Air pollution alert in 14 Thai provinces

[webfact]

Air pollution alert in 14 provinces

By PRATCH RUJIVANAROM 
THE NATION

 

 

Greenpeace reports hazardous PM2.5 levels at every air quality test site.

BANGKOK: -- AIR POLLUTION in 14 provinces across Thailand is much higher than World Health Organisation (WHO) safe limits, Greenpeace revealed yesterday in a shock report.

 

The environmental group made the announcement yesterday as it disclosed average readings of PM2.5 – particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micron – in the country during the first half of 2017. PM2.5 is so small that it can be inhaled into the blood system and cause cancer and heart disease.

 

The assessment of PM2.5 levels at 19 air quality measurement stations in 14 provinces across the country showed that every station recorded levels higher than the WHO recommendation of less than 10 milligrams per cubic metre of air. 

 

“Greenpeace has monitored PM2.5 levels in Thailand since 2015 and found that the top five provinces that have the highest records of PM2.5 were the same every year, which is a clear sign that we have to do something to clean our air,” said Chariya Senpong, Greenpeace coordinator on climate change and energy.

 

 

Chiang Mai, Tak, Khon Kaen, Bangkok and Saraburi were among the worst cities with the most severe PM2.5 levels.

Khon Kaen had the highest level during the past six months with an average record of 44 micrograms per cubic metre of air, while Saraburi had 40 and Chiang Mai 39.

 

Chariya said it was understandable that those provinces suffered from severe air pollution as Chiang Mai and Tak in the North were in valley areas and faced haze problems from open burning every year. Khon Kaen, Bangkok and Saraburi are main urban areas with a high volumes of traffic and industry.

 

 

“This is a big threat to people’s health, as PM2.5 is so small that it can pass dust filter systems in our respiratory system and be absorbed into our blood system through our lungs,” she said.

 

“The particulates carry toxic substances such as heavy metals with them, so exposure to PM2.5 can cause cancer and other diseases such as allergies.”

 

A State of Global Air report showed that air pollution from PM2.5 was responsible for 37,500 premature deaths in Thailand in 2015.

 

“It is the people’s right to be in a clean environment and informed about the health threats from the air, so the authorities should add PM2.5 in their Air Quality Index and make sure that people can easily access face masks and information about air pollution,” Chariya said.

 

Meanwhile, the Pollution Control Department (PCD) Air Quality and Noise Management Bureau director Seksan Saengdao said Thailand already had eight air quality |indicators, which included PM2.5, while the PCD was working to install new PM2.5 monitors to cover 31 provinces.

 

“We understand the problem of the lack of coverage of PM2.5 monitors and we are working on it. Moreover, in the country’s 20-year strategic plan, the government also focuses in tackling air pollution from other sources as well,” Seksan said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30323241

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-08-09

 

[BasalBanality]

Start with enforcing stringent diesel emissions, rolling coal is cool on inane YouTube videos, not so on public roads. 

[r136dg]

1 hour ago, BasalBanality said:

Start with enforcing stringent diesel emissions, rolling coal is cool on inane YouTube videos, not so on public roads. 

They do at the pre-registration check stations. Monitor is stuck in the exhaust, they hit the peddle and a cloud of black smoke emerges. Than check that at least one of the front brakes is capable of slowing the vehicle down, pay 60 Baht & good to go.

I'm not aware of any vehicles not able to pass this stringent process.

[aussie11950]

I think a good start would be to make any open burning illegal. 

Thats burning rubbish that everyone does in their back yard or on the street. 

Crearing land of stubble after harvesting is a big problem too. 

Make a reward available to anyone reporting field burning or a smoky truck or bus or old desiel ute. 

And enforce pollution laws. 

[inThailand]

Stop drinking Singha and Chang. They have a huge bottle factory in KK.

 

As with almost all LOS woes education and/or enforcement could solve it. Neither exists here.

Edited August 9, 2017 by inThailand
fat fingers

[wvavin]

Is air pollution still a news in this country?

 

[gandalf12]

It must make the Chinese feel at home

[soalbundy]

be interesting to see how London, Paris, Berlin, or New York would rate with these tests, probably not much better, London would probably be worse.

[jak2002003]

50 minutes ago, aussie11950 said:

I think a good start would be to make any open burning illegal. 

Thats burning rubbish that everyone does in their back yard or on the street. 

Crearing land of stubble after harvesting is a big problem too. 

Make a reward available to anyone reporting field burning or a smoky truck or bus or old desiel ute. 

And enforce pollution laws. 

They have this already.. in one of the many 'crack downs' of stuff.  Lots of huge signs with photos of fires on them.. saying its illegal to burn the fields or land... and a number for people to report fires.  But as usual no ne takes a blind bit of interest.  Even seen farmers starting fires right next to the signs in daylight on busy streets!  

