Health Advisory

[The Snark]

Presently, northern Thailand far exceeds the hazardous air pollution threshold for particulates in the air.

For the health fanatics who go out for their daily running, be aware you can be sucking in the equivalent of 5 packs of cigarettes a day.

[p1p]

No need to tell me about that. My eyes, sinuses, ears and chest are all in pain.

Looks like another spell in hospital will be needed soon.

[Rasseru]

For the health fanatics who go out for their daily running, be aware you can be sucking in the equivalent of 5 packs of cigarettes a day.

Presumably the sucking in of that equivalent is true of anyone, running health fanatic or otherwise?

[ThaiPauly]

Last night I watched the film "An Inconvenient Truth" made by Al Gore.

Man...that was scary....anybody that has NOT seen it SHOULD definatley see it and see how we are destroying our planet for our kids and grandkids.

What can we Farangs who live here do about the polution situation? Should we just accept it or try and do something about it?

Individually we can do little, but maybee as a collective voice we can do something?

Anyone any decent ideas..as this is very serious now ?

2 days ago one of my freinds staff a 32 year old Thai, had a severe ahstma attack which lead to a heart attack and death for 10 minutes. He hs been given a 1% chance of survival, and 9% chance of living..but with brain damage. He has lived his whole life in CM ! He has 2 young children that my freind will have to raise.

I cannot blame CM for everything but with air quality as poor as it is (and its getting worse apparantly)..I am sure it has not helped his cause down the years.

What can WE do guys?

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

Last night I watched the film "An Inconvenient Truth" made by Al Gore.

Man...that was scary....anybody that has NOT seen it SHOULD definatley see it and see how we are destroying our planet for our kids and grandkids.

What can we Farangs who live here do about the polution situation? Should we just accept it or try and do something about it?

Individually we can do little, but maybee as a collective voice we can do something?

Anyone any decent ideas..as this is very serious now ?

2 days ago one of my freinds staff a 32 year old Thai, had a severe ahstma attack which lead to a heart attack and death for 10 minutes. He hs been given a 1% chance of survival, and 9% chance of living..but with brain damage. He has lived his whole life in CM ! He has 2 young children that my freind will have to raise.

I cannot blame CM for everything but with air quality as poor as it is (and its getting worse apparantly)..I am sure it has not helped his cause down the years.

What can WE do guys?

Sadly not much. Too many people in this valley. Fortunately its not so much industrial pollution or even car exhaust. Its mostly trash and agricultural smoke locally produced. Thai people love to burn things. Its keeps those ghosts away. Still its terrible for health. My skin hurts after even short exposures.

I am leaving in the next month. I love thailand but its not worth shortening my life by decades.

Either back to States (colorado), hawaii, or considering Costa Rica.

[ThaiPauly]

I have to say that I am seriously considering re-locating ..but to an island where the air quality is much much better.

However after watching that film last night...all the islands could be gone in my lifetime

[Cyberstar]

I cannot blame CM for everything but with air quality as poor as it is (and its getting worse apparantly)..I am sure it has not helped his cause down the years.

What can WE do guys?

We could all start wearing face masks and tell everybody why we're doing it. When tourists come to town and see all foreigners wearing face masks, there'll be more of them likely to wear one themselves.

When all foreigners (particularly the tourist ones) are wearing face masks ... well, at least: those fractions of influential persons - who do concider air polution a serious problem - will have some ammunition against the dark forces in power.

[ThaiPauly]

I cannot blame CM for everything but with air quality as poor as it is (and its getting worse apparantly)..I am sure it has not helped his cause down the years.

What can WE do guys?

We could all start wearing face masks and tell everybody why we're doing it. When tourists come to town and see all foreigners wearing face masks, there'll be more of them likely to wear one themselves.

When all foreigners (particularly the tourist ones) are wearing face masks ... well, at least: those fractions of influential persons - who do concider air polution a serious problem - will have some ammunition against the dark forces in power.

Not a bad idea at all Cyberstar

[meadish_sweetball]

Good idea, but sweaty.

[Pikey]

I'm asthmatic from childhood and gave up smoking last year (yeah I know, stupid to have started in the first place!), almost from the day I stopped, I also stopped having to use my inhaler - until about a week ago........

Yep, good idea with the facemasks Cyberstar and I don't think that the thin cotton ones would be too sweaty and are available from HomePro.

Cheers,

Pikey.

[lannarebirth]

I cannot blame CM for everything but with air quality as poor as it is (and its getting worse apparantly)..I am sure it has not helped his cause down the years.

What can WE do guys?

We could all start wearing face masks and tell everybody why we're doing it. When tourists come to town and see all foreigners wearing face masks, there'll be more of them likely to wear one themselves.

When all foreigners (particularly the tourist ones) are wearing face masks ... well, at least: those fractions of influential persons - who do concider air polution a serious problem - will have some ammunition against the dark forces in power.

I like the idea, but the reasoning doesn't go along with what I know of Asian thinking. More likely, they'll claim that this place is so special that the foreigners will suffer anything to be here, then raise the price of face masks.

