Cleaner air in Bangkok

[Yappofloyd]

There are some photos and a graph on the website, http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/23/news/bangkok.php. Some interesting readings of pollution under the BTS viaducts and stations.

Bangkok's template for an air-quality turnaround, IHT, by Thomas Fuller Published: February 23, 2007

BANGKOK: Black smoke billowing from tailpipes into the humid, tropical air was once a Bangkok trademark. But a decade and a half after Thailand began a battle for better air quality, this erstwhile icon of smog has emerged as a role model for Asia's pollution-choked capitals, boasting considerably cleaner air than Beijing, Jakarta, New Delhi and Shanghai.

Some buses here still belch toxic vapor. And Thailand's political future is hard to plot as the country seeks to extricate itself from the tangled legacy of the military-led coup last September. Yet the skies in Bangkok on most days are blue, thanks to the work of a small, dedicated group of bureaucrats who pressed the case for cleaner air despite a history of weak, short-lived governments. "There's a huge difference when you walk around the streets," said Jitendra Shah, a coordinator at the World Bank for environment and social issues in Southeast Asia who has worked in Bangkok since the 1990s. "Breathing is definitely easier."

Thailand's battle against air pollution provides a virtual how-to manual of environmental cleanup, say Shah and other air quality experts in Asia. Thai officials cajoled oil companies to produce cleaner fuel, used higher taxes to phase out the once-ubiquitous two- stroke motorcycles and converted all taxis to run on clean-burning liquefied petroleum gas. They overcame lobbying campaigns from the large, mostly Japanese-owned car industry and imposed progressively stricter emissions controls based on European norms (Thailand had no emissions standards before 1992).

The local government enacted simple but highly effective measures like washing the streets to keep the dust down. Buddhist crematoria in and around the city were urged to change from wood-burning pyres to more sophisticated electric incinerators. The striking result is that, while the number of motor vehicles registered in Bangkok has increased by 40 percent over the past decade, the average levels of the most dangerous types of pollution — small dust particles that embed themselves in the lungs — have been cut by 47 percent, from 81 to 43 micrograms per cubic meter during the same period. Bangkok's air, on average, now falls within the limit set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of 50 micrograms per cubic meter, but is above the European Union limit of 40.

"It's possible for others to follow what we've done here," said Supat Wangwongwatana, director general of the pollution control department at Thailand's Ministry of Environment. It's a line that Supat has used often in recent years. The World Bank and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have dispatched him to countries around the region, including India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, to speak in antipollution workshops.

Four decades ago Thailand did not even have a word for pollution — there was barely use for it in a city with many fewer cars. It was only in 1976 that the country's Royal Institute, the official arbiter of the Thai language, coined the word "mollapit." The word means "poison or toxins that come from impurity or dirtiness," according to Naiyana Wara-aswapati, a senior linguist at the institute.

Yet giving pollution a name was far easier than cleansing the air. And as pedestrians in Bangkok can attest, some of the poison still lingers. The city still has nagging air quality problems especially — and paradoxically — in neighborhoods served by the city's relatively new mass transit system, which was supposed to help ease pollution by allowing commuters to leave their cars at home. Pollution gets trapped underneath the concrete platforms of the elevated railway and can rise to levels that rival the most polluted cities in Asia: 85 to 180 micrograms per cubic meter of dust particles — many times higher than the World Health Organization's guidelines of 20 micrograms per cubic meter.

"No matter how much cleaner the gasoline becomes it stills stinks," said Chainarong Nobnobe, a traffic police officer working in one of the most congested areas of Bangkok. "There should be measures to limit the number of cars." Greater Bangkok, with a population of about 10 million, has not yet achieved the air quality of Singapore or Tokyo. These latter cities have on average the cleanest air of major Asian capitals — air quality roughly equivalent to New York City's. But what Bangkok has shown is that you do not need to have Singapore's authoritarian legacy or Tokyo's riches to make radical improvements to the environment.

Thailand has also demonstrated that a thriving car industry is not incompatible with cleaner air, said Shah of the World Bank. Thailand, which will produce about 1.28 million cars and trucks and 3.5 million motorcycles this year, is Asia's third-largest exporter of vehicles, after Japan and Korea.
Part of Bangkok's success in cleaning its air is due to luck and geography. Unlike Los Angeles, Bangkok has no surrounding mountains to trap smog. Unlike Beijing, which has some of the worst air in East Asia, power plants around Bangkok do not use coal. Thailand gets natural gas from neighboring Myanmar and its own platforms in the Gulf of Thailand; 70 percent of the country's power production is from natural gas, which burns more cleanly than coal.