[Yann55]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

“It is the people’s right to be in a clean environment and informed about the health threats from the air"

 

Tell that to the Donald-the-Bully who recently trumpeted that US companies could now officially wipe their royal a-holes with the agreements signed in Paris about global warming in December 2015, thereby proving to the rest of the world that :

 

1/ For the 'leader of the free world', money will always trump ethics and common sense, that's how free it is, and

2/ Our great 'democracies' have absolutely no credibility whatsoever when signing an international agreement, because their commitments last only as long as the guy who signed the agreement remains in place.

 

We live in a world where the 'people's rights' look good on TV, papers, posters, and election campaigns. But when it comes to business, people have only the right to shut their mouth while national and multinational giants rape the planet's underground, its surface and it's atmosphere, for the benefit of a very small number of individuals. Thailand is no exception.

 

 

 

Edited August 9, 2017 by Yann55

[nabbie]

Good time to call for Pedestrian zones, cycling campaign, battery cars, etc.... A plenty of ideas but only if Thai's infamous reputation - "Do nothing" method - can be tackled first!

[johnarth]

simple stop making cars and trucks, that includes electric, just had an email about electric cars that will blow your minds when it comes out in the news in a couple of years time if I knew how to share on here I would

[Rimmer]

A couiple of troll posts have been removed

[PAIBKK]

Not a word over Pattaya, Koh Samui nor over Phuket.
The air must be very clean there....
Or may the tourists don't know about the (other) hazard that they're facing? 

[4MyEgo]

Everyone needs an air purifier, best thing I did was invest in the best one on the market, life changing, my sleep is as good as it was when I was a kid, you can notice the difference in the quality of the air, too bad I can't inject the machine directly into my body 555

Edited August 9, 2017 by 4MyEgo

[Krataiboy]

. . . .the Pollution Control Department (PCD) Air Quality and Noise Management Bureau . . . 

 

Judging by the racket kicked up across the entire kingdom day and night, the entire department must be stone deaf.

[soalbundy]

1 minute ago, 4MyEgo said:

Everyone needs an air purifier, best thing I did was invest in the best one on the market, life changing, my sleep is as good as it was when I was a kid, you can notice the difference in the quality of the air, too bad I can't inject the machine directly into my body 555

I know what you mean, I would use a cigarette holder with filter for an extra clean smoke if it didn't look so gay

[55Jay]

1 hour ago, wvavin said:

Is air pollution still a news in this country?

 

A useful distraction when people are knee deep in flood waters. 

[Rancid]

55 minutes ago, Yann55 said:

 

Tell that to the Donald-the-Bully who recently trumpeted that US companies could now officially wipe their royal a-holes with the agreements signed in Paris about global warming in December 2015, thereby proving to the rest of the world that :

 

1/ For the 'leader of the free world', money will always trump ethics and common sense, that's how free it is, and

2/ Our great 'democracies' have absolutely no credibility whatsoever when signing an international agreement, because their commitments last only as long as the guy who signed the agreement remains in place.

 

We live in a world where the 'people's rights' look good on TV, papers, posters, and election campaigns. But when it comes to business, people have only the right to shut their mouth while national and multinational giants rape the planet's underground, its surface and it's atmosphere, for the benefit of a very small number of individuals. Thailand is no exception.

 

 

 

Pretty much agree, but get over the meme that Trump is any different to his predecessors, no one gets that job if they aren't on-board the establishment ship. Trump thought he'd wander a bit but has been whipped back into line.

 

Additionally climate change legislation is a feel good policy, it does nothing to address the widespread pollution and rape of the planet for profit.

[farcanell]

Fake pollution.... totally fake! 

 

as the paris accord breaks down (the argument being...because the rich countries won't implement pollution reduction strategies, so why should the poor countries) ,expect things to worsen

 

oversimplistic perhaps... but around here, over simplistic is the norm... cost cutting is rampant

 

yesterday, we had to dig up some drainage pipes... they came apart easily as no pvc glue had been used, allowing root ingress ?... unbelievable! The Thai workers thought it quite the laugh (admittedly, so did I, because this was a happy coincidental find, as the primary job was to install a mass footing/underground retaining wall, to stop an extension sinking.)

[mikebell]

Pattaya air is clean as the taximeters don't use their meters.  The sea is dirty though and the police stations.

[hgma]

seriously, yesterday in front of a samlor full of school kids, a diesel truck accelerated away in a complete black smoke & dust cloud, and every time he changed gear it came out worse, passing police box full of cops who went inside, and that was it.

I am sure the white uniforms were stained with black smoke  contamination

.

No action - no change of getting better.

Edited August 9, 2017 by hgma

[connda]

This would be a wonderful article to publish in about January of every year.  Right now, it's sort of off everyone's radar, but even though it may still be a good time to discuss it. The air here is Northeast Lamphun province today is crisp, clean, and clear - and that's even with the burning they are doing during the Lamyai fruit harvest.  The winds simply scour the smoke out of the valleys and the rain rinses out the particulate.  My goodness, some folk in Thailand are forward looking enough to plan ahead?  Amazing!  

