Bangkok Residents Told to Stay Inside as Pollution Reaches Dangerous Levels

[Nereus]

....and the haze that has enveloped Hua Hin the past few days?
is that pollution that has drifted down from the bangkok area, or is it just harmless mist.

It could well be smog as the prevailing wind is from the North East / East. That is the problem in Bangkok; there has been very little wind to move the crap.

[Nereus]

Toxic haze to make return this weekend

https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/genera ... is-weekend

The haze is expected to worsen again over the weekend in Bangkok after the cold front over Thailand dissipates, according to the Meteorological Department.

Phuwiang Prakhammin, director-general of the department, said a high-pressure system that enveloped Thailand this week caused temperatures to drop by 2-4 degrees Celsius.

However, when this cold front loses strength on Saturday, Bangkok and its vicinity could face stagnant air circulation with minimal wind, he said, noting the smog could become worse on Sunday with a build up of accumulated fine particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres, known as PM2.5.

Pollution will not be worse than the past several weeks, supposedly, because rainfall on Tuesday and Wednesday helped to significantly diminish the haze, Mr Phuwiang said.

Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department director-general Chayapol Thitisak said his agency is continuing to spray water into the air to reduce dust in Bangkok and three provinces in the Central Plains. Officials were looking to ensure there would be no outdoor burning, particularly along the sides of highways, he said.

Meanwhile, PM2.5 levels were still dropping in the capital as of 6pm Thursday. They fell to a range of between 37 and 56 microgrammes per cubic metre (µg/m³), according to readings taken by 10 air quality stations in Bangkok. The so-called safety limit is 50 µg/m³.

Transport authorities were also checking city buses to control emissions of black exhaust fumes.
Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said at least two buses that officials inspected were belching more black exhaust than the law allowed Thursday morning. They were taken off the road.

In the afternoon, Mr Arkhom and land transport officers also inspected 111 buses at the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority's (BMTA) depot in Chatuchak district. According to the minister, most buses' emissions were acceptable.
He said 815 city buses had B7 diesel in their tanks which was replaced with the more environmentally-friendly B20 biodiesel on Tuesday.

Another 1,260 vehicles would have their fuel changed from the beginning of next month. "The change of fuel could help reduce black exhaust smoke by 3.7%," Mr Arkhom said.

In the long run, 2,188 buses powered by clean energy, including natural gas and electricity, would be procured, said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

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[Lost]

With the shortage of face masks left for sale in Bangkok, you can always count on the Thai ingenuity to make it through these tough times.

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[caller]

I arrived In Bangkok about 2 hours ago and I have been pleasantly surprised at how clear it is, But around Samut Sakhon on 35 was pretty poor and made me fear what I would find in Bkk. Hope the predictions for the WE are wrong.

Edit, it appears the roadworks on 35 have been suspended.

[handdrummer]

"Buses belching more black smoke than the law allowed." How much black smoke does the law allow?

[Nereus]

Haze sweeps into surrounding provinces

https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/genera ... recent_box

Harmful levels of PM2.5 particles that have been plaguing Bangkok were detected in three provinces adjacent to the capital on Friday, officials said.

Chayapol Thitisak, director-general of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, said unsafe concentrations of PM2.5 particles were detected in tambon Song Khanong in Phra Pradaeng district of Samut Prakan, tambon Omnoi of Krathum Baen district and along Rama II Road in Muang district of Samut Sakhon, and tambon Nakhon Pathom of Muang district in Nakhon Pathom.

In these areas, PM2.5 levels were measured at 54-74 microgrammes per cubic metre (µg/m³), exceeding the "safe" level of 50 µg/m³.
Officials have been deployed to spray water and clamp down on the open burning of farm waste and rubbish in the affected districts.

Opening burning is one source of PM2.5 -- fine dust particles with a diameter 1/20 the width of a human hair.
Others are emissions from power plants burning fossil fuels and emissions from cars which run on low-grade fuel with a high sulphur content.

PM2.5 is a health hazard as it has been proven to cause damage to the human respiratory system as well as exacerbate a number of other conditions such as cardiovascular disease.

In response to the crisis, academics have urged the government to create more green areas in the city as well as promote public transport and curb open burning.

"To deal with this problem in the long run, the city needs more green areas, as trees and plants can help clean the air. ... Many green zones in Bangkok are disappearing and being turned into locations for new buildings," Assoc Prof Sura Phatthanakiat from the Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies at Mahidol University said at a seminar on the issue organised by Siriraj Hospital.

Jackrit Suthakorn, dean of Mahidol University's engineering faculty said in the same seminar that the government needs to remain vigilant because open burning in Bangkok and the surrounding areas usually peaks between January and March.

The Department of Health, meanwhile, expressed concern over the long-term impact of the dust particles on children living in affected areas, saying their exposure may lead to several health problems in the long-term, including coronary artery disease.

