Air Quality Monitoring Volunteers of BMABangkok
■ Overview
According to the sixth Bangkok Metropolitan Administration Development Plan (2002 - 2007), the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) foresaw that people are crucial to the environmental development. Therefore, the stakeholders of the environmental quality management have played the key role in many projects and activities.
The Environmental Protection Volunteer Project was a good example which local communities, BMA schools' teachers and university students were trained as environmental protection volunteers (Epvs).There were 300 EPVs representing the communities throughout 50 districts of Bangkok. The network of EPV was also established to share and learn from each other's knowledge and experiences.
In 2005, as a result of the restructuring of the BMA’s agency to cope with the getting worse air pollution problem causing the adverse effect on Bangkok residents, The Management and Control of Environmental Quality Division was renamed to be Air Quality and Noise Management Division. This division has initiated the Air Quality Monitoring Volunteer Project to raise awareness and get more participation of people who are the main the stakeholders in the air quality and noise management.
The experiences and lesson learned from the Environmental Protection Volunteer Project had facilitated the implementation of the Air Quality Protection Volunteer Project.
Therefore, the stakeholders like community representatives, university students, BMA's staffs and drivers were trained to be Air Quality Monitoring Volunteers (AMVs).
The training contents has been both lecturing and practicing outdoor. At the end of the training the AMVs have to pass the black smoke vehicle paper by visual observation of the emission from set vehicles or they have resit until they pass the test.
 
■ Period of Implementation
■ Features
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・ The main source of air pollution in Bangkok is polluted vehicles. However, factories and construction sites also contribute to the air pollution problem. Therefore AMVs are divided into 2 groups namely Black Smoke Spotters (BSSs) and Air Quality Protection Volunteers (APVs).
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・ Black Smoke Spotters who are trained to report black Smoke vehicles with the visual observation have worked while they commute. BSSs have reported black Smoke vehicles to BMA which will send the warning letter to the vehicle’s owner to fix the vehicle and further go for the black smoke test at the relevant testing centers.
The test result will be reported to the BMA and further to the Land Transport Department as the data for issuing annual vehicle’s license consideration. Whereas the Air Quality Protection Volunteers monitor factories and construction sites and report the polluted one to the BMA for further actions.
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・ The network of volunteers had also been established as well as the quarterly magazine was published for volunteers, communities and other interested groups as the center for sharing knowledge and experiences regarding air pollution management like updated knowledge, case studies of air pollution abatement and newly relevant regulations.
■ Outcomes / Achievements
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200 APVs and 532 BSSs were trained. They have actively worked to monitor the black smoke vehicles and other sources. There have been 7,255 vehicles reported as the polluted ones. The volunteer’s network has been strengthened and APV magazines are distributed to APVs and BSSs since 2005.
■ Cost
- The project has cost about 2,200,000 Baht (~ 63,000 USD) including trainings and publishing the quarterly magazines.
■ Inquiries
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Air Quality and Noise Management Division , Department of Environment / Bangkok Metropolitan Administration
（Tel） +66-2-245-6095
（FAX） +66-2-246-8114
■ Related Links
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