Most of the credit for the cleaner air, however, goes to a group of strong- willed environmental pioneers, said Nuntavarn Vichit-Vadakan, dean of the Faculty of Public Health at Thammasat University. Technocrats, often trained in the United States, convinced politicians of the need for action, Nuntavarn said. They faced considerable resistance. Supat, the director of the pollution control department, helped usher in Thailand's first laws on tailpipe emissions, based mainly on European standards. In the early 1990s he traveled to Japan with Kasem Sanitwong Na Ayutthaya, the current environment minister, to persuade Japanese automakers to make and sell cleaner cars in Thailand.

Bhichit Rattakul, a U.S.-trained microbiologist, created the Anti-Air Pollution & Environmental Protection Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy group, in 1986, well before going green was trendy. Elected Bangkok governor in 1996, he planted 400,000 trees, cracked down on polluting trucks and established stricter rules for dusty construction sites. When Bhichit announced that the local government would transform an 18-hole golf course incongruously located on the outskirts of Bangkok into a giant park, he famously faced off with hundreds of protesting golf caddies who barricaded themselves on the grounds of the club and threw golf balls and bricks at officials who tried to dislodge them. (Police ultimately dispersed the caddies and the area is today a public park as planned.)

Piyasvasti Amranand, a former secretary general of Thailand's National Energy Policy Office, in 1991 established the country's first comprehensive plan to remove lead, sulfur and other harmful chemicals from fuel. Piyasvasti, who is now energy minister, says he encountered strong resistance from Western oil companies and Japanese car manufacturers; he recalled long debates over the proposed introduction of catalytic converters, the device that neutralizes harmful chemicals before they are emitted from tailpipes. At the time, Bangkok's air was laden with dust, lead and other harmful chemicals. In 1993, 28 percent of children tested at six Bangkok schools had lead concentrations higher than the acceptable threshold set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control: 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood. Traffic policemen and bus drivers also showed high lead levels but in children it was considered most harmful because lead has been shown to retard mental development.

After Thailand completely phased out lead gasoline 1995 (a year before the United States although the U.S. had started its gradual reduction program in 1973, well before Thailand) lead levels plummeted in Bangkok. By 2000 only 3 percent of children at the same schools in Bangkok were above the threshold. In the West as in Thailand leaded gasoline seems like ancient history. Yet one measure of Thailand's head-start is that in Indonesia refineries stopped producing leaded gasoline only last year. In the early 1990s Supat used data on the high lead levels in schoolchildren to convince the owner's of Thailand's major oil refineries, motorcycle and car manufacturers – and the public – that something needed to be done.

Although public concern about pollution was rising, Supat said many Thais were also worried that better fuel and more efficient engines would cost more money. Supat responded by saying that the black smoke coming out of vehicles was unburnt fuel. "We're wasting a lot of fuel out of the tailpipe," he remembers repeating.
cont...

[Yappofloyd]

In the end it was consumers, not industry, that paid for the higher quality fuel and tighter emissions controls on cars. The government altered the tax structure to make unleaded gasoline cheaper even though it was more expensive to produce than leaded fuel. This was achieved by sleight of hand: Officials avoided a loss of revenue for the government by quietly raising a levy on gasoline several months before the introduction of unleaded fuel, channeling the extra proceeds into a special oil fund, and then lowering the levy only for unleaded fuel. "That is the pattern we've been using all along: increasing the oil fund without people noticing. Slip it in," Piyasvasti said.

Piyasvasti used the same tactic last October, raising the oil levy in preparation for greater incentives for biodiesel (diesel mixed with locally produced palm oil) and gasohol (gasoline mixed with ethanol made from locally produced sugar cane and tapioca). These fuels, which have been available in small quantities since 2004, burn more cleanly and help Thailand reduce its oil and energy imports, which today stand at around 60 percent of energy consumption. The government hopes that once taxes are lowered consumers will be drawn in greater numbers to these fuels. "The general public likes lower prices. That's the most important thing," Piyasvasti said.

