Bangkok - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the air quality like at post (good/moderate/bad)? Are there seasonal air quality issues? Does the air quality have an impact on health?
The air is not great in Thailand. Both in the cities and in rural areas it can be bad from car pollution, farmers burning their field, etc. - Feb 2023
It's poor. There is pollution and the burning season every year. . - Jan 2023
Air quality is good from May to November (the wet season), and then bad from December to April (the dry season). When it's bad, it can get pretty bad (AQI in the 200-300 range) and people do get respiratory problems. The embassy diligently provides BlueAir filtration for all embassy housing units, but most housing here is not sealed particularly well so you'll find that your filters turn black and dirty pretty quickly during pollution season. Pollution in Bangkok is caused primarily by transportation emissions and secondarily by seasonal agricultural burning throughout the region, compounded by weather patterns. It's annoying and can definitely impact health. - May 2022
Not great during January- March. Seasonal allergies. Schools were closed for several days this past year due to poor air quality. - Aug 2019
See above answer. - Jun 2018
Pretty good for a city of this size. We have lived with much worse. - Apr 2017
Moderate. - Nov 2016
We live about 15km outside of the city in Nichada Thani, and it is just fine. - Aug 2015
Unhealthy. I was surprised actually how bad it could be. Probably akin to Los Angeles in the 1980s and 1990s (or maybe even now). The air would often clean up after a heavy rain but there were days when visibility was very bad. - Aug 2014
Moderate. Very few days have been "bad days." Similar to what you could expect in summer time in DC or other big American cities on hot humid days. - May 2014
Moderate, but with it being so easy to get out of the city on weekends, it doesn't bother us much. We ride bikes and run outdoors, when the temperatures aren't too high. - Jul 2013
Moderate in Bangkok, good everywhere else. - Jun 2013
You definitely notice it, but it is so much better than China. - Jul 2012
People say it isn't good, but I haven't had a problem. - Oct 2011
Not sure really. I would assume it is probably not very good but I have never studied it. I wouldn't want to stand by a busy Bangkok road for too long. - Aug 2011
The rain cleans a lot of the pollution out during the rainy season, but over all the air pollution is a problem for people with sensetive lungs. - Jul 2011
The air quality is rather unhealthy. We live out in the Nichada community and even here folks with allergies or asthma have difficulty at times. Downtown is, of course, worse. There are many, many days where it's just a thick, sweltering, soup-like sky. - Feb 2011
I had heard that the air quality in Bangkok was terrible, but with the BTS Skytrain and MRT subway, this must have improved. Air pollution isn't too bad. Although the city is fragrant with incense, sewage, cooking smells from street vendors, exhaust, and frangipani and jasmine at various times. - May 2010
It is unhealthy but from what I've heard it is a lot better than 10 years ago. - Apr 2010
