air quality

  • Environment NewsBangkok enveloped in bad smog Friday

    Bangkok enveloped in bad smog Friday

    Get out the anti-pollution masks and turn on the air purifier, air pollution in Bangkok is at unhealthy levels. 64 locations in Bangkok were reported with high levels of the air pollutant PM2.5, according to the Pollution Control Department. As a cold weather front in China weakens, air circulation is also slowing down, causing dust to accumulate and drop to…

  • Environment NewsDiscounts on services for old cars to reduce vehicle emissions, improve air quality

    Discounts on services for old cars to reduce vehicle emissions, improve air quality

    To help ease air pollution in Bangkok, several car manufacturers are offering discounts on maintenance services for old cars as part of a campaign launched by the Automotive Industry Club Federation of Thai Industries, known as the FTI. Deals on car inspections, oil changes and other services will be going on from now until the end of February. This week,…

  • Environment NewsPolice commander suggests people in Bangkok work at home once a week to reduce vehicle emissions

    Police commander suggests people in Bangkok work at home once a week to reduce vehicle emissions

    While air pollution in Bangkok has largely been linked to field crop burning in the North, deputy commander of the Royal Thai Police, Damrongsak Kittipraphat, suggests those in the city work from home once a week to keep pollution levels down. Damrongsak says that if people stay at home like they did during the lockdown, it could help reduce vehicle…

  • Environment NewsThe smog returns to Bangkok

    The smog returns to Bangkok

    The air pollutant PM2.5 is at unhealthy levels in and around Bangkok. 34 areas in the city and in surrounding provinces have levels of PM2.5 exceeding the safety standard, according to an air quality report by the Department of Pollution Control. The air pollutant PM2.5 is fine particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter. At high levels, the pollutant…

  • Environment NewsBangkok air pollution predicted to reach “unhealthy” levels

    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 NewsThe end of the annual crop-burning season – Chiang Mai gets some fresh air

    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 NewsChiang Mai chokes as fires rage in the north of Thailand

    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…

  • World NewsCambodia burns, Bangkok chokes, schools closed

    Cambodia burns, Bangkok chokes, schools closed

    Bangkok mums and dads will need to sort out what to do with the kids for the rest of the week after the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration closed public schools from today because of the excessive air pollution. Most of the smoke and haze is blowing in from Cambodia with light easterly winds. All schools under the supervision of the BMA…

  • Environment NewsAir quality improves in Bangkok, North still battling some haze

    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 NewsBangkok haze and smog continues over the weekend

    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 NewsGovernment braces for annual increase in air pollution in central and north

    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 NewsBangkok 12th worst city for air quality in the world today

    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 NewsSmoke-laced smog envelops Phuket

    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 NewsNorthern haze to go onto ‘national agenda’

    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 News250,000 northerners seek help for smog-related conditions

    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 NewsPoor air quality and smoke continue to dog Chiang Mai

    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…

  • Bangkok NewsBangkok air pollution reduction schemes – FAIL

    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 NewsSend in the drones – Bangkok Governor – Air pollution – VIDEO

    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 NewsBangkok air pollution: PM demands action and threatens limiting road traffic

    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 NewsBangkok smog: Odd-even number plate driving rule threatened

    Bangkok smog: Odd-even number plate driving rule threatened

    PHOTO: PM Prayut Chan-o-cha. Praying for a change in the weather? PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is warning that he might be forced to introduce the odd-even number rule for traffic in Bangkok if all other measures to ease the health-threatening smog problem in Bangkok and its peripherals fail (they have so far). With his Article 44 powers, the Prime Minister could…

  • Bangkok NewsBangkok smog forces school closures and PM insists on odd/even car driving days

    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 NewsBangkok air deteriorates today

    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 NewsGreenpeace outs Thailand’s worst smog areas

    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 NewsAuthorities play down air pollution problems in Bangkok

    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 NewsBangkok smog: Sunday awakes to another day of ‘unhealthy’ air in the capital

    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…