Air pollution
- Environment News
Chiang Mai fire spikes air pollution up to 20 times ‘safe’ levels
A bushfire roaring away in the Doi Suthep-Pui National Park in Chiang Mai is causing continued concerns for Chiang Mai residents because of the dangers to nearby villages and the smoke filling the skies of the city. 500 local officials and soldiers from the 3rd Army Region were called in to fight the blaze and spent 14 hours bringing it under…
- Environment News
Air purifiers to be added to the top of Bangkok buses. Really…
“It is like a single dead pixel on your phone, hardly noticeable” Air purifiers sitting on tops of buses. Apparently this is another solution for Bangkok’s air pollution problems. Sounds like the people selling the mobile bus-top air purifiers have a very convincing sales person! But Bangkok’s Mass Transit Authority director Surachai Eamvachirasakul says the department will go ahead with plans…
- Environment News
Bangkok halts construction of electric rail and highrises for 3 days
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration today ordered a 3 day suspension of the construction of seven electric train lines, highrise buildings and roads throughout Bangkok, in order to reduce PM2.5 pollution. The Pollution Control Department reported this morning that 39 areas in Bangkok and four in its suburbs were found to have high levels of PM2.5 particles, measured to be…
- Environment News
Pollution closes Lampang schools
Schools in the northern province of Lampang were closed yesterday as the level of air pollution went up, according to KhaoSod. Authorities have instructed families to keep their children indoors during this period of poor air quality. The problem is partly caused by the the burning of crop fields, which despite prohibitions, has been going on for weeks, with the…
- Environment News
Air purifiers installed at Victory Monument whilst southern winds blow the smoke north
The Nation reports that the Rajaprajanukron Foundation, under Royal Patronage, installed four air- purifiers yesterday around the Victory Monument area in a trial of their effectiveness in filtering out PM2.5 dust particles. Silpasuay Raweesaengsoon, permanent secretary of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration says the machines can purify polluted air at the rate of two cubic metres per second. “Placed in areas…
- Environment News
SCAM – Thailand’s PM2.5 micron smoke screen
It’s cars, it’s the polluting buses, it’s people burning too many incense sticks. Every year it’s the same culprits in Bangkok, people driving their cars too much, polluting factories and old buses belching black smoke. All those things contribute to city pollution but are far from the main problem. So the government, reactive as usual, rolls out its PR machine…
- Environment News
Thailand’s PM2.5 micron elephant in the room – OPINION
It’s cars, it’s the polluting buses, it’s people burning too many incense sticks. Every year it’s the same culprits in Bangkok, people driving their cars too much, polluting factories and old diesel buses belching black smoke. All those things contribute to city pollution but are far from the main problem. So the government, reactive as usual, rolls out its PR…
- Northern Thailand News
Poor air quality in Bangkok and northern Thailand today
Poor air quality and persistent haze is plaguing much of Thailand’s north today, with the worst pollution in Lampang province, just south of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. Meanwhile, a bit further south, Bangkok residents had more of the fine-dust particles, aka. 2.5 microns, in eight of the city’s districts yesterday. The Pollution Control Department in the north has reported unsafe…
- Transport News
Pollution Control Department officials roll out car-free day on Wednesdays
PHOTO: kenlwrites.com “She says the drive normally takes her an hour and a half but by using the bus and train on Wednesday, her journey time was reduced to 50 minutes.” Thailand’s Pollution Control Department in Bangkok is rolling out a “No Car Wednesday” initiative, with staff being encouraged to choose public transport over their cars for one day a…
- Environment News
Bangkok 12th worst city for air quality in the world today
It’s a list you don’t want to be on the top of. The Air Visual website is reporting that Bangkok’s air pollution level stands at 136, with PM 2.5 level at 57.8 micrograms per cubic metre, making the Thai capital the 12th on the list of cities today with the worst air pollution in the world. Chinese and Turkish cities…
- Environment News
Thai PM issues warning to drivers of polluting vehicles
