Where to buy Air Quality Monitors in Thailand
This year, it would seem that everyone wants to buy an air quality monitor. Which is a good thing as it raises awareness of the air pollution problem. But which one to buy and where to buy it? Prices vary a lot and they each have their own advantages and disadvantages. In addition, can you really trust them to do a good job? Particularly if they are so cheap? As people keep asking me where I bought my air quality monitors from, I thought I would gather information together on this one page to help answer that question. At this moment I am not saying which ones I like the best. But, as I gradually start doing reviews of these monitors, I will also add a star rating with pros and cons for this page. Please bookmark this page or the Air Pollution page on my website as there is more to come.
The following is sorted by price with the most expensive at the top.
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AirVisual Pro
Name: AirVisual Pro | Cost: $269 (8,400 Baht) |
Website/Store: AirVisual.com | Click for My Review
PROS: It has four built-in sensors that record AQI/PM2.5, CO2, temperature and humidity. It also gives you a seven-day forecast and recommendations for what you should and shouldn’t do. The screen is large and clear. If you connect it to the Internet, you will be able to see what the AQI reading is for a local outdoor air quality station. It has a built-in battery so you can carry it around your house to test different rooms. You can also set it up as an outdoor station and share the readings with everyone.
CONS: It is very expensive. The battery doesn’t last very long and so you will need to keep it plugged in. The outdoor readings only work if you have a nearby air quality station. It cannot literally tell you what the AQI is like outside of your home.
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Laser Egg 2+
Name: Laser Egg 2+ | Cost: $199 (6,200 Baht) |
Website/Store: kaiterra.com | Click for My Review
PROS: Coming soon
CONS: Coming soon
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Air Tricorder
Name: Air Tricorder | Cost: 2,500 Baht |
Website/Store: Makerspace Thailand | Click for My Review
PROS: It is small and handy and relatively easy to carry around with you. You can plug it into an electrical socket or a regular power bank. It records the PM2.5 levels and gives a US AQI output. The colors change depending on the level.
CONS: There is no built-in battery and so you need to have it always plugged into something. The screen is not that clear to read outside. The Mini USB socket seems fragile and so I leave the cable plugged in all of the time. It does not show temperature or humidity.
PLEASE NOTE: I hear that a new version is coming out in February 2019. You might want to wait to see what new features it has. I’ve been trying to contact them about this, but no replies so far.
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SNDWAY Air Quality Monitor
Name: SNDWAY Air Quality Monitor | Cost: 1,439 Baht |
Website/Store: Lazada | Click for My Review
PROS: It is small and compact and easy to carry in your pocket. It has a built-in battery that is handy when you are checking different rooms in your house or when you are out and about. It also charges easily by plugging it into a power bank. The readout is clear and shows PM2.5, the temperature and humidity. It flashes red when it reaches dangerous levels.
CONS: I am more used to understanding the AQI levels. This monitor only shows you the PM2.5. Nevertheless, it doesn’t take long to remember that 25-50 is starting to get unhealthy. Anything above that you shouldn’t have prolonged exposure. Certainly, you shouldn’t exercise.
UPDATE: Here is a handy online calculator for working out the AQI after you input a PM2.5 number.
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Hi Richard,
Thanks for all your work on this (and everything else!).
I’m about to purchase an indoor air quality monitor that includes pm2.5 and Co2 levels, and wonder if you’d had a chance to try (or investigate) the Kaiterra Laser Egg 2+?
Other than Lazada, it has been hard finding stores that sell portable indoor monitors in Bangkok – it is hard to determine if you’re getting legitimate products online so I would prefer store bought.
Many thanks.
Melanie
Thanks for your blogs Richard. I’ve found so much of your information useful during our family’s first few months in Bangkok.
I recently purchased the SNDWAY SW-825 and was concerned about the high reading I was seeing both inside and outside of our apartment. I double checked their manual and it appears that even though they are listing their reading as a PM 2.5, it is actually being converted into a AQI. For instance, their manual lists:
0-35 reading is great
35-75 reading is good
75-115 reading is mildly polluted
150-250 reading is seriously polluted
>250 reading is severely polluted
I also comparing this units readings to some of local station readings and it’s fairly close to the AQI number and not the PM 2.5. I figured I’d let you know this in case there was anyone else trying to covert the numbers and getting some accurate results.
Thanks again and keep up the great work!