The department has advised parents to monitor air quality using the mobile app Air4Thai or website www.anamai.moph.go.th.

Wind brought some relief yesterday as PM2.5 levels dropped in greater Bangkok, but pollution lingered in some areas including along the capital's Rama IV Road.

[Big Boy]

I was at the footie in Ratchaburi yesterday evening. Before it got dark, it was easy to spot the various plumes of grass burning smoke going up into the already hazy sky. As each plume rose, it was turning a yellowish colour in the evening sky. Once it was dark, and the floodlights were on, it was like watching football in the UK on a cold late autumn's day - really misty.

The politicians talk a lot, but never take action. If they made necessary legislation, who would enforce it anyway?

[Nereus]

Hub of madness

Our reliance on burning fossil fuel dooms us all

https://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/s ... s#cxrecs_s

Greetings from the haze hub of the world.
I write this column from my bedroom in Samut Prakan, which is where I am supposed to stay for the whole day if I am to believe official government warnings.

For the last five or six days, everything has been bathed in yellow. This has nothing to do with my home decor, and I'll have you know none of my marble tiles or linoleum is anything near yellow in colour.
I'm talking about outside.

Thailand is obsessed about being the "hub" of everything from aviation to auto manufacturing. It is a word that has crept into the Thai language.

Well, if ever there was a hub for toxic yellowy haze that stings your eyes and gives you sinus issues, then here it is.
There is a real feeling of twilight at 10am. I can look at the sun with the naked eye for a start. I can barely see the end of my street, which makes me feel as if I am in one of those apocalyptic zombie series. It would not surprise me if my neighbours were to suddenly run out of their yards foaming at the mouth.

My driver is not foaming at the mouth, but he is sick. He coughs regularly. He claims it's "not from the pollution" but rather from his girlfriend, who caught the flu following a trip to Isan. I send him on a trip to buy face masks; they are sold out.

My breathing is laboured and I'm suffering from painfully itchy eyes. There are little black pieces of stuff in them, and when I look in the mirror, I am reminded of some pretty terrible hangovers in my past -- only this week there isn't an Absolut in sight.

Yesterday was the worst. My work took me from Samut Prakan (dangerously high levels of pollution) to Rama IV (dangerously high) over to Siam Square (dangerously high) and then back.

That was the day we allegedly had respite thanks to cloud seeding. The government sent up planes to artificially induce rain in an effort to disperse the pollution. It was like treating a third-degree-burn patient with paracetamol and a dab of calamine lotion.

Samut Prakan is a leafy outlying suburb of Bangkok. OK, so there are no leaves; we uprooted the trees and filled in the canals years ago.

Just last year we systematically chopped down the trees along Srinakarin Road, the last bastion of any semblance of nature. I watched them as trucks lopped them down, one by one, day by day. It was truly heartbreaking. They'd been there since my move here in 1993, which means I had spent a quarter of a century with those trees. In a week they were gone.

Downtown Samut Prakan is a bit like downtown Minburi is a bit like downtown Nonthaburi. The only difference? There's no "buri" at the end of Samut Prakan. Everything else -- the concrete, the dangling live electricity lines, the broken footpaths, the urban despair -- is identical.

And it has the greatest proliferation of sweatshops and automobile garages crammed into one province. We've had every ecological and industrial disaster known to mankind that are as common as Songkran. I'm serious. Every year there is an industrial incident here.

Around the time I first moved to Samut Prakan, there was a huge news story. A scrap-metal beggar rummaging through a supermarket trash heap here found a Cobalt 60 radioactive container.

A radioactive container just outside a supermarket entrance? How long had it been there? That beggar then decided to open up that container. In the following months of the controversy, his hands slowly melted. He was one of three who died; about 2,000 people were exposed to the radiation. I wonder what happened to all of them.

Remember the Phraekasa rubbish fire of a few years ago? Guess where that was?
That was 2014, and for one month we endured a fire that burned over a landfill with thick smoke blanketing the area. Again, every morning my house was bathed in smoke and it didn't feel good to be alive, breathing that day in day out.

More recently -- six months ago -- we had the Guardian newspaper come to Samut Prakan. What an honour to have such an esteemed newspaper take the time from its busy schedule to take a tour of my backyard.

Why were they here? Because Thailand is now the "garbage can of the world". Those are the Guardian's words, not mine. China has refused refuse from the West, and guess where it goes now? This is what the Guardian said about their day trip here:

"A factory visited by the Guardian in Samut Prakan province illustrated the mammoth scale of the problem. Printers made by Dell and HP, Daewoo TVs and Apple computer drives were stacked sky-high next to precarious piles of compressed keyboards, routers and copy machines.