On the streets of Bangkok, residents give the city's fight against pollution mixed reviews. Suwanna Jusing, 50, the owner of a roadside restaurant in northern Bangkok, said pollution had improved during the three decades she had been selling her chicken, pork and shrimp noodle dishes to customers at roadside tables. The authorities are trying to make Bangkok "a better place to live," she said. "And that makes me happy."

Pacharapun Tinnabal, 25, a graduate student who recently returned after living three years in Jakarta, said she was relieved to return home because the air in the Indonesian capital is "far more polluted." But others, such as Thongpoon Nawiman, a 41-year-old motorcycle messenger who spends five days a week wending through Bangkok's wide boulevards and tiny alleys, is not satisfied. "The air is still polluted, and the traffic is still bad," he said.

Bhichit, the former Bangkok governor, agrees that there's lots of room for improvement. "I'm still not a happy man," he said. "I'm trying to demand more."
After his 4-year term as governor, which ended in 2000, Bhichit returned to a career of environmental activism, and reinvigorating his anti-air pollution foundation. Hundreds of volunteers filmed and photographed buses spewing black smoke, evidence that Bhichit used in a lawsuit against the city's transit authority. Last year he won a partial victory to retire some decrepit, polluting buses, but the transit authority is appealing the decision. "They should revoke the licenses of these people," Bhichit said. He blames Supat at the pollution control department for not cracking down hard enough.

It will be years before all of the ancient buses and two-stroke motorcycles hit the scrap heap. But as they slowly fade away, Bangkok's air will improve even more, say experts. Close to 100 percent of motorcycle sold in Thailand today have 4-stroke engines, an almost total reversal from a decade earlier. Supat is also trying to convince drivers of Bangkok's 9,000 iconic but heavily polluting three-wheeled "tuk-tuks" to change over to 4-stroke engines.

In November the government approved the construction of five new or extended light-rail lines, scheduled for completion in 2012. The city is also planning a "Bus Rapid Transport" system, a network of dedicated bus lanes separated from traffic. The car will remain king in Bangkok for years, but government officials say they hope residents will leave them at home most days. "There's no problem to own a car but don't use it that much," Supat said.

Patcharin Areewong and Warangkana Tempati provided additional reporting for this story.

[Yappofloyd]

Some updates

Apirak to get tough on Bangkok pollution 'Ambitious' plan calls for greening, conservation and traffic measures The Nation 05/06/07
Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin yesterday announced his target to reduce carbon emissions in Thailand's capital by 15 per cent in the next five years in response to growing concerns over global warming, which is the theme of this year's United Nations' World Environ-ment Day.

Scientists, while describing the goal as "ambitious", praised Apirak's initiative as it was the first time a Thai politician had come forward to set a target to reduce carbon emissions that are a major culprit in global warming.

Apirak released a draft action plan for Bangkok that contained both soft and harsh measures such as planting trees, retro-fitting buildings with more energy efficient lighting and cooling systems, promoting carpools, re-newable energy and mass transit systems and preventing vehicles without passengers to enter traffic congestion areas.

"In the past four decades, the average temperature in Bangkok has increased by two degrees Celsius," Apirak said. "About 24 per cent of green house gas emissions in Thailand are from Bang-kok. Global warming has become an important issue for us in the urban sector, so we must to take the lead in tackling the problem."The plan, now being released for feedback for 60 days, is set to be modified and implemented by August, Apirak said.

Scientists and academics yesterday urged the government and funding agencies to give more financial support for studies on the typical impacts of global warming and to increase the country's capacity to tackle the problems.

Speaking at a national event to commemorate World Envi-ronment Day, Anond Snidvongs of Chulalongkorn University, said although the government was aware the country had been hit by global warming, it had not done enough."We know that severe drought and floods, as well as the fluctuation of climate conditions are impacts of global warming, but the government does nothing more than give relief to the people hit by the natural disasters," he said.

Anond, who has spent more than a decade studying climate change and global warming, referred to the government's lack of budget in tackling drought and flood problems.Thanawat Jarupongsakul, a geography lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, supported Anond saying the country still lacked a true understanding of the impact of rising temperatures.

"The IPCC [Intergovern-mental Panel on Climate Change] only presented the overview of the impact on the whole world. It is our job to draw the possible scenarios of the problem on our country," he said, referring to the United Nations' panel of scientists. For Thanawat, the study on possible impacts on the agriculture sector, particularly in rice bowl areas of the country such as the Chao Phya and Tha Chin deltas, is needed as it would relate to food security of the country.

