Air Quality In Chiang Mai?

[Jomtienwow]

The last few times I was in Chiang Mai, I had some really breathing problems. Hazy and smoky from public burning. Is the government there taking any steps at all to improve this problem, or is it the same or worse?

[meadish_sweetball]

First of all, the air quality varies with the season - at the moment it is quite ok because of the frequent rains.

Government authorities put up posters and signs asking people to refrain from forest burning and the problem is discussed in the media every now and then; apart from that I am not sure if they have any measures in place - I should think they do, but I dont know to what extent and how well they actually are implemented.

One good start would be to improve garbage collection in remote areas - that might help reduce the burning of garbage to some extent, at least.

How to stop the forest dwellers and farmers from burning the forest and the rice husks is anyone's guess. Many do not read that well, and most people believe more in their own 'traditional' method and the people round their village, than the ideas of some pencil pushing government representative.

Johpa, what's the latest word from the jungle on forest burning?

[The Coder]

One good start would be to improve garbage collection in remote areas - that might help reduce the burning of garbage to some extent, at least.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Don't think that would go far enough as even just the daily ritual of everyone burning leaves and such spoils the evening air to me.

How to stop the forest dwellers and farmers from burning the forest and the rice husks is anyone's guess. Many do not read that well, and most people believe more in their own 'traditional' method and the people round their village, than the ideas of some pencil pushing government representative.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

For rice, this method is not as traditional as you may think. Before chemical farming, rice husks were invaluable as compost for enriching the fields. Now they are seen as a nuisance byproduct and burnt. Several years ago the govt was reintroducing organic farming around CM as apparently the state of the fields is so poor that organic is actually cheaper and better yields than all the herbecides, pesticides and fertilizers people are needing to throw at the fields to make them work but I haven't heard a peep about this since.

[Mr. Farang]

First of all, the air quality varies with the season - at the moment it is quite ok because of the frequent rains.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, the air in Chiang Mai in August was excellent, because of the rain. In Bangkok last year (not during the rainy season), I had to go to the doctors - the air quality was so bad my eyes burned and itched 24 hours a day. Chaing Mai has never been like this and I hope it never gets bad like BKK.

[Johpa]

First of all, the air quality varies with the season - at the moment it is quite ok because of the frequent rains.

Government authorities put up posters and signs asking people to refrain from forest burning and the problem is discussed in the media every now and then; apart from that I am not sure if they have any measures in place - I should think they do, but I dont know to what extent and how well they actually are implemented.

One good start would be to improve garbage collection in remote areas - that might help reduce the burning of garbage to some extent, at least.

How to stop the forest dwellers and farmers from burning the forest and the rice husks is anyone's guess. Many do not read that well, and most people believe more in their own 'traditional' method and the people round their village, than the ideas of some pencil pushing government representative.

Johpa, what's the latest word from the jungle on forest burning?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The more traditional swidden farming in the hills always required some burning. But that was burning land that had long been cleared and was usually just bamboo and bushes. Of course it is quite a show when they burn a patch of bamboo with all the explosions from the bursting cane. I just don't see any other way to clear the fields. But I also don't see as much swidden farming, especially up in the Hmong villages which now use much more intensive agricultural methods. And the Hmong's fields keep coming down the mountains so you get that Doi Inthanon look of scarring from their villages down to the lower approaches.

As for rice husks, they use to feed those to the pigs. But most people have stopped raising pigs as it is no longer cost effective, a bad omen for self-sufficiency in the future.

But hey, smokey skies in the dry season have been part of the environment forever so we visitors should not complain too much. I am more concerned by the ever present air pollution and haze in the city that never seems to dissipate.

[ovenman]

But hey, smokey skies in the dry season have been part of the environment forever so we visitors should not complain too much.  I am more concerned by the ever present air pollution and haze in the city that never seems to dissipate.

Seems like the pollution season stretches on longer now than it did just a few years ago. This past dry season seemed particularly bad. I can't imagine that all of the ongoing construction projects in Chiang Mai (both buildings and roads) are doing anything but throwing a lot of unneeded dust into the air.

[jomama]

Perhaps because I was new and didn't notice, the dry-season pollution didn't seem nearly as bad a decade ago. This last pollution season was by far the worst I've seen; there were something like 200 forest fires in Northern Thailand burning at one time. The airport in Mae Hong Son was closed for a time due to low visibility from smoke...

Then the rains come and the denuded mountainsides allowed water to come roaring down. The pictures of Pai told a story -- felled trees and logs came crashing down along with the flash flood, smashing walls, the market, etc. Why were so many felled trees there to begin with?

They've got to get forest rangers or border police or soldiers out in the mountainsides to help curb this. Otherwise April will again bring pollution that literally requires a breathing mask, followed by August and flash floods.

That's the long answer to the OP. The short answer is the air is fresh and wonderfully clear right now due to rains.