Thailand Air Quality and Pollution Alerts

[PeteC]

Fine dust levels rising again in Bangkok

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... in-bangkok

Fine dust levels were deemed slightly unsafe in Bangkok's Bang Kholaem and Bang Phlat districts on Friday morning due to stagnant air and heavy traffic, according to the Pollution Control Department.

Director-general Pralong Damrongthai said on Friday that particulate matter 2.5 micrometres and less in diameter (PM2.5) was measured at 53 microgrammes per cubic metre of air over the past 24 hours along Rama III Road in Bang Kholaem and Charan Sanitwong Road in Bang Phlat. The safe threshold set by the government is 50mcg.

He attributed the air pollution to stagnant air and heavy traffic on Thursday.

Over the 24 hours to 9am, the department recorded PM2.5 levels at 22-53mcg in greater Bangkok. Mr Pralong said the levels were rising overall.

The Meteorological Department said on Friday morning that a high pressure system from China would blanket upper Thailand from Saturday to Tuesday, bringing variable weather conditions including thunderstorms, lower temperatures and strong winds to upper regions.

[PeteC]

Unsafe PM2.5 levels return

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... els-return

Fine dust was at unsafe levels in many districts of Bangkok and some districts in Samut Prakan and Samut Sakhon provinces.

Pralong Damrongthai, director-general of the Pollution Control Department, said on Tuesday that the levels of particulate matter 2.5 micrometres and less (PM2.5) in diameter measured 32-84 microgrammes per cubic metre of air in greater Bangkok over the 24 hours to 9am Tuesday. The safe threshold is set at 50mcg by the government.

Fine dust breached the safe level in Bangkok's Din Daeng, Bang Phlad (Charan Sanitwong Road), Bang Khunthian (Rama II Road), Pathumwan (Chamchuri Square), Phasicharoen (Phetkasem Road), and Bang Sue districts.

For the adjacent provinces, PM2.5 levels were unhealthy in tambon Song Khanong of Phra Pradaeng and tambon Pak Nam of Muang districts of Samut Prakan, and tambon Maha Chai of Muang district and tambon Om Noi of Krathum Baen district of Samut Sakhon, Mr Pralong said.

He attributed the air pollution to a high pressure system from China that caused stagnant air.

[nil]

It was reported on the UK news yesterday about a study that showed an increase in the daily amount of cardiac arrests when the air pollution was high.
The air quality in Hua Hin has not been that good for many weeks now. It looks like the only place with clean air is down south (when Indonesia are not burning their forests down).

[hhinner]

^^ Not just cardiac incidents but also others such as asthma and increased hospital admissions. Study by NHS.

Hua Hin isn't that bad, moderate at the moment. There are 2 air quality reading providers and values can be seen on airvisual.com.

[PeteC]

......Hua Hin isn't that bad, moderate at the moment. There are 2 air quality reading providers and values can be seen on airvisual.com.

Yes, all the applicable links are on Page # 1 of the thread, in the opening post.

[Nereus]

Murky thick crap out towards Swampy airport, and even thicker black looking crap in the north of Bangkok. It is equally as bad as it was a couple of weeks ago where I am in Bangkok. And despite the BS written on the Thai Met Dept. Website, there is virtually no surface wind to shift it.

[PeteC]

Smog returns to greater Bangkok

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... er-bangkok

Fine dust reached unsafe levels in 14 areas of greater Bangkok with the worst in the city's Phasicharoen and Bang Phlad districts over the past 24 hours, the Pollution Control Department reported on Thursday morning.

The levels of particulate matter 2.5 micrometres and less in diameter were measured at 45 stations and readings from 14 stations showed unsafe levels ranging from 51 to 64 microgrammes per cubic metre of air in the 24 hours to 9am. The government-decreed safe threshold is 50mcg.

The worst levels were reported along Phetkasem Road in Phasicharoen district and Charansanitwong Road in Bang Phlad district.

Measured levels were also unsafe on Kanchanaphisek Road and Rama II Road in Bang Khunthian district, on Din Daeng Road in Din Daeng district, on Rama III-Charoen Krung Road in Bang Kholaem district, on Rama III Road in Yannawa district, on Soi Nikhom Banphak Rodfai Thonburi 5 in Bangkok Noi district, in Thung Wat Don sub-district of Sathon district, in Thung Song Hong sub-district of Laksi district, and in Bang Sue sub-district of Bang Sue district in Bangkok.

Heavy pollution was also reported in tambon Pak Nam of Muang district and tambon Song Khanong of Phra Pradaeng district in Samut Prakan province and tambon Om Noi of Krathum Baen district in Samut Sakhon province.

[Nereus]

Murky thick crap out towards Swampy airport, and even thicker black looking crap in the north of Bangkok. It is equally as bad as it was a couple of weeks ago where I am in Bangkok. And despite the BS written on the Thai Met Dept. Website, there is virtually no surface wind to shift it.

It is basically the same again today. No wind to shift it.

[nil]

Not good in Hua Hin at the moment

[Nereus]

It's about "normal" this morning in Bangkok as the North East wind has sent most of the crap towards Hua Hin!

[Nereus]

The soup is back in Bangkok. No, or very little wind, to shift it.


https://www.airvisual.com/thailand/bangkok

[nil]

Still up there with the leading polluted city's in the world.

[laphanphon]

85 down here (PKK municipality), which is kind of surprising, since it rained the past 2 days. Maybe the town is catching up an burning the trash and cuttings, that couldn't be burned the past few days.

They / the municipality, seem to be the only ones I see burning things. Guess I have to break out my meter and start keeping track again.
https://www.facebook.com/AQI-Prachuap-K ... 341337825/

[Nereus]

Political indifference fuels air-pollution crisis

Government's 'command-and-control' mentality only gives the appearance of a response, but little is actually done.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/sp ... ion-crisis

There is no way of putting it, say leading academics, other than that this government is ill-equipped to stop the air pollution crisis from spiralling out of control. Despite proclamations, like Natural Resources and Environment Minister Warawut Silpa-archa's goal to solve the PM2.5 problem by 2022, the policy-making culture seems to be blind to what nature is telling us. Instead, lawmakers downplay threats to human health, allowing conflicts of interest to overshadow meaningful advances toward solutions.

Asst Prof Surat Bualert, dean of Kasetsart University's Environment Faculty, says the data for Bangkok's air quality reveals we are entering a new era. The volume of PM2.5, or fine dust particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres, that exceed safe levels are lingering in the air longer than ever before.

"Their ongoing presence creates more unpredictability at a time when the changing climate may also be contributing to extreme weather events, like the prolonged stagnation that fuelled Bangkok's pollution crisis this year," he said.

Furthermore, Prof Thanawat Jarupongsakul, chairman of the National Strategic Drafting Committee on Green Growth, says his research in collaboration with the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology shows that conditions similar to those in Bangkok early this year, "are likely to become more intense because the pollution sources themselves help build up the inversion layers that trap the dust underneath".(I seriously doubt that any of these numb skulls actually know what an "inversion layer" is!)

Prof Thanawat, who also chairs the Thai Global Warming Academy, says outdoor fires generate gases along with PM2.5 particulate matter. Photochemical reactions transform these gases into ozone particles, which are not just harmful pollutants, but also help build up inversion layers, which prevent the air below from rising, thus trapping any pollutants that are present.

Often, these inversion layers are associated with high-pressure weather systems descending from China. Common between December and May, this annual phenomenon contributes to the urban myth that China's "winter wind" is the source of Bangkok's winter pollution.

Nothing can be further from the truth, says Dr Thanawat. Rapid urbanisation has transformed Bangkok's landscape, creating a heat-island effect that helps stimulate the formation of inversion layers during winter, and trapping the area's self-generated pollutants.

The climate-change expert explains that surface inversion layers can form as low as 400 meters above the city, and can linger for upwards of a month as occurred early this year. The behaviour of air pollutants under such conditions becomes more irregular and the concentration more hazardous, especially for those living in high-rises.

Prof Thanawat warns that Thailand may have reached a tipping point. "There's no doubt our weather patterns are changing, and we've known this would occur due to climate change. While we can't be certain about specific events, we must accept that none of this is nature's fault. We should abandon our polluting ways because we can no longer count on nature to blow it [pollutants] all somewhere else."

NO COMMAND, NO CONTROL

About 90% of the dangerous particles in the air in and around Bangkok are generated by vehicle exhaust, biomass burning, factories and dust from construction sites. And as the pollution readings ratchet up, so do health-related economic costs.

"Estimates of damages associated with concentration of larger air particles PM10 in Bangkok are around 446 billion baht per year," explains Assoc Prof Witsanu Attavanich, from Kasetsart University's Faculty of Economics, in describing his own findings on the social and economic impacts of air pollution and their solutions.

"Information associated with PM2.5 is not yet available. But damages will certainly be higher than PM10 because they cause more severe health problems."

The Pollution Control Department (PCD) is well aware of these costs. It cites a study by Shi Y et al, that in South and Southeast Asia between 1999 and 2014, PM2.5 is believed to have caused around 1.4 million premature deaths, and recommends urgent and strict controls on emissions. Yet the agency has made no such moves, Dr Witsanu says.

"We can't seem to market clean air. Therefore, there's no value and people don't see the true costs they have to pay. There must be a study to show that it is worth it for the government to invest to resolve the pollution crisis. However, the government first has to realise that we're facing an air pollution crisis that demands this research," says Prof Witsanu.

This is a complex problem requiring an integrated, multi-layered approach to achieve any real improvements, he says. But the government is stuck in an ineffective "command-and-control" mentality that only gives the appearance of a response by focusing on weak pollution control regulations. Such a narrow approach has proven ineffective because they lack enforcement mechanisms.

For example, vehicles emitting dangerous black exhaust remain in widespread use. Moreover, despite anti-burning regulations, 66% of the sugarcane that entered mills this year was burned prior to harvesting.

Prof Witsanu argues that economic incentives, which will compel the public to change its behaviour, must be put in place and the pollution tackled at the root. He advocates taxing vehicles directly for the harm they cause and creating new markets for agricultural waste and biomass that do not involve burning.

To accomplish this, however, would require a seismic shift in policy making, says Assoc Prof Niramol Suthamkit, director of Pro-Green Centre, Thammasat University.

"Air pollution from vehicles, infrastructure construction and property development are the result of urban and economic growth priorities," she says. There is little space in policy-making that prioritises the environment for society's overall quality of life, she adds.

Despite Bangkok's pollution and traffic challenges, the number of registered vehicles has more than doubled in the past decade to 10.5 million vehicles. No effort has been made to reduce these numbers. Instead, transportation plans call for another 1,047 kilometres of new roads and expressways over the next decade, Prof Niramol adds.

"Conflict of interest is the key problem within government agencies," says Supat Wangwongwattana, former director general of PCD and currently a lecturer at Faculty of Public Health at Thammasat University. "For example, the mission of the Industry Ministry is to promote more industry, yet at the same time, it is responsible for industrial pollution control. How can it balance between the two?"

Mr Supat argues that such internal conflicts result from the evolution of a government bureaucracy intent on facilitating economic development of growing concerns for environmental protection. Efforts to establish an independent body with full authority to take charge of environmental issues have never gained much traction.

Though supportive, Mr Supat concedes that from his experience as PCD chief, he cannot envision how such a body can ever be welcomed within the bureaucracy. A more palatable, but less effective, step might be to seek avenues to break-up obvious conflicts. Possibly the Pollution Control Department could oversee the environmental aspects of factory licensing and operations he suggests, removing the Industry Ministry from the loop. "Still," he says, "it depends on the government's political will."

CENTRALISED COMPLACENCY

"Nationwide, there has been an alarming level of PM2.5 in the air for a long time," observes Chol Bunnag, director of SDG Move Thailand and lecturer with the Faculty of Economics at Thammasat University. "Chiang Mai in particular has been at a crisis level for a decade now. Air pollution only became an issue for the government when Bangkok's worsening air quality stirred-up significant public discontent this year. Bangkok has always been the priority, the centre of authority and development, leaving other parts of the country out in the cold."

Emergency declarations were never made by the central government regarding Chiang Mai's air quality for fear that it would reflect negatively on the country's tourism image, Mr Chol says. Decentralisation of decision-making and authority could encourage regional development policies to address more localised needs.

Moreover, a "silo-structure" within government agencies discourages officials to work cooperatively across agencies, focusing instead on their own priorities, he says. Nowhere is this constraint more clear, and the opportunities to overcome them more explicit, he adds, than Thailand's publicised commitment to meeting the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

To achieve these 17 goals, all of which have environmental components, officials with special expertise are required to work across disciplines and agency priorities, notes Chol.

Jinanggoon Rojananan, senior adviser for Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council, claims the 20-Year National Strategic Plan (2018-2037) and the 12th National Economic and Social Development Plan are both in line with SDG guidelines.

Both plans stress the need to transition to a more integrated administrative structure, working process and budgeting.

They also promote the introduction of a more bottom-up decision-making process, she says, "to move the country forward in a more balanced way".

Chol appreciates these efforts, though he feels that they are superficial and moving too slowly to allow the government to get a handle on the rapidly deteriorating environmental quality besetting the country.

phpSNV3iHPM.jpg (41.42 KiB) Viewed 4176 times

Reporting for this story was supported by Mekong Eye, a geo-journalism website under Internews' Earth Journalism Network.

[PeteC]

An unhealthy 111 US AQI in Hua Hin at the moment, and forecast between 100 and 150 over the next 3 days.

I’m surprised with all of the north wind.

Bangkok is only 108.