PHOTO: Chiang Rai Times PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha says those who drive polluting vehicles face arrest, warning owners of transport businesses that they will be held responsible for toxic emissions. Speaking at a ceremony presenting government policy to the National Farmers Council, the PM adds that Thai farmers can play their part by reducing outdoor burning, which contributes to pollution.…
- Environment News
Dangerous air quality returns to Bangkok – Readings up to ‘233’ today
PHOTO: aqicn.org Unseasonal, poor air quality has descended on Bangkok and surrounding suburbs threatening people’s health. The problem, which filled the headlines at the end of last year, has returned to parts of the capital over the weekend. Readings up to 233 have been recorded this morning, well in excess of the 50 micrograms per cubic metre safety level. That…
- Environment News
Haze from Indonesia’s forest fires affecting Thailand’s south
The ongoing forest fires in Indonesia are affecting Thailand’s south, bringing smog and a lingering haze to many provinces. Thai PBS World reports that school children at two municipal schools in Trang have received 3,000 face masks from Provincial Governor Luechai Charoensap and city mayor Apichit Wenothai. Distribution of the masks comes as local authorities warn residents to wear masks…
- World News
Smoke from Indonesian illegal plantation burn-offs causing acute problems for south east Asian neighbours
PHOTO: Visibility down to less than a kilometre at KL airport yesterday Flights cancelled, schools closed and regional environmental ministers trading insults. The minister’s fiddle whilst Indonesian islands burn. Parts of Indonesia are now opening temporary clinics to treat thousands of people suffering from acute respiratory illnesses in the smoke haze stricken regions around Sumatra island as authorities stepped up…
- World News
Indonesia’s forest fires causing air pollution in southern Thailand
Residents in Thailand’s southern provinces of Songkhla and Satun are being warned to protect their health by wearing face masks or staying indoors as the two provinces are blanketed with smoke from forest fires on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island. The 16th regional environment office reports that dust particles of less than 2.5 microns, were measured at 55 microns/cubic metre during the…
- Northern Thailand News
Forest fires destroy 2.7 million rai of land whilst Chiang Mai is back on top
by Tossapol Boonpat Bush fires have devastated nearly 2.7 million rai (there are 2.5 Rai in an Acre) of forests in nine northern provinces. The Mae Hong Son forest fire and haze control centre says that satellite imaging from the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency shows that from January 1 to March 16, 2,680,634 rai was destroyed by wildfires.…
- Northern Thailand News
Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai suffer haze and smoke until at least May
Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is flying to Chiang Mai tomorrow (Tuesday) to meet with with the northern provincial governors. Most of the northern provinces, including Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, are likely to face health-threatening haze problems from PM2.5 dust particles until at least early May according to meteorologists. The poor air quality has been a constant part of daily life…
- Environment News
Thailand’s north continues to choke under record smoke levels
PHOTO: Burn-off of plantation land and forest fires continue to blanket the north in smoke – Thailand Discovery For the fourth consecutive day Chiang Mai ranks as the world’s most air-polluted city, with an air quality index (AQI) score of 282 this morning on airvisual.com. Mae Hong Son meanwhile continued to battle multiple forest fires, and Lampang saw it Thammasat University…
- Environment News
Haze and poor visibility grounds morning flights into Mae Hong Son
Poor visibility from local smoke haze and smog has forced Bangkok Airways to cancel flights between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son until at least this Saturday. Mae Hong Son in the far north-west of Thailand, on the Myanmar border. The airline says poor visibility is a result of forest fires. It has cancelled at least 10 flights because of…
- Northern Thailand News
250,000 northerners seek help for smog-related conditions
Up to 250,000 northerners are seeking medical treatment for four different illnesses that have flared up amid the intense air pollution between February 17 and 23. The Office of Disease Prevention and Control 1 in Chiang Mai has put the figure of affected residents at 248,618, including a high numbers of respiratory complaints among children under four and cardiovascular concerns…