 

My take.  Most of the airborne particulate is not primarily due to the burning of agricultural fields.  It adds to the problem, but it's not the primary problem.  The primary problem is the deliberate burning of forest undergrowth to clear the forest floors so the local can easily find mushroom, like right now, during the rainy season.  Mushrooms abound right now out here in rural Northern Thailand, and most of the rural folk I know, if they are not picking Lumyai or working in the rice field, are up in the mountains picking mushrooms to sell on roadside stalls.  And it's these same people who wander up into the forests during the hot season to set fire to the forests.  No one talks or points fingers, but everyone knows.  It ain't no secret.  So unless the government is willing to address the arson problem, this isn't going to ever change.  

 

 

[kaorop]

2 hours ago, johnarth said:

simple stop making cars and trucks, that includes electric, just had an email about electric cars that will blow your minds when it comes out in the news in a couple of years time if I knew how to share on here I would

So you're privy to some world shattering future development but are not skilled enough to share a link?

Quite difficult to believe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tonboy]

2 hours ago, johnarth said:

simple stop making cars and trucks, that includes electric, just had an email about electric cars that will blow your minds when it comes out in the news in a couple of years time if I knew how to share on here I would

Stupid reaction, it only makes up for 13% of the polution. And what about the energy used to mine the raw materials and make all components for these electrical cars ? And to recharge the batteries ? Calculations show that it will take up to 7 years before you get profit from producing electrical cars. By that time you have to change out the batteries for new ones, which cost again a lot of energy. 

[digger70]

2 hours ago, johnarth said:

simple stop making cars and trucks, that includes electric, just had an email about electric cars that will blow your minds when it comes out in the news in a couple of years time if I knew how to share on here I would

Look at this      

Electric cars 'pose environmental threat' - BBC News - BBC.com

www.bbc.com/news/business-19830232

[johng]

Pattaya air is clean as the taximeters don't use their meters.  The sea is dirty though and the police stations.

There used to be a air quality monitoring station on 2nd road near to Mikes shopping Mall..there was also a website that showed the results....2nd road was always good or ofline....how the results on such a busy congested road could be good I dont know.

Sent from my ASUS_Z00LD using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[speckio]

police officers really need to crack down on car's spewing thick black smoke out of their exhausts!

 

also get rid of and replace the ancient buses and construction machinery!

[free123]

4 hours ago, Yann55 said:

 

Tell that to the Donald-the-Bully who recently trumpeted that US companies could now officially wipe their royal a-holes with the agreements signed in Paris about global warming in December 2015, thereby proving to the rest of the world that :

 

1/ For the 'leader of the free world', money will always trump ethics and common sense, that's how free it is, and

2/ Our great 'democracies' have absolutely no credibility whatsoever when signing an international agreement, because their commitments last only as long as the guy who signed the agreement remains in place.

 

We live in a world where the 'people's rights' look good on TV, papers, posters, and election campaigns. But when it comes to business, people have only the right to shut their mouth while national and multinational giants rape the planet's underground, its surface and it's atmosphere, for the benefit of a very small number of individuals. Thailand is no exception.

 

 

 

agree 100000 %

[CanuckThai]

2 hours ago, Yann55 said:

 

Tell that to the Donald-the-Bully who recently trumpeted that US companies could now officially wipe their royal a-holes with the agreements signed in Paris about global warming in December 2015, thereby proving to the rest of the world that :

 

1/ For the 'leader of the free world', money will always trump ethics and common sense, that's how free it is, and

2/ Our great 'democracies' have absolutely no credibility whatsoever when signing an international agreement, because their commitments last only as long as the guy who signed the agreement remains in place.

 

We live in a world where the 'people's rights' look good on TV, papers, posters, and election campaigns. But when it comes to business, people have only the right to shut their mouth while national and multinational giants rape the planet's underground, its surface and it's atmosphere, for the benefit of a very small number of individuals. Thailand is no exception.

 

 

 

There are different perspectives to consider about the "Donald"  Paris accord stance.  I agree, a good example is Thailand.  This country will rape, pillage and salt the fields, for additional manufacturing plants and exports, and do almost nothing, to enforce, that which will compromise profit/income/graft.  Especially environmental issues.  This is not specific to Thailand, but LOS is the epitome of what the Paris accord is up against, and why many think it's a farce.

Most western countries have implemented environmental laws and enforcement (eg: emission controls, IC engine efficiency standards, phasing out of coal/dirty energy (or are enforcing EPA regulations for scrubbers/emission controls), all of which are increasing the cost of living/cost of business.  China alone is still introducing a coal fired electrical plant per week + (agreeing to cut back within 20 years).

We all agree something must be done, but until global standards and sanctions against countries/companies are introduced/enforced......we're hooped.  

 

This is where the UN can start to earn their keep.

 

The US is already ahead of most (not all) countries, with environmental standards.