EDITORIAL Bold initiatives for Bangkok Bkk Post 23/06/07
No one ever need wonder about Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin's favourite colour after the events of the past six weeks. It was no coincidence that a spate of policy initiatives designed to reduce the size of the capital's carbon footprint came after he had firmly established his green credentials at a gathering of 40 big-city mayors in New York in mid-May.

That was preceded by his stewardship here of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change conference. Quickly following that was the signing of the Bangkok Declaration on May 9, which committed the city administration to combatting global warming, reducing energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and raising awareness about the impact of rising global temperatures.

This was no passing fad. A month later, Governor Apirak did what national governments are supposed to do and set a target to reduce carbon emissions in the capital by 15% over the next five years. This was a bold, if rather optimistic, political "first", which he hopes to achieve by planting more trees, retro-fitting buildings with more energy-efficient lighting and cooling systems, encouraging car pools, developing renewable energy sources, improving and expanding mass transit systems and by banning driver-only vehicles from entering areas with heavy traffic congestion. Such vehicles will need a minimum number of passengers. This measure is certain to be even more unpopular than car pools and just as difficult to enforce. Previous attempts have been embarrassing flops, although the logic is sound.

What alarms Governor Apirak the most, and has won him the support of the Clinton Foundation, is the rise in Bangkok's average temperature of two degrees in the past four decades, which means that the capital is responsible for about 24% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions. He obviously cares about this and his fellow citizens should share his concern, but human nature being what it is, this concern might stop short of willingness to actually make the kind of painful sacrifices necessary to stop the rot. Mr Apirak has a valid point in blaming traffic but he is overlooking another factor contributing in no small measure to the overheating of Bangkok. And that is the legacy of the haphazard approach taken in recent decades by his predecessors to urban planning. True, he has introduced a comprehensive city plan which should ensure that no one in a residential area suddenly finds a slaughterhouse opening for business next door to them, but he cannot undo the considerable damage already done.

People battle this daily while trying to negotiate traffic-clogged streets interspersed with a never-ending profusion of shopping malls and a lack of adequate parking space. And they are in no hurry to see the growth of still more towering concrete monstrosities which trap the hot and polluted air in the streets. Unless we make future planning approvals contingent on strict environmental criteria, we will doom ourselves to live in a hot, humid and soulless concrete jungle with all the loss of character, identity and individuality that entails.

Instead of more parks we see construction projects relentlessly encroaching on the fun tourist attractions of the Suan Lum night bazaar and Chatuchak Park among others. The car plague must take its share of the blame for climate change, but turning our streets into concrete canyons has not been without repercussions. Contrary to public relations hype, it has not made them tourist attractions. Those are falling victim to the wrecking ball.

Pollution from cremations has BMA troubled City lacks funds to deal with problem By Apinya Wipatayotin BKK Post 24/06/07
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has expressed concern over cancerous pollutants emitted from crematoriums at temples across the city but says City Hall does not have the funds to tackle the problem. People living close to temples, monks, and temple staff are at risk of developing health problems caused by cancer-causing dioxins and furans from crematorium furnaces, said Nikom Wairatpanij, chief of the BMA's environmental department. ''Concerned agencies and affected people realise that this is a serious problem, but signs of sickness can only be seen over a long period of toxic exposure. That's why there is no concrete policy to cope with the problem,'' Mr Nikom told a recent seminar on pollution from crematoriums.

A few years ago, the Pollution Control Department and the BMA jointly launched a campaign for environmentally-friendly crematoriums and to promote public awareness of the issue. Under the campaign, temples were encouraged to install two-chambered combustion cremation devices, which release less dioxins and furans into the air than conventional furnaces. According to the BMA, 93% of a total of 289 temples in Bangkok have already installed the two-chambered combustion furnaces, and only 7% still use single-chambered furnaces.

However, the air pollutants emitted from cremations are still at a worrying level, with up to 2,500 bodies cremated at city temples each month, or 83 bodies a day. Mr Nikom said only 10% of Bangkok temples had achieved what could be considered environmentally-friendly cremation practices, which includes controls of dust levels and keeping carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide emissions at acceptable levels. He admitted that it was difficult to completely cut dioxins and furans from cremations as pollution-free furnaces cost a lot.
Dioxins and furans can be completely combusted in a matter of seconds at a temperature of over 1,000 degrees Celsius. But no furnaces used at any of Bangkok's crematoriums can reach such temperatures, he said. Most of them can reach a maximum temperature of 850 Celsius.

