Air Pollution in Asia

dano1 · Post by **dano1** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 1:42 am

My family and I are looking at relocating to Asia to work. When we lived in Beijing (before the Olympics) we found the air pollution too horrible for our babies. Can anyone suggest which cities we should consider/stay away from with this consideration?

dano1 · Post by **dano1** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:43 am

Come on people, give us some clues.

Bangkok?
Hong Kong?
Singapore?

Which smell good and which make your eyes water?

2yen · Post by **2yen** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:47 pm

Singapore is a great place, especially for kids...it's safe, clean, food's great and people benign. I've walked all over with geocaching and never a problem.

mysharona · Post by **mysharona** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 7:14 pm

Shanghai is noticeably more polluted than in previous years, with the API hitting 500 twice this spring. It's eye watering and chest tightening.

JISAlum · Post by **JISAlum** » Thu Jul 14, 2011 6:22 am

I would guess:

Singapore
Kuala Lumpur
Surabaya
Penang
Brunei
don't know about Taipei- would ask around
Vientiene

Nemo. · Post by **Nemo.** » Fri Jul 15, 2011 1:03 am

Well from personal experience

Hong Kong: 2009 couldn't see a thing at times due to smog from mainland

Bangkok: Bangkok flu is a well known problem as after 6 months of the pollution you end up having non stop sniffles! Not good for babies. 2007

Jakarta. 10 million people at night 20 million in the day no mass transport. Horrible at least in 2004

KL much greener, less polluted and less crowded 2005

Vientanne: no cars hardly as so poor so no pollution I came across in 2006.

ccam · Post by **ccam** » Fri Jul 15, 2011 9:19 am

Your best bets are (in order)

Vientiane
Chiang Mai
Bali
Penang
Singapore

Chinuk · Post by **Chinuk** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 6:42 am

Seoul's pretty good, despite being such a huge city, maybe because of all the greenspace -- no one is allowed to build on the mountains.

dano1 · Post by **dano1** » Fri Sep 14, 2012 2:02 pm

Hk is horrible at the moment.

inman · Post by **inman** » Fri Sep 14, 2012 2:32 pm

Penang, Bali and Singapore would be my top 3, in any order you like. Singapore is great but you'll need an expensive apartment to house 2 kids. Not a problem if you're in a good enough school that'll pay for it though.

Vientiane used to be ideal for air quality but the number of cars there has grown A LOT over the last few years. It's only a small place and the cars are quickly taking over. Also, VIS is the only school really worth looking at there.

Chiang Mai is nice and has good air most of the time, despite large increases in traffic. Just be aware that there a couple of months each year when they burn the fields and the air quality is unbearable. For 9 to 10 months of fresh air that won't be a problem for a lot of people but if you have respiratory issues then you should be aware of it before you move.

Anyone know what Japan is like?