Two decades of relationship building in the Thai market
Both Met One and Acoem Australasia have worked closely with their Thai distribution partner — Sithiporn Associates — for over 20 years. The integration of Met One into the Acoem family last year has meant more opportunities for Sithiporn to actively design, promote and implement co- branded air quality monitoring solutions for its government, commercial and research customers in Thailand, in particular the Thai Pollution Control Department (PCD) and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).
In 2015, the BMA began deploying a network of externally managed roadside air quality monitoring stations across Bangkok that featured Met One BAM 1020 particulate monitors and a different manufacturer’s gas analysers and shelters. This initial network was not supplied or operated by Sithiporn. There were significant performance issues with the instruments and air quality data, maintenance was neglected, and the shelters that the competitor provided were not climate controlled
which led to leaks and damaged equipment.
Following a visit to Bangkok by Met One Business Development Manager & Field Services Engineer Prayok Vongkunthong to advise on rectification, the BMA awarded a new contract for service and maintenance of the existing network to Sithiporn and decided to expand that network with six new stations.
Roadside monitoring stations combining Acoem & Met One instrumentation
The scope involved the development of new purpose-built shelters to house a combination of analysers and monitoring instruments. The shelters needed to be compact, relatively lightweight (as they are being installed some four metres above ground on electrical poles), and entirely weatherproof to withstand Bangkok’s soaring temperatures, high humidity levels, severe rainfall and dust.
As the project tender called for both reference grade gas and particulate monitoring in a single station across a network, Serinus 40 (NOx); Serinus 50 (SO 2 ); and Serinus 10 (O 3 ) gas analysers will be co-located with Met One BAM 1020 continuous particulate monitors. In September this year, Sithiporn and Acoem Asia will hand over the first six new roadside air quality monitoring stations, which will be commissioned across metropolitan Bangkok in large residential and commercial areas, including near schools.
This new network is in addition to existing Acoem and Met One branded systems and instruments already in use across the Bangkok metropolitan area, including more than 80 Met One BAM 1022 supplementary sites, multiple Acoem Air Quality Monitoring Stations (AQMSs) and several noise monitoring stations in the city and at the airport.
Collaboration, coordination & communication are key
The BMA project was quite intricate and involved a united group effort across sales, business development, production and engineering teams in Thailand, Australia, the United States and India. Led by Nattha Butler, Regional Sales Manager, Acoem Asia (based in Bangkok), the team assembled the most efficient and viable solution for the BMA, leveraging shared expertise, product specialisation and cooperation between the various portfolios, departments and time zones to bring the project to fruition.
“This project was a testament to the strength and unity of the expanded Acoem business, working across the different portfolios to give Sithiporn the ability to not only deliver products, but the extended service, maintenance and after-sales support that will provide the BMA with a fully-integrated and seamless solution for ongoing operation.” commented Nattha.
Holistic solutions that go beyond product alone
In addition to supplying the hardware and infrastructure for this air quality monitoring project, Sithiporn and Acoem will share responsibilities for ongoing maintenance and servicing of the physical stations, Met One will consult and provide support for retrofitting and upgrading the older stations and Acoem will provide the data analysis /reporting functions for a one-year period with annual contract reviews. All data from the existing and new stations will be visible to the public via the Bangkok Air Quality website.
“The Bangkok Municipality Administration was convinced by the One Acoem holistic proposal which includes class-leading reference grade air quality and particulate monitoring stations combined with the expertise of Acoem specialists based in Thailand and Sithiporn’s experience and reputation.” said Patrice Pischedda, Acoem Asia COO.
For more information about Acoem air quality monitoring solutions, visit our website or contact us.