#Karyn
Interested to find good types of Masks
Hello,
You should look out for masks labeled N95 or N99 with a Particulate Carbon Filter having an exhaust valve.
Particulate are those invisible MicroParticles or Fine Particulate Matter which are hanging in the air.
Those measured PM2.5 like f.ex: Sood are created from burning wood and bushes. Like now in CMai&Pai.
Of cause there are many more polutants to take into account.
2.5 or 10 is a reference to their size Ex: 2.5microgram describes everything smaller then 2.5ug/m³ then capable of getting into your blood and lungs provoking serious damage.
All the masks sold in 711 or similar don’t offer any real protection. They are sold to keep the Population tranquil and for Authorities to keep the face.
Depending what your issue or emergency is: Lungs, eyes, heart, allergy, traffic, motobike, children, ..
you have to checking a bit more then just the filter quality and Protection Logo like N95, N99, carbon active, exhaust valve, a lot of other points regarding the mask itself.
• like: the fabric it was made of, if it fits well around the ears and nose (child or adult size) it doesn’t hurt nor leak, doesn’t fog glasses, if you can wash an reuse it, change the filters and get reserve ones, aso…
Find more on Amazon about Masks aswell as interesting reviews about issues from customers in English. Surely Lazada or AliExpress has these too but most reviews will be in Thai.
….
PS: Amazon does now send articles to Thailand.
On Amazon check for Masks and Respirators …
Or click/copy the link below.
https://www.amazon.com/si=tools&:rh=n%3A228013%2Cn%3Ao %21468240%2Cn%3A3180231%2Cn%3A486555011%2Cn%3A17864516011&qid=1553395821&ref=mh_17864516011_dri_1_sa
Good luck
Do you know if anyone tried this one from Lazada?:
B1 Household PM2.5 Detector Module Air Quality Dust Sensor
Price seems okay and the readout has some additional information. All I really care about is an accurate PM 2.5 reading but this looks interesting.
There are a million of them on Lazada, in every price range, so it will be interesting to see from people’s experiences which are the best.
It’s actually difficult to tell which ones the best or the most accurate. What is the benchmark? Fortunately, most of the ones I have show similar readings.
I have used the SNDWAY for more than a month and it’s readings for PM2.5 are always within 1-2 points of another device I ordered from China. I also have a small Xiaomi monitor on the way.
Hoping that all 3 monitors will show the PM2.5 readings to be more or less the same. If so, that is worrying as we had weeks of PM2.5 values sitting at 40-50 throughout the day at work. And that was INSIDE the office and classrooms. Outside there were peaks in this area of Bangkok of 130-140 on the device and several days where it stuck at over 100 for most of the school day.
Thanks for that. I would be interested to hear whether you think the Xiaomi air quality sensor is worth the extra cost.
I am interested to find out good types of masks.
Great suggestion!
I’m interested in this too, I’ve been to my local HomePro but they were sold out, nothing in Makro or Lotus either. I’m reluctant to purchase online via Lazada as how would one verify if they were authentic and of good quality..?
I would also be interested in a journalistic piece (hint hint Richard 😉 on drinking water in Thailand i.e. a comparison of tap-water quality, shop-bought bottled water, and delivered (filtered) water, but the latter option is probably only in the sticks?
I recently purchased this Xiaomi water tester:
(Xiaomi TDS Portable Detection Pen TDS Tester for Measuring Water Quality Purity)
https://www.lazada.co.th/products/original-xiaomi-tds-portable-detection-pen-tds-tester-for-measuring-water-quality-purity-tester-i249120978-s384067204.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.3.5bdc3fd0SpqH04&search=1
Nestle bottled water has scored the highest purity so far (200s), my tap water is in the low 300s which is supposedly normal, still wouldn’t drink it though. 500 is the U.S EPA maximum contamination level according to a quick web search.
The tester only reacts to organic compounds, and heavy metals like nickel, chromium etc. and soluble salt content. It obviously won’t show up bacteria, potentially harmful or toxic substances, fecal matter and so on.
Are there any future plans to review home water-testing kits or water-testing services that may be available in Thailand? Are there any such services?
Cheers
Thanks for your suggestions.
# Richardbarrow
Suggestions
Hello,
About your Air rig and the Role of Public Station.
I like to add some comments on what you wrote if you don’t mind. A PM2.5 value of 25-50 is a good value and in Europe, up to 80 is considered to be safe.
