White Fog

Last winter, Bangkokians were horrified when the city was smothered by a phenomenon dubbed the "White Fog", a thick layer of toxic smog pollution which descended upon the kingdom during the early months of 2019. There's always been pollution, sure, but generally Bangkok's air was surprisingly clean for a city of its size. Last winter, however, due to increased industrialization in the surrounding countries as well as unfortunate weather conditions, the smog ended up getting stuck right over Thailand. Bangkok's air was rated "unsafe" for weeks, and the air in normally pristine Chiang Mai was downright dangerous. In fact, the government even had to order the schools closed for several days.

a smoggy morning

The government tried coming up with all sorts of ideas to clean up the air, ranging from spraying the air with molasses delivered via drone (a silly idea, in my opinion) to seeding the clouds through the use of the late King Rama IX's Royal Rainmaking Project (a much better and more reliable idea). Eventually, the winter ended, the rainy season arrived, and the wind and rain blew the particles away, cleaning Bangkok's air once again.

Last year when the White Fog struck, there was a run on respiratory masks rated P25, which is a standardized rating for a mask which can properly filter out the smallest unhealthy particles. This year, the White Fog has returned. The air feels gross, and in the morning everything looks hazy and grey. We are all praying for rain soon!

Until then, we are all just staying indoors, running air filters in our homes and apartments, and will continue looking like we live in some sort of weird dystopian nightmare with our P25 masks.

wearing my mask!

(It's not really all that bad. I still love living here. I'm still going on my walking tours, and it's not terribly unsafe to be outside or anything. It's just best to take the proper precautions in regards to our health!)

You can check the ongoing situation in regards to the region's air quality HERE:
http://aqicn.org/map/thailand/