Jarupong Boon-long, the United Nations Environment Programme's project coordinator, said equipping crematoriums with advanced furnace technology and equipment was the best way to tackle cremation-related pollution in the city. ''The establishment of pollution-free cremation centres will definitely cost a lot of money, but it will benefit the city and its people in the long run.'' he said. ''So we have to convince policy makers that cremation-induced pollution is a pressing problem.'' Ex-Bangkok governor Samak Sundaravej once adopted the idea and planned to set up four cremation centres fitted with modern furnaces to reduce air pollutants. However, the project was suspended due to the high setting up and running costs.

[Yappofloyd]

Apirak to push for 'green building' practices in final year of term BKK Post 06/07/06

Bangkok governor Apirak Kosayodhin says he will spend the last year of his term promoting ''green building'' practices to reduce carbon dioxide levels in the city. He said emphasis would be given to ensuring that the effects of new buildings on the city environment were minimised, particularly by reducing energy consumption. This was one of three projects Mr Apirak raised in talks yesterday with Surendra Shrestha, the regional director of the UN Environment Programme. The governor said Mr Shrestha promised to back the city's efforts in its campaign against global warming.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) would seek cooperation from the construction industry and look at ways the Building Control Act could be used to support the scheme, Mr Apirak said. ''All this will be translated into practice within one year,'' he said. Combating global warming has become City Hall's flagship policy since May, when Bangkok hosted the two-week meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Mr Apirak signed the Bangkok Declaration, along with 36 state and private agencies, which promises cooperation in solving global warming. To reduce energy usage, a building needs to consume less electricity. This can be achieved by a range of methods _ from installation of costly solar cells on the roof to the cheaper option of having more windows, which allows more natural light into the building and reduces the use of fluorescent lighting.

Another project is the publication of easy-to-understand leaflets on global warming and its dangers. Mr Apirak said the BMA would also talk with car manufacturers about the introduction of a hybrid car, which uses both electricity and oil, in Bangkok. Until recently, Thailand had been seen as being more interested in economic growth than in dealing with global warming. However, as the effects of rising temperatures become evident through unusually hot weather and flooding, the city has begun taking environmental policy seriously. TNA

Bangkok's air pollution slowly evaporating 26/10/07

BANGKOK (AFP) — For a decade, Bangkok cobbler Swang Porgaew has staked out a place beneath a staircase where he fixes shoes while wearing a mask to filter out the toxic fumes from his industrial glue and the city buses. "Pollution is always bad because of the buses," he said as he stitched the sole of a black high-heeled shoe and watched a crowded bus rumble away from the nearby stop. "But it's getting better," he said.

Even though pedestrians and street workers like Swang wear surgical masks almost as often as sunglasses, the city's reputation for filthy air is gradually evaporating as measures aimed at cutting vehicle emissions and expanding mass transit begin to pay off. The city has seen a 47 percent decrease in the amount of harmful small dust particles since 1997, according to Bangkok's Pollution Control Department. The latest data show the Thai capital's air quality comes within limits set by the US, and just slightly higher than standards in the European Union.

While Bangkok's air quality is still worse than that of Asia's cleanest cities, such as Tokyo and Singapore, the fall in pollution levels is getting the Thai capital noticed. Jitendra Shah, the World Bank's coordinator for the environment, says the statistics prove what many residents have observed -- that Bangkok's air quality has improved considerably over the past two decades. "Walking around the streets I have found that breathing is definitely easier here," said Shah, who has worked in the Thai capital since the early 1990s and attributes the cleaner air to a civic dedication to eradicating environmental dangers. "Bangkok has done lots of things to improve air quality. Improving the emissions standards, for example, has improved it slowly but gradually," he said.

Thailand is also encouraging vehicles on Bangkok's gridlocked streets to use compressed natural gas, a cheaper, cleaner and odorless alternative to petrol or diesel. Twarath Sutabutr, Ministry of Energy spokesman, said: "We are promoting the usage of natural gas in the sector because it's cheaper and cleaner with zero percent sulfur and significantly lower emissions than petrol."
The number of vehicles using natural gas in Bangkok is small but growing fast, having tripled to almost 20,000 in the past 18 months thanks to incentives that cut the cost of engine conversion, the Land Transport Department said.

