Air quality in Suan Phueng

Is Suan Pheng a polluted place to live?

Suan Pheng has pollution readings on record that have put it in a rather poor position regarding its air cleanliness levels. High readings of PM2.5 were recorded throughout 2020. Observing the air quality figures taken in mid and late 2021, it can be seen that Suan Pheng is subject to more elevated readings of air pollution. US AQI is used to demonstrate what level of air pollution is taking place, with US AQI itself being a figure that is aggregated from the main pollutants that are found in the air in Suan Pheng. These are chemical compounds that include ozone, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide, as well as the two main forms of particle pollution, PM2.5 and its larger or coarser counterpart, PM10.

In the early days of September 2021, Suan Pheng came in with a US AQI reading of 21, which placed it into the 'good' air quality rating category for the day and time in which it was recorded. A 'good' air quality rating is color-coded as green, used on both this page as well as throughout the IQAir website, for ease of navigation when observing the air quality levels. As the level of air pollution goes up, so does the darkness of the color, with red, purple and maroon indicating the most severe levels of air pollution.

A 'good' air quality rating requires a US AQI reading of 0 to 50 to be classified as such and represents the most optimal level of air quality that can be achieved, meaning that all members of the population would be free to conduct outdoor activities without having to be concerned over whether the air will be harmful to their health, particularly if they are people who belong in the more vulnerable or at-risk groups, which includes, young children, babies, pregnant women, the elderly, as well as those with pre-existing health conditions, hypersensitivity towards pollution or compromised immune systems.

What is causing higher levels of air pollution in Suan Pheng?

Some of the more prominent reasons behind the higher levels of air pollution seen in Suan Pheng ones that typically arise from a variety of combustion sources. Combustion of fuels and other materials such as organic matter remains the largest contributor to air pollution both in Suan Pheng and throughout the rest of Thailand. Widespread use of cars, motorbikes and heavier freight vehicles all burn through large amounts of fuel, which emits pollution in the form of exhaust fumes. Additionally, many tons of microscopic or ultrafine rubber particles can enter into the atmosphere, contaminating the air, as well as bodies of water or the environment as a whole, which comes about from years of wear and tear on tire treads.

Different industrial facilities such as factories and power plants burn through high amounts of fuel, with fossil fuels often being relied upon heavily to meet their power needs. The combustion of diesel, natural gas, oil and coal can lead to a higher output of chemical pollutants and hazardous particulate matter. Whilst these are all ambient sources of air pollution that slowly raise the US AQI or PM2.5 count over the year, it still seems apparent that that smoke from fires or slash and burn farming practices remains the largest contributors to the more prominent spikes in air pollution in Suan Pheng, being far more dangerous to the environment than the other factors that were mentioned.

Regarding PM2.5, it refers to ultrafine particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter, also going down to sizes many times smaller. It is this property that lends itself to making PM2.5 one of the most dangerous forms of air pollution in Suan Pheng and throughout Thailand, along with the variety of sources that it emanates from. Hence, it is used as a prominent measure of air quality and will be cited at the end of the article in regards to the months that had the highest levels of air pollution.

What can be done to clean up the air quality in Suan Pheng?

Whilst the practice of open burning, or slash and burn farming is already known to be highly illegal, the actual implementation of enforcement of these laws faces many obstacles in regards to stopping said activities.

This is due to a multitude of reasons, such as many of these burning practices taking place under at night under the cover of dark, thus making them harder to prevent, as well as also taking place in hard to reach locations, thus putting another barrier in front of proper enforcement. The cessation of such activities would aid greatly in reducing a vast quantity of poorer pollution readings, present in both Suan Pheng and throughout Thailand and other nearby countries, which can also suffer as a result of smoke drifting many miles to pollute cities great distances away from the original burn sites. Other actions that could be taken would be ones such as imposing stricter regulations on factories and power plants, as well as any other pollution-emitting businesses. The removal of highly polluting vehicles from the roads would also be another step in the direction of cleaner air, as this is a prevalent issue both in major cities as well as rural areas, with many ancient vehicles still in use on the roads putting out significantly more pollutants than a less aged counterpart would.

What time of the year has the highest pollution levels in Suan Pheng?

Observing the pollution levels that were recorded throughout 2020, one can see that Suan Pheng had very typical months of pollution as is common in many cities throughout Thailand. The middle months of the year were cleaner, and after the burning season started, pollution levels spiked rapidly, with the early months of the year showing signs that the fires that started in the latter months of the previous year had carried on and tainted their readings.

Whilst fully calibrated data is missing for January, February through to May showed higher readings, along with November and December also having elevations in its PM2.5 figures. Out of all of these, February, March and April had the most severe PM2.5 readings, coming in at 64.9 μg/m³, 63.8 μg/m³ and 53.8 μg/m³ respectively. These months would have air that is highly permeated by smoke, soot, smog and other clouds of harmful particles or chemical compounds.

What time of the year does the air quality see improvements in Suan Pheng?

In contrast to the above-mentioned months, Suan Pheng had considerably better air quality readings from June through to September. All of these months fell well within the World Health Organization's (WHO's) target for the most optimal level of air cleanliness at 10 μg/m³ or less. Their readings were 2.5 μg/m³, 2.5 μg/m³, 5.4 μg/m³ and 4.6 μg/m³ respectively, making them exceptionally clean, especially in regards to June and July, which is when Suan Pheng is most likely to have the cleanest air quality throughout the year, based on past readings.