"The Samut Prakan factory sits in the middle of hundreds of shrimp farms, and there were concerns it was poisoning the landscape, with no environmental protections or oversight in place."

Good lord. For the first time in my life I'm glad to be allergic to seafood.

This week Samut Prakan had the dubious distinction -- again -- of having the worst air pollution in Thailand. All maps of Thailand showing levels of "PM 2.5" use a special colour for Samut Prakan. It's a deep purple, and it designates a level of toxicity in the air that is beyond "difficulty breathing". It is now "downright dangerous", or a level in which pregnant women are in danger of miscarrying.

But why would it not be?
Of course we are breathing in dangerous particles. There are actions and there are outcomes, and there is no other possible outcome for humanity when we choose to allow factories to spew out pollution, waste to stack up, and cars to jam our roadways.

Srinakarin Road is now one of the most clogged roads in Bangkok. They are building the Skytrain there and traffic is ground to a halt every day.
There is a 2km stretch that takes 30 minutes to get through and there we all are, spewing foul pollution from our collective exhausts the entire way.

How stupid we humans are. So much technology and groundbreaking advancement and we still think burning fossil fuels is the best way to get around.

Yesterday a particularly rabid bus driver roared past me on Sukhumvit in the right lane, which buses are banned from using, in an example of road rage to get to the next bus stop just a few seconds faster.

It's OK. As long as you're not crashing into me, I can live with your recklessness. But what was so much worse was the billowing black smoke that accompanied each one of his gear changes.

My prediction is that with expected strong winds, this haze will dissipate. Maybe it has already by this Sunday morning. The haze crisis of Samut Prakan will be over -- or will it?

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It is never over. We are just prolonging our inevitable end, thanks to our own hub of long-term stupidity.

[oakdale160]

What great evocative writing. What a revolting mess.

[caller]

Yes, that is a great article.

Yesterday, with my other half and friends, we went to Koh Kred island in Nonthaburi and the smog concerned me - best viewed from a tollway - it just seemed all encompassing as we drove across Bkk and when we finally, through dense traffic, got to the island, passing many sites alleged not to be working, but where burning seemed to be taking place instead, the air wasn't good and I scoffed when my other half asked if I wanted my sunglasses.

But then a miracle happened, almost as if by pressing a switch, the sky's cleared, the sun shone boldly through and everything seemed fresh and clean - and so it remained. But heading back into the centre of Bkk later, it was still there, less visible, less dense and much less unpleasant, but still there. And that's how it is now, the sun is shining through, the sky isn't quite the shade of blue you would expect and I can see a few white fluffy clouds. Not completely clear but so far, much, much better than yesterday.

[Lost]

I was at the footie in Ratchaburi yesterday evening. Before it got dark, it was easy to spot the various plumes of grass burning smoke going up into the already hazy sky. As each plume rose, it was turning a yellowish colour in the evening sky.

Good post BB. All this can't be blamed on weather shifting China's crap here. Fumes from cars. Even in Hua Hin, how many 'bonfires' do you see? People getting rid of their waste (better than the usual fly-tipping I suppose).

Burning crap to 'dispose' of it is the norm in all stretches of Thailand.

[hhinner]

Blood Moon here this evening. But nothing to do with a lunar eclipse.

[Lost]

But then a miracle happened, almost as if by pressing a switch, the sky's cleared, the sun shone boldly through and everything seemed fresh and clean - and so it remained. But heading back into the centre of Bkk later, it was still there, less visible, less dense and much less unpleasant, but still there. And that's how it is now, the sun is shining through, the sky isn't quite the shade of blue you would expect and I can see a few white fluffy clouds. Not completely clear but so far, much, much better than yesterday.

I can honestly say the first 10-15 times of landing in bkk (first being back some 25 years) I was always disappointed. I expected to, and looked forward to, embracing shining sun but it never happened. Hot and warm sure but always smoggy. It always took a little driving to see the sun break through. I was just a kid at first and I remember it being really weird.

Got worse at the moment sure but 'The Big Smog' (aka Bangkok) has been a bit rough for decades now.

[HHTel]

Bangkok air hits ‘code red’ while authorities resist strong measures

The following statement shows where the priorities lie:

The related state agencies are so far standing firm following their conclusion at a Monday meeting that “the smog is still not critical enough to declare the capital a pollution-control area, which might affect tourism and the business sector”, as PCD director-general Pralong Damrongthai later told reporters.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/ ... l/30362751

[handdrummer]

which might affect tourism and the business sector”, as PCD director-general Pralong Damrongthai later told reporters.

Do they think that people outside the country are as stupid as they are? The smog situation is on worldwide tv news. I doubt that too many tourists will stay long in Bangkok. If you're visiting from any major city in the world 1 day in Bangkok, smog or no smog, will convince you to sightsee elsewhere.