air quality
- Environment News
Urgent plan to reduce PM2.5 – National Environment Board
With the air pollutant PM2.5 rising to harmful levels in some areas of Bangkok and increasing in other cities, the National Environment Board has approved an urgent plan. Pollution Control Department chief Atthaphon Charoenchansa says the plan has 12 measures to tackle pollution. It will be submitted to the Cabinet for review. A “pollution information centre” will be formed with…
- Environment News
Bangkok air pollution predicted to reach “unhealthy” levels
At least some good news, Bangkok’s air quality has improved during the lockdown period. In January, it was listed as the “third most polluted city in the world.” By April, air pollution levels dropped down to a “safe” and “healthy”, according to the US Air Quality Index, or AQI. Now the bad news, forecasts predict Bangkok’s air pollution will reach…
- Environment News
The end of the annual crop-burning season – Chiang Mai gets some fresh air
As the annual crop season in north Thailand comes to an end the only good side-effect of the whole Covid-19 outbreak is a drop in the number of fires and plantation burning activity in the past few months. As a result, Chiang Mai’s Air Quality has experienced significant improvements, according to aqicn.org. The website data shows that Chiang Mai air…
- World News
Chiang Mai chokes as fires rage in the north of Thailand
Northern Thailand is choking under a toxic shroud and it’s not getting any better. Air pollution across the upper North remains “at critical levels,” in many areas, including some of the main population centres. Authorities are monitoring almost 400 active hotspots in Chiang Mai alone yesterday. The air quality didn’t improve this morning, with IQAir recording “very unhealthy” air quality…
- Environment News
Chiang Mai blanketed in smoke as fires burn around the province
It’s smoggy, smokey and generally unpleasant in northern Thailand today. But don’t take our word for it, look up to the skies around Chiang Mai or check the copious amounts of graphic evidence, freely available, about the seriousness of the fires, almost all deliberately lit, around the region. “It’s been bad all morning and there’s a noticeable smell of smoke…
- Environment News
Air quality improves in Bangkok, North still battling some haze
The severe air pollution which has plagued Thailand in recent weeks is improving: air quality is dramatically better in most areas today except in the north, where the PM2.5 level remains above safe levels, especially Lampang and Phrae provinces. According to the Pollution Control Department, at 10 am the PM 2.5 levels in the northern provinces of Lampang, Lamphun, Nan, Phrae,…
- Environment News
Bangkok haze and smog continues over the weekend
There is unlikely to be much respite of the air pollution shrouding Greater Bangkok this weekend. And the PM is urging people to inform a hotline of any vehicles belching smoke and fumes into the Bangkok sky. The Pollution Control Department says the smog, which saw just about all of the 50 air quality stations hitting levels of PM2.5 over…
- Environment News
Government braces for annual increase in air pollution in central and north
PHOTO: Travel Daily Media The Public Health Ministry is preparing to deal with the health impacts of an increase in PM2.5 particles, which usually occurs from December in parts of central and northern Thailand. The Nation reports that officials from the Ministry met in Nonthaburi province, central Thailand yesterday, to host a video conference with doctors in health centres across…
- Environment News
Smog continues to blanket Bangkok and surround provinces
Bangkok and surrounding provinces remain cloaked in dust and smog today, with a red zone reported in Saraburi province, north of Bangkok. The area had a reading of 155, more than three times the World Health Organisation recommended upper limit. But, generally, the air quality has improved, compared to yesterday higher readings. Several areas in the greater Bangkok area were…
- Environment News
Smoke-laced smog envelops Phuket
MAIN PHOTO: Phuket International Airport – Phuket People’s Voice Phuket awakes today enveloped by an eerie sea of smoke-laced mist and smog – a combination of light winds, smoke blowing up the Malacca Strait from the Indonesian plantation fires and low seasonal cloud. The conditions have reduced visibility generally around the island to less than a kilometre. Planes have still been…
- Northern Thailand News
Northern haze to go onto ‘national agenda’
by Chularat Saengpassa – PHOTOS: The Nation Flights cancelled, schools closed, locals visiting hospitals in record numbers and the visual proof is overwhelming. Some of Thailand’s most beautiful areas and popular locations are shrouded in a dense smog and an equally hazy list of solutions. Calls for the government to tackle the problem of serious air pollution as a vital part…
- 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
Haze and air pollution returns to Bangkok this week
Air pollution around the Thai capital is expected to get worse again this week with an increase in the level of PM2.5 dust particles. A high pressure cell over the central region is forecast and will degrade the air around Bangkok between February 13-15, according to the Meteorological Department. Temperatures will also drop slightly in the Central and Northern regions this week. The…
- 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
Send in the drones – Bangkok Governor – Air pollution – VIDEO
Authorities in Bangkok launched 50 drones yesterday in an attempt to combat the ongoing air pollution that has gained international attention. The drones were equipped with sprinklers and water was sprayed to lower the PM2.5 particles in the atmosphere. The water was laced with molasses (a gooey, surgery syrup) help capture the fine particles of pollution and bring them to…
- 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
Bangkok smog: Students stay at home whilst drones buzz overhead
High smog levels in Bangkok are forcing more than 400 schools to close today and tomorrow in an attempt to protect children from harmful effects. The education department says it will review the situation over the weekend. The Thai capital city is experiencing some of its worst-ever ongoing air pollution levels which are exacerbated by ultra-fine dust particles known as…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok smog forces school closures and PM insists on odd/even car driving days
The Education Ministry is ordering educational institutes in Greater Bangkok to close for two days, starting tomorrow (Thursday), after smog worsened today. The ministry will review the situation this weekend to decide whether the measures would be extended, said minister Dr Theerakiat Charoensettasin. The decision follows instructions from PM Prayut Chan-o-cha for the ministry to consider urgent measures to deal…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok air deteriorates today
PHOTO: Bangkok skyline this morning – FM91 Traffic Pro Greater Bangkok’s air pollution was bad this morning, with 36 locations reporting the amount of PM2.5 micron pollutants rising beyond the safety limit of 50 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic metre of air, with one area reaching as high as 113 micrograms. The Pollution Control Department say the breeze is too low…
- Bangkok News
Greenpeace outs Thailand’s worst smog areas
At least 10 suburbs in nine Thai provinces are being called out by pollution watchdog Greenpeace. The organisation has revealed its rankings for 2018 based on a satellite map of PM2.5 concentrations in Thailand and the neighbouring countries of Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. Greenpeace is calling for the Thai government to improve the Ambient (Outdoor) Air Quality Standards for PM2.5…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok smog: Diesel buses and vehicles key problem
by Wichit Chaitrong “The problem is the estimated 2.5 million diesel-powered trucks and buses still on city roads.” Experts are saying this morning that, given the problems in recent weeks with Bangkok’s smog, the national government’s pursuit of a “low-carbon economy” has fallen short of needs. They are recommending higher taxes on “dirty fuel” and a reduction in the number of…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok smog: Sunday awakes to another day of ‘unhealthy’ air in the capital
As promised, Bangkok and the central region have been battling with enduring smog this weekend. On Friday the Thai Meteorological Department warned of smog and haze continuing over the weekend in parts of the capital and in nearby Pattaya due to a weakening cold front in the north of country, bordering Laos. Given the fingers pointing at Bangkok’s old buses,…
- 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…