This has led to an explosion in natural gas consumption, up 71 percent last year to 93 million litres (24.5 million gallons). In the first seven months of this year, the total topped off at 110 million litres (29 million gallons).Construction sites are monitored so that dust pollution is kept down, deputy Bangkok governor Bannasopit Mekvichai said.

And the government is spending billions of dollars to expand rail networks, aiming to get three million people a day off the roads and onto mass transit by 2012. Bangkok already has three lines -- two above ground and one below -- with the 75 kilometres (45 miles) of track carrying almost 630,000 passengers a day. Although only the city centre is served by rail, more lines are being added, said Pranote Suriya, deputy head of the city's traffic planning office.

A new line connecting downtown Bangkok to the city's new airport is already under construction, and cabinet has approved another line bringing outlying parts of the capital into the network. Even with the new lines, Pranote warns the city must keep working to manage both traffic and pollution as Thailand's booming auto industry puts record numbers of cars on the streets every year.

"The number of registered new cars has yet to decrease. Many people still need their cars to come from Bangkok's suburbs to reach the mass transit," Pranote said. From his perch beneath stairs leading up to the elevated Skytrain, cobbler Swang Porgaew says that the expanded mass transit system has helped improve air quality. As a traffic jam begins to fill the street nearby, he says: "When the cars pass by, I can't really smell the gas anymore."

[Jromerz]

Looking at updated Bangkok images in Google Earth... Seems that there has been a fair amount of small-scale development in the city's "green lung" across the river. Comparing to before it is definitely not as green as it once was... Mostly appears to be houses being upgraded and more road development, as well as a golf course.

Isn't the area a special zone where development is supposed to be minimal?

It is in Phra Pradaeng district of Samut Prakan, but is the only large undeveloped area of Greater Bangkok.. The "green" (formerly Orange) governor should work with Phra Pradaeng authorities to enforce the zoning law more strictly to keep those fruit orchards and undeveloped areas as they are...

*....ahh.. the wishful thinking strikes again....*

[Yappofloyd]

Half of city has air that's poor quality BKK Post, 11/06/2010

The country's first air quality study using "lichen indicators" has found that half of metropolitan Bangkok has poor and unhealthy air. Downtown Bangkok, traffic congested areas and Bangkok's outskirts hosting many factories, are among the most heavily polluted areas, Saranarat Kanjanavanit, secretary-general of the Green World Foundation, said. Bang Khunthian and Bang Na districts, which are located near industrial zones in Samut Sakhon and Samut Prakan provinces, also suffered from poor air quality, she said.

Unhealthy air quality was also found at the airport, the waste incinerator and areas near polluted water, Mrs Saranarat said during the launch of the Bangkok air quality map and the lichen indicator guidebook yesterday. The foundation launched the lichen bioindicator project last September when students from over 50 schools surveyed lichens in 214 locations in Bangkok. Types of lichen found were recorded for further analysis of air quality in each area. The project was concluded last month.

Scientists use lichens, a living organism found on trees, soil and rocks, to monitor air quality since they are sensitive to air pollution. The smaller the variety of lichen in an area, the more polluted it is. Scientists have divided lichen into four categories by its air pollution resistant ability. Types of the lichens found in each area will tell how polluted the air is.

Mrs Saranarat said the lichen survey showed that some parts of Bangkok still had fair air quality such as in the northeast of Bangkok in Klong Sam Wa, Nong Chok and Lat Krabang districts. "Although downtown Bangkok has heavy air pollution, some parts of it enjoy better air quality such as Suan Lumpini public park, Suan Luang Rama 9 and Dusit Zoo," she said.

Mrs Saranarat said cars were major contributors to air pollution. Around 6 million vehicles are registered in Bangkok. "About 50% of people living in central Bangkok have developed respiratory illnesses from air pollution," she said.

[Wisarut]

Community Park: Sirintharaphrueksaphan Park - Princess Sirindhorn's magnanimousness to communityby Praphim Kengkreethaphon
Dailynews - Monday 29 Autust 2011 - 8.57AM

BKK has LOTS of skyscraper yet still have so FEW public parks or natural orchards and parks to clease up the air.

