Pollution Levels in SEA

[Spawnboy99]

Pretty subjective but we did live in Malaysia (KL). What would be the order for the following countries in regards to pollution levels over the course of a year? Let's just stick to capitals OK.

1) Malaysia
2) Singapore
3) Thailand
4) Vietnam
5) Indonesia'

Thanks

[marieh]

I can't speak to the other countries over the course of a year, but Bangkok is ROUGH pretty much year round. A 5k run feels like you've inhaled a pack of cigarettes and the AQI is regularly in the danger zone.

[Heliotrope]

Something like this (from most to least):

Vietnam (Hanoi)
Thailand
Indonesia
Malaysia
Vietnam (HCMC)
Singapore

But this is just going by what I've heard.
It shouldn't be too hard to find some actual reliable data for this on the interweb, which is the better way to go.

[buffalofan]

In my experience Jakarta will be the worst by far. Have not lived there but have visited - never again! I love Indo as a place to travel, except for Jakarta.

The other locations are tolerable, but I know that Malaysia (and by extension, Singapore) can get nasty in the burning season. Bangkok in the dry season can also have rough stretches, but I think it's ok overall.

[traveler76]

We left Indonesia last year because of pollution. :( The air quality index is pretty accurate.

[Smoko]

1) Indonesia (Jakarta) - 49.4 AQI
2) Vietnam (Hanoi) - 46.9 AQI
3) Thailand (Bangkok) - 22.8 AQI
4) Malaysia (KL) - 21.6 AQI
5) Singapore - 19 AQI

Source: The annual 2019 averages from https://www.iqair.com/world-most-polluted-cities

Personally these numbers seem a lot lower than I expected, but it should give you some idea of how they compare.

[just.the.truth]

You can use numbeo .com to compare countries, in terms of pollution, accessiblity to clean water etc. It's been a pretty reliable source of data for me.
Cheers

[grdwdgrrrl]

It’s the beginning of pollution season here in Bkk. It’s been around 100 every morning this week. This will continue for a few months. On the upside, it’s a lot cooler now. 25 degrees Celsius on average.

[PsyGuy]

Worst to Best:
1) Thailand (Bangkok)
2) Indonesia (Jakarta)
3) Vietnam (Hanoi)
4) Malaysia (KL)
5) Singapore

[Illiane_Blues]

Agree with Smoko.
Jakarta
Hanoi
Bangkok
Malaysia
Singapore

Only a few capitals in SEA with somewhat clean air.

[buffalofan]

[quote=Illiane_Blues post_id=60187 time=1605938044 user_id=235743]

Only a few capitals in SEA with somewhat clean air.
[/quote]

The only ones that come to mind are Vientiane and possibly Yangon. But work opportunities there are really limited compared to the other ones on that list (Vientiane only has 1 school I think).

[Heliotrope]

Vientiane is pretty ok, but yes, just one decent (tier 2) IS there.
Yangon is definitely not good, it's about as bad as Hanoi.
Singapore has the best air quality of the SEA capitals.