Thailand MUST Get Real About This Pollution !

Here are two quotes from sites on the Internet in reference to air pollution in Chiang Mai. I think they both speak for themselves:

"In London, the United States and the European Union as a whole it is considered a serious pollution 'episode' if the PM-10 level exceeds 50."

For some reason, the Thai Pollution Control Department has set the "safe level" as anything less than a PM 10 of 120. Just to illustrate how high the levels can get in Chiang Mai, on March 14, 2007 PM-10 levels reached 303.9, catastrophically high by any standards.

"Chiang Mai Air Quality Initiative Programme: building capacity of Thai federal and provincial Air Quality Department - July 12, 2000 ".

This project is based on the cooperation and partnership between the United States of America and Thailand at the national and local levels, to conserve and enhance air quality and to reduce noise levels at the local level, namely in Chiang Mai municipal area. It is aimed at making the municipality of Chiang Mai one of the healthiest cities in the world. The project, which was approved in May of this year, will officially start on July 12, 2000.

Maybe it is time Thailand stopped resting on its laurels and realised the implications. I appreciate that this is a developing country, but many of the problems it is facing, such as pollution, already have working solutions developed 50to a 100 years ago in the West.

All they have to do is stand on the shoulders of giants. We need education, a sense of individual responsibility, alternatives, not six water-spray fans on Narawat Bridge in central Chiang Mai - though it's good to see that the local think tank has a sense of humour as well as a member who owns a fan factory !!.

Source: THE NATION ON SUNDAY