- Environment News
Poor air quality and smoke continue to dog Chiang Mai
PHOTO: Sanook Chiang Mai continue to suffer from a smog and haze crisis. Residents are suffering the affects of the poor air quality for the second week in a row in the northern Thai city. A high reading of 176 has been recorded just north of the city centre but the areas all around Chiang Mai are registering high readings recorded…
- Environment News
Air pollution rise in northern Thailand attributed to 149 controlled forest fires
PHOTO: The Nation Concern grows as the air pollution problem in the North and North-east regions of Thailand threatens to affect the health of the public. Phrae (northern Thailand) was the worst affected area in Thailand on Monday morning with the PM2.5 reaching 102 micrograms per cubic metre and the Air Quality Index (AQI) level of 212, while PM10 hit 132…
- Northern Thailand News
Air pollution problems move to Khon Kaen
Pollution continues to choke the north-east province of Khon Kaen with the Air Quality Index reaching 187 yesterday, well beyond the “moderate” safety limit of 100. This morning it’s reading at 174. Associate Professor Dr Kittichai Triratanasirichai, a former president of Khon Kaen University, says the pollution in Khon Kaen had worsened mainly due to the burning of sugarcane and…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok air pollution reduction schemes – FAIL
OPINION Smog, air pollution, air quality, PM2.5 micron particulate. If you live in Bangkok it’s all the same thing. Four water-carrying drones took off from Bangkok City Hall this morning to join three fire engines in the latest assault on health-threatening haze. Bangkok is a city covering some 1,500 square kilometres with a population of over 8 million. The frequent…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok air pollution: PM demands action and threatens limiting road traffic
PHOTOS: The Nation The Thai PM says he is determined to step up measures to fight the worsening air pollution problem plaguing Bangkok. Limiting the use of vehicles with an odd-even day schedule is on the cards, he said. Speaking at the opening ceremony of “Our Country, Our Future” exhibition yesterday, Prayut warned that if the smog in Bangkok was…
- Bangkok News
Authorities play down air pollution problems in Bangkok
The capital’s air pollution situation has worsened today as the quantity of the dangerous PM2.5 particles has risen for the first time to code-red status of above 90 micrograms per cubic metre of air at many locations. Nearly 10 Bangkok areas at 7.15am this morning were flagged “code red”, which is triggered when inhalable particles with diameters generally sized at…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok smog: Police get out their hoses
by Kornkamon Aksorndech Traffic police and volunteers sprayed water at four locations in Bangkok this morning in a bid to curb the dust and smog pollution. Pol Maj General Nithithorn Jintakanon, commander of the Traffic Police Division of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, presided at the dispatch of 150 police officers and volunteers from his headquarters on Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road. They chose…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok smog: Police on the lookout for dirty exhaust from vehicles
by Khanathit Srihirundaj It’s either a knee-jerk reaction, media stunt or something we hope to see a lot more of. Checking vehicles with plumes of dirty smoke coming out of their exhaust. To help curb fine-particle dust pollution in Bangkok, traffic police have increased the number of checkpoints where they will check vehicles spewing black exhaust smoke. The number of…
- Bangkok News
Face mask fashion as Bangkok batters poor air quality and smog
by Kunlaphun Siripimamporn. PHOTOS: The Nation Thick morning winter fog and some heavy smog has forced many Bangkokians into wearing facemasks, even the cheap ones that will nothing to protect them from the fine particulate matter mixed into the air. People wearing masks became a common sight in inner city areas today. The pollution continued to remain at harmful levels…
- Bangkok News
Water cannons brought out to add humidity as authorities struggle with BKK smog
Bangkokians have at least another day to inhale unhealthy levels of air pollution after Sunday, the fourth consecutive day the city has been shrouded in smog. On Sunday morning the measure of particulate matter in Tambon Pak Nam in Muang Samut Prakan was 93 micrograms per cubic metres, approaching what the WHO describes as ‘unhealthy’. The Nation reported that Samut…
