and come to the coast for a run and not sit next to the main road in Chalong.

There again, I am at/close to the coast in Patong and the air is not good...........as you say though, perhaps very "local" differences.

[stevenl]

26 minutes ago, thaibutty said:

I do my runs early morning. Chalong Dam, Bangwad Dam, sometimes in Nai Harn. I also run in the late afternoon.

 

So I am still active.

 

I just see that the air quality is much worse than it used to be. 

 

To be fair. At the moment it’s much better as the wind has picked up again.

 

Problem in Chalong for sure is the heavy traffic with tons of buses. And the air seems to be trapped if there is no wind. 

 

 It was much better last weekend with stronger winds. 

 

We had wind all week.

On my way to Racha yai right now, and it is not very clear. Doubt it is the traffic though.

[trd]

Look at a wind map. The air currently blowing into Phuket is coming from China where all the pollution is. That's why the air is clean during the monsoon when the wind is coming from the south west.

[Guest]

There is definitely haze over Phanga Bay. Not sure what is the cause. 

[schlog]

What a great weather today here on HKT. Fresh strong winds, clear air and sunshine sunshine sunshine.

Life isn't that bad here 555.

[thaibutty]

On 2/25/2018 at 8:55 AM, schlog said:

What a great weather today here on HKT. Fresh strong winds, clear air and sunshine sunshine sunshine.

Life isn't that bad here 555.

I have to agree! The weather has been great these last few days and the air was very clear and fresh. 

[Old Croc]

Thank god for that!

[xylophone]

Not so now I'm afraid, well not in Patong anyway...……...been hazy for a few days now so decided to test the air with my air monitor device and the PM2.5 reading was 38 today, this up from 6 a week or so ago.

 

Thanks LiK for the link to this.

[Old Croc]

7 hours ago, xylophone said:

Not so now I'm afraid, well not in Patong anyway...……...been hazy for a few days now so decided to test the air with my air monitor device and the PM2.5 reading was 38 today, this up from 6 a week or so ago.

 

Thanks LiK for the link to this.

38 is classified as "good"

 

 

[xylophone]

8 hours ago, Old Croc said:

38 is classified as "good"

 

 

Perhaps so Old Croc, but last week it was 6 and no haze around...…...now the haze is evident and comes with a smell, so just wondered why and where this stuff was coming from?

[Old Croc]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

Perhaps so Old Croc, but last week it was 6 and no haze around...…...now the haze is evident and comes with a smell, so just wondered why and where this stuff was coming from?

I read an article in the last couple of days (can't find it again, perhaps in Thaiger) that stated the haze we are getting now is from Indonesia.

I know you're committed to Patong for the long run, but for someone sensitive to air quality changes, perhaps it's not the best place to be living. When I resided there (Beverly Hills) I found black soot like material constantly coated the balcony. It couldn't be kept clean.

I think the geographical makeup of Patong with it's deep bay, small coastal plain and high hills on three sides, tends to lock haze in until the winds come. The amount of people and traffic in that small area don't help.

I now live on the other side of the hills in Chalong, and find the air is usually much clearer, although burning off by local farmers does create problems at  times. Smoke and haze don't linger as much here.

[xylophone]

47 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

I read an article in the last couple of days (can't find it again, perhaps in Thaiger) that stated the haze we are getting now is from Indonesia.

I know you're committed to Patong for the long run, but for someone sensitive to air quality changes, perhaps it's not the best place to be living. When I resided there (Beverly Hills) I found black soot like material constantly coated the balcony. It couldn't be kept clean.

I think the geographical makeup of Patong with it's deep bay, small coastal plain and high hills on three sides, tends to lock haze in until the winds come. The amount of people and traffic in that small area don't help.

I now live on the other side of the hills in Chalong, and find the air is usually much clearer, although burning off by local farmers does create problems at  times. Smoke and haze don't linger as much here.

I believe you are right on all counts and the situation here IMO has become worse, poss as you say with the amount of traffic exacerbating the problem as well.

 

Yes I seem to be aware of the air quality changes, if not a little sensitive to them, but not unduly so that it affects my health (or at least I don't think so) apart from a little nasal stuffiness. 

 

So weighing things up I won't be moving yet...……..but in the future???

 

And thanks for the info and perspective.

[xylophone]

11 hours ago, Old Croc said:

38 is classified as "good"

Back down to 6 again today Old Croc, happier with that!!