[WaiWai]

Not a bad idea at all Cyberstar.

Agreed !

Individually we can do little, but maybee as a collective voice we can do something?

1. No private car/motorbicycle use days, with publicity.

[KhunDennis]

The air is also very bad here in Lampang. Can't see the hills in the distance and grey haze everywhere. Drove into town yesterday and was hard to see the traffic lights a few blocks down the road. Been like this for some time now. Still, I see big colums of smoke all around. Looks like people would see cause and effect eventually.

[Hugh Jarse]

This is a monumental problem that Thai's must deal with. The powers that be know how serious is the problem. Its s though they fiddle while Chiang Mai burns!

Thai's with the help of foreigners could stage weekly demo's outside the governors home, place ads.in daily newspapers and get more access to TV and radio.University students as well as the well established NGO's and their (usually) wise leaders must take the bull by the horns.

I am seriously thiking of buying here in Mai but after reading this shocking news will keep it on ice.ca

Last night I watched the film "An Inconvenient Truth" made by Al Gore.

Man...that was scary....anybody that has NOT seen it SHOULD definatley see it and see how we are destroying our planet for our kids and grandkids.

What can we Farangs who live here do about the polution situation? Should we just accept it or try and do something about it?

Individually we can do little, but maybee as a collective voice we can do something?

Anyone any decent ideas..as this is very serious now ?

2 days ago one of my freinds staff a 32 year old Thai, had a severe ahstma attack which lead to a heart attack and death for 10 minutes. He hs been given a 1% chance of survival, and 9% chance of living..but with brain damage. He has lived his whole life in CM ! He has 2 young children that my freind will have to raise.

I cannot blame CM for everything but with air quality as poor as it is (and its getting worse apparantly)..I am sure it has not helped his cause down the years.

What can WE do guys?

Sadly not much. Too many people in this valley. Fortunately its not so much industrial pollution or even car exhaust. Its mostly trash and agricultural smoke locally produced. Thai people love to burn things. Its keeps those ghosts away. Still its terrible for health. My skin hurts after even short exposures.

I am leaving in the next month. I love thailand but its not worth shortening my life by decades.

Either back to States (colorado), hawaii, or considering Costa Rica.

[realthaideal]

"This is a monumental problem that Thai's must deal with. The powers that be know how serious is the problem. Its s though they fiddle while Chiang Mai burns!

[/font]Thai's with the help of foreigners could stage weekly demo's outside the governors home, place ads.in daily newspapers and get more access to TV and radio.University students as well as the well established NGO's and their (usually) wise leaders must take the bull by the horns."

I agree a degree of protest is worthy, but Frang and environmentally concerned Thais have been running articles and studies on the situation for years. The BKK Post just had an article ont he improved BKK situation with regards to smog because of better vehicle regulations -very interesting if you google it.

As for Chiang Mai and vicinity which is in a huge river basin without the benefit of trade winds, the air is trapped with all of the vehicle smoke and the burning of trash and rice chaff, and empty fields. I think the best solution is to work with the Thais for education, and not to promote protests which = loss of face for somebody.

The tremendous amount of trash and vegetation burning could be reduced by educating the youth on the one hand, and then by working with government, CMU, or The Royal Project to fund better trash pickup systems, and to promote composting and even vermiculture - slow composting via worms. Both forms of composting improve soil while having no ill effects towards the air we breathe. I think there is alot of room to work toward this. You essentially need a lot to compost on a community scale, a tractor to trun it, and some water. From there, the compost must be monitored for composition with the right proportions of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur to keep it cooking at the most efficient rate. Perhaps this natural fertilizer can then be truned around and sold, thus supplementing the city's costs to promote the program.

That's how it's gonna need to be done. Other communities are doing it. Have heard of vermiculture being big in Mexico. They do community composting of green waste in LA county, where the fertilizer is for sale. Of course, we'd need to see a huge - and much welcomed - improvement on trash can disbursement, availability, pick up and maintainance. Then a little community awareness that this can work and benefits us all, and we're off to a great start. Believe me, I have already met some Royal Project people, and hope to speak with government people again soon. This kind of project could be a souce of pride for the community that goes for it and succeeds, not to mention the immiediate direct benefits of the composting.

[KhunDennis]

Another smokey day in Lampang. You could almost make out the outline of the hills and then this afternoon, the fires started again. Huge clouds of smoke in the distance. Tonight you could see big fires high up on the hillls, clearing land I am told. It is getting depresing, have not seen a nice clear day since before December. What a place to retire to.

[sabaijai]

It's bad everywhere in the north this time of year, and in fact the smoke is worse in small valley towns populated mainly by farmers.

[lazeeboy]

It's bad everywhere in the north this time of year, and in fact the smoke is worse in small valley towns populated mainly by farmers.

its not much better in the south either except we have dust too face masks are a good idea at least you wouldnt be able to see how ugly my wife has become

[lotus eater]

It's bad everywhere in the north this time of year, and in fact the smoke is worse in small valley towns populated mainly by farmers.

its not much better in the south either except we have dust too face masks are a good idea at least you wouldnt be able to see how ugly my wife has become

How long roughly will "this time of the year" last - from when to when every year? I ask as a newish resident of Chaingmai.

Bangkok has gained kudos internationally for its dramatic success in reducing pollution to record low levels - by asian cities' standards, and in fact to the level of many western cities. Surely doing something similar in Chiang Mai would be an easier task than Bangkok was if the authorities applied their minds - and enforcement policies - to it.

[lannarebirth]

It's bad everywhere in the north this time of year, and in fact the smoke is worse in small valley towns populated mainly by farmers.

its not much better in the south either except we have dust too face masks are a good idea at least you wouldnt be able to see how ugly my wife has become

How long roughly will "this time of the year" last - from when to when every year? I ask as a newish resident of Chaingmai.

Bangkok has gained kudos internationally for its dramatic success in reducing pollution to record low levels - by asian cities' standards, and in fact to the level of many western cities. Surely doing something similar in Chiang Mai would be an easier task than Bangkok was if the authorities applied their minds - and enforcement policies - to it.

Well, the source of the Bangkok pollution and Chiang Mai's is different. Bangkok was able to reduce their pollution through skytrains. subways and keeping large trucks off the road till evening time. The vast majority of the pollution you see here in Chiamg mai is caused by controlled burns of forests and agricultural fields. "Northern people" love to burn. I think there have been some rules handed down pertaining to this, and they have gone largely ignored. The queen has curtailed her visits to Chiang mai due to the smoke. She has made her wishes known about abating it, and that helps for awhile, but they soon go right back to their old habits. I think we'll see a constructive crackdown on this practice in the next year or so as important people have made and continue to make serious investments in the north now.

[whopper]

In chiang mai, this is the time of year where the 3 or 4 thousand songtaews running around tend to irritate me. If you want to clean up chiang mai, that would be a perfect start. But, that is a big if.

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

It's bad everywhere in the north this time of year, and in fact the smoke is worse in small valley towns populated mainly by farmers.

its not much better in the south either except we have dust too face masks are a good idea at least you wouldnt be able to see how ugly my wife has become

How long roughly will "this time of the year" last - from when to when every year? I ask as a newish resident of Chaingmai.

Bangkok has gained kudos internationally for its dramatic success in reducing pollution to record low levels - by asian cities' standards, and in fact to the level of many western cities. Surely doing something similar in Chiang Mai would be an easier task than Bangkok was if the authorities applied their minds - and enforcement policies - to it.

Well, the source of the Bangkok pollution and Chiang Mai's is different. Bangkok was able to reduce their pollution through skytrains. subways and keeping large trucks off the road till evening time. The vast majority of the pollution you see here in Chiamg mai is caused by controlled burns of forests and agricultural fields. "Northern people" love to burn. I think there have been some rules handed down pertaining to this, and they have gone largely ignored. The queen has curtailed her visits to Chiang mai due to the smoke. She has made her wishes known about abating it, and that helps for awhile, but they soon go right back to their old habits. I think we'll see a constructive crackdown on this practice in the next year or so as important people have made and continue to make serious investments in the north now.

I don't know about BKK being as clean any western cities. I would like to know what those cities are in that case.

Its really bad in CM right now with particles below 10 micron and levels per cubic meter of air several multiples higher than WHO recommendations.

I found this filter paper called 3M Filtrete(275 baht) at Tops which you cut and put over your AC filters. Seems to help a lot with breathing cleaner indoor air.

Does anyone have any recommendations for air filters, Ionizers etc sold in CM to help even more?

[lannarebirth]

I've got about as strong a constitution as anyone I've ever met, but this smoke is starting to get to me. Headaches fotr 2 days now. Somebody, do a rain dance.

[PeaceBlondie]

An hour after sunrise and an hour before sunset, you should not be able to look directly into the sun. Today, both of those events were easy: the big orange ball was the sun. It's worse than I remember it from just a few years ago. My partner thinks it's a bit worse this year, too.

[NaiGreg]

There are really only 3 [or 4] possible things anyone can do about the problem here.

1. Nothing.

2. Get a summer home far way. School break coincides with the worst of the air pollution period.

3. Minimize your exposure.

4. Leave (I have read that some have adopted this draconian solution!)

Let's consider #3.

First. The aforementioned 3M Filtrete A/C filters are great! Better than HEPA or Ionizing air cleaning machines. Keep 1 or 2 rooms as "clean rooms" by running the A/C fans and/or A/C 24x7. Always sleep in one of the "clean rooms" ... change filters often.

Second. Use your car, close the windows. If you must ride a motorbike, use the 3M filters inside of a surgical mask. The surgical mask itself will probably not block 2 micron particles (the most dangerous)

Third. Don't exercise outdoors. Exercise in a "clean room" ... the last thing you want to do is inhale the smoke deeply. