It's smog and air pollution season in Thailand

[Gaybutton]

Instead of getting any better, the air pollution situation in Chiang Mai is going from bad to worse. The current reading for Pattaya is 59, which isn't great, but not very bad either - especially when compared to Chiang Mai's current reading of 216, nearly 4 times Pattaya's pollution level, still qualifying Chiang Mai as the most air polluted city in the entire world and there seems to be no end in sight. Other areas of northern Thailand are not far behind.

I hope those of you currently in Chiang Mai are doing whatever you have to do to protect yourselves or maybe just getting the hell out of there for the time being.
______________________________________________

Chiang Mai hospitals overflow with pollution sufferers

Northern province's top hospital struggles to treat everyone as persistent haze sickens thousands

April 1, 2023

Thick smog continues to blanket Muang district of Chiang Mai province.

Air pollution in Chiang Mai has reached hazardous levels, with people suffering from respiratory issues filling up local hospitals, the Chiang Mai University Faculty of Medicine reports.

Consistently high PM2.5 levels in the northern province have led to many residents seeking medical attention for respiratory illnesses, including asthma and inflammation.

A total of 12,671 patients sought treatment for respiratory problems between Jan 1 and March 31, the 1,400-bed Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital reported on Saturday.

The facility said it has not been able to treat a significant number of people due to congestion of its inpatient wing.

Nationwide, the number of patients with air pollution-related diseases in hospitals totalled 1.73 million between Jan 1 and March 19, figures from the Ministry of Public Health showed earlier.

So far, provincial officials have acknowledged that air pollution and forest fires remain a major concern, as many areas have been shrouded in smog for weeks and a distinct odour of smoke has persisted.

Although efforts are continuing to quell forest fires in Doi Suthep-Pui National Park, authorities reported that hot spots have continued to expand in recent days.

According to Iqair.com, Chiang Mai was reported to have an air quality index (AQI) of 216 on Saturday afternoon and remained the world’s most polluted city, followed by Guangzhou in China and Hanoi in Vietnam.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... -sufferers

[Jun]

A total of 12,671 patients sought treatment for respiratory problems between Jan 1 and March 31, the 1,400-bed Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital reported on Saturday.

And still they do nothing to stop the pollution.
Also, this is just the number of people with short term health problems. What about those who are sustaining long term damage ?

[Gaybutton]

And still they do nothing to stop the pollution.

Now they are saying the bulk of the pollution is coming in from Myanmar and they are talking to the Myanmar government to try to put a stop to it. People will have to decide for themselves what to believe and predict for themselves if and when this will literally blow over.

I know what I believe . . .

[Jun]

Now they are saying the bulk of the pollution is coming in from Myanmar and they are talking to the Myanmar government to try to put a stop to it.

Well here's a screenshot of the IQAir website, showing Air Quality Index (AQI). It's not totally conclusive, BUT:

1 The 146 reading in the top left near the Myanmar border is lower than some of the readings further into Thailand.

2 There is significant pollution around Nakhon Sawan and to the north of it. If we look at the wind direction arrows, that's travelled over a relatively narrow part of Myanmar and the readings near the Myanmar border are lower than some of those further into Thailand.

3 A similar pattern is repeated just north of Bangkok.

At other times, I have seen data with local hotspots in Thailand, which can't be from anywhere other than Thailand.

Whilst it's just POSSIBLE that Myanmar is responsible for a good proportion of pollution in the far north, I would suggest that Thailand is responsible for a lot of it's own pollution.
If they have evidence to the contrary, publish the data.

Finally, they are in no position to ask Myanmar to improve, when the Thai authorities have made no effort to control pollution in Thailand.

If you had a bonfire in your own back yard, would you complain to your neighbour about pollution from his bonfire ?

[bkkguy]

being my usual pedantic self I would remind people that an AQI rating is not the same as a PM 2.5 reading and the current AQI of 53 in Pattaya is actually based on a PM 2.5 reading of 13.0 ug/m2 which is well within Thailand's "safe" level of 50 ug/m2 and even well within many western countries accepted level of 20 or 25 ug/m2

AQI calculations include many other worrying pollutants that need to be considered for overall health impacts so comparing AQI in one city with AQI in another city is a valid comparison but mixing references to PM 2.5 levels and AQI ratings in news articles and discussion can be I think confusing, but that is just me! and "safe" or "acceptable" hourly, daily and annual averages for PM 2.5 further compound the confusion!

but yes I agree looking at either AQI or PM 2.5 the levels in northern Thailand are totally unacceptable by any standards!

[Gaybutton]

If you had a bonfire in your own back yard, would you complain to your neighbour about pollution from his bonfire ?

Take a lesson from Trump. Got a problem that keeps getting bigger and bigger and out of control? Just blame somebody else . . .

[Gaybutton]

Chiang Mai people sue PM for failing to tackle smog

April 10, 2023

About 1,700 people in Chiang Mai on Monday brought a lawsuit in the Administrative Court against the prime minister and two state agencies for failing to tackle the annual dense smog over the region, which they say is shortening their lives by about five years.

About 60 people were at the Administrative Court in the northern province to file the lawsuit against caretaker Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the National Environmental Board and the Securities and Exchange Commission. They accuse them of failing to exercise their authority to solve the smog problem in the North.

The approximately 1700 plaintiffs in the class action include northern people's networks, activists, academics from Chiang Mai University and local residents.

From Friday to Sunday last week, 727 people signed their names in support of the lawsuit at the faculty of law, Chiang Mai University, and about 980 people did so online. The plaintiffs blamed contract farming for the devastating air pollution.

One of the the plaintiffs, Sumitchai Hatthasan, director of the Centre for Protection and Revival of Local Community Rights, said the prime minister failed to fully exercise his power under the Enhancement and Conservation of National Environmental Quality Act to solve the problem.

The plaintiffs accuse the National Environmental Board of failing to effectively implement the national plan to tackle particulate matter pollution introduced in 2019.

The Securities and Exchange Commission was held responsible for failing to examine the sources of ultrafine dust pollution within the supply chains of major listed companies, to help solve the problem.

Dr Rangsarit Kanchanawanit from the faculty of medicine at Chiang Mai University said the health of people in urban areas was suffering from the unsafe levels of particulate matter 2.5 micrometre and less in diameter (PM2.5) all year long on average. The pollution level raised the risk of lung cancer, heart disease and stroke, and shortened people's lifespans by 4-5 years.

"We want to see the government change its policies, to show a strong political will and not just be considerate towards capitalist groups. This could save millions of people from illness," he said.

Chatchawal Thongdeelert, of the Breath Council, said the problem of PM2.5 became worse every year. The government needs to implement both short and long-term solutions to reduce air pollution.

"The root cause is burning, both in forests and on maize plantations... Political parties and the new government must prioritise this issue and have effective solutions," he said.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... ackle-smog

[Jun]

See Richard Barrow's latest post, from 16-04-2023. https://www.facebook.com/richardbarrowthailand

He's in Chiang Mai. Not only did he take an air quality meter, but he also took one of those large Mi air filters !
That's the big white thing to the left of the air quality meter.

I'm impressed.