You will be able to get surrounding information about the Air Quality as yourself are meant to becoming a public station once you have correctly installed your AirVisualPro and have been certified ok by the company.
Once your station is installed following their guidelines you will get checked and your data evaluated. If all works well you will integrate their worldwide Air Quality Dataset Network adding one more station to it and that way improving the precision of their databank.
And therefore you need to connect your station to an internet connection and an electrical outlet.
* Therefore the utility and reason for these gears to have wifi antennas and internet connections.
Isolated measurements done by isolated individuals without a network covering large surfaces of air and land would make no sense and be a serious limit on resolving and understanding those issues on a global scale.
Not integrating the collected figures on a Databank accessible to all would hinder people and governments to cultivating awareness of the problem and finally to vote new laws and amendments to protect the Air Quality.
When becoming part of that Network you will have a larger overview of what is going on around you.
I imagine that the data of each participant are collected through wifi to a server then forwarded to their Central Network.
One can also use IFTT to program instructions through the net to each outside station.
Hello,
If you are concerned about the water quality in Thailand then eventually you would like to know more about the high level of poisons found all over Thailand in fruits and vegetables.
Being it local village markets lost in the mountain…, or big city markets, shopping centers like Lotus, BigC.. up to the very exclusive private ones in Bkk,
But also the special quality label introduced by the government or the supposed very clean durable farming communities were found positive on one or numerous poisons.
Well, not one of those test campaigns around could spear anybody! All had concerning results and at different levels high to very high dosages and percentages of herbicides when testing fruits and vegetables!
Even longtime time blacklisted and totally forbidden chemicals posing a very serious cancerigeneous threat were found on everyday fruits and vegetables.
It’s well known that China still produces many of the most toxic and totally banned products and sell them at a low rate. And where there are profit and no consciousness ..there is usage if those products and disaster in the long term.
Not aware that those chemicals will kill them and their children..(and us too) Thailand has one of the highest rates of cancer in Asia.
Now..do you still want to know about the water?
Certain products like hormones are generally found in every water around the world and have a strong influence on our health, weight, mental balance…
And there are those heavy metals ..all of this stuff we can’t get rid of and have to live with.
The idea is to not accumulate too much of it in our cells and to spear as much as possible our children.
If possible to use real natural source water. (if there is any) .and to buy a water filtering system .. using a carbon filter.
I used to drink a lot of those nice fruit shakes in walking streets..when I found out about that herbicide scandal. I totally stopped drinking shakes…
Sadly actually!
• Article about food safety in Thailand. A government study concerning the high level of poisons found in fruits and vegetables in Thailand.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5012412/
There are loads of other articles about food poisoning and water issue in Thailand to be found on Google.
It’s quiet common, unfortunately.
Adding this study to the water quality and multiplying it with the extremely dangerous Air Quality and very high MicroParticles levels, the general unawareness of the local public towards ecology, the huge plastic usage, not to mention the well-known toxins found in crabs and similar seafood products.
..well there is not so much left to be happy about in this part of the world
I’m very interested in this kind of info! Thanks for your efforts, it’s appreciated.
Any plans to review the Xiaomi pm2.5 air quality monitor?
https://www.lazada.co.th/catalog/?q=xiaomi+pm2.5+smart+air+quality+detector&_keyori=ss&from=input&spm=a2o4m.searchlist.search.go.ca6e35fanUPdgg
It seems very similar to the SNDWAY that I bought a couple of weeks ago on Lazada for 1,400 Baht. Mine also shows temperature and humidity. The Xiaomi only shows PM2.5 but it has WiFi. Not sure if it’s worth the extra cost.
I was thinking that too. I’m interested to know how similar the pm readings are across all of the monitors you’ve purchased. Are they all the same technology? The Xiaomi sensor states that it uses laser to measure air quality, is this the same for all?
The Xiaomi model can interact with the Xiaomi Mi air purifier also. What’s the battery-life on the SNDWAY product? I like the price, but the screen looks a bit dim…
I didn’t realize that the Xiaomi device communicated with their air purifier. I will look into that a bit more. I notice that on the product photos that the readings seem to match between the portable device and the air purifier. So I can check the SNDWAY later with my air purifier.
Yes, they all seem to use laser technology. As for the screen of the SNDWAY, I have had no issues so far. Bright enough for me.
Hello,
Did you manage to compare the SNDWAY and the Xiaomi readings to see if they match in the same environment ? I would like to see the results, have a nice day !