Even BMA Park Bureau has claimed that they have the green space at 4.1 sq. meter per Bangkokians, this has been calculated from the BKK population according to the registered population of 5,702,595 Bangkokians, the actual number of Bangkokians at 10 Million people would rendered the claims by BMA meaningless. ONLY when BMA has couble the green speace from the existing level would validate the claims of BMA.

There are 27 major parks in BKK including:

1. Rama IX Park - 500 Rai at Prawet District
2. Watchirabenkathorn Park (Rot Fai Park) - 375 Rai at Chatuchak District
3. Lumphini Park - 360 Rai at Pathumwan District
4. Serithai Park - 350 Rai at Bueng Kum district
5. Queen Sirikit Park - 196 Rai 3 Ngan 65 Sq. Wah at Chatuchak District
6. Chatuchak Park - 196 Rai 56.6 Sq. Wah at Chatuchak District
7. Benjakitti Park (Thai Tobacco park) - 130 Rai at Klong Toei District
8. Nawaminphirom Park - 76 Rai 39.3 Sq. Wah at Bueng Kum district
9. Suan Thonburirom - 76 Rai 20 Sq. Wah at Thung Kru district
10. Ram Indra Sport Park - 59 Rai 36 Sq. Wah at Bang Khen district
11. Thaweewanarom - 54 Rai at Thawee Watthana district
12. 60-year Her majesty Park - 52 Rai 1 Ngan 69 Sq. Wah at Ladkrabang district
13. Phra Nakhon Park (Ladkrabang Park) - 50 Rai at Ladkrabang district
14. Wanadhamma Park (70-year Her majesty Dhamma Park) - 43 Rai at Prawet district
15. Nongchok Park - 35 Rai 2 Ngan at Nongchok district
16. Rmmaneerart Park (old BKK Prison) - 29 Rai 3 Ngan 72 Sq. Wah at Phra Nakhon District
17. 6-cycle park - 29 Rai under Rama IX Bridge at Bang Kholaem district
18. Benjasiri Park - 29 Rai near Emporium, Klong Toei district
19. Suan Saranrom 1 - 23 Rai near MFA at Phra Nakhon District
20. Santipharb Park - 20 Rai 80 Sq. Wah at Ratchathewee District
21. 50-year Mahachakkri Sirindhorn Park - 20 Rai 49 Sq. Wah at Prawet District
22. Rama VIII Park - 20 Rai Under Rama VIII park at Bang Plad District
23. Rommanee Thung Srikan Park - 15 rai 2 Ngan 74 Sq. Wah at Donmuang District
24. Phannaphirom Park - 14 Rai at Huaykwang district
25. Kiakkai Chaloem Phrakiat Park - 10 Rai at Fort Phra Sumen at Dusit District
26. Santi Chaiprakarn park - 8 Rai 2 Sq. Wah at Fort Phra Sumen at Phra Nakhon District
27. Nakharaphirom Park - 4 Rai 87.5 Sq. Wah near Tha Tian at Ratchathewee District

The 28th Park for BKK will be added in September 2011 - Sirindhara Pueksaphan Park on 3 Rai 16 Sq. Wah at Charansanitwongse Soi 25, Bangkok Noy District - beloged to Pracha Ruamjai Neightborhood which used to be belonged to Mr Aui Janchaloem. The land had been transferred to Chaiphatthan Foundation on 4 August 2008 before asking BMA to improve the area into a public park - with the budget of 7.94 million Baht

The park consists of Leelawadee, 500-sq meter multipurpose field, children playground and the preserved orchard area with rare kinds of trees along with the traditional Thai house which will function as wooden artisan museum.

The park is 90% done -ready to be opened by the end of Septmebr 2011 - oepend from 5 AM to 9 PM daily - new lug for those who live in Bangkok Noy district of BKK.

BMA is running oun of big vacant space so BMA men have to create a small community parks by askign for land donation or encourage private section to come up with the park just like Choowit Park at Sukhumvit Soi 10.

[Wisarut]

Openging Phyathai Phirom park under Expressway between Rama 6 road and Victory monument ... and the 3-meter wide pathway from Ramaq6 Soi 28 to Victory Monument with the distance of abut 1000 meters
http://dailynews.co.th/newstartpage/...ntentID=164525

[Wisarut]

Phyathai Phirom park - Fruit Orchard in the City Center ... you can pick the seasonal fruit here!
http://www.dailynews.co.th/newstartp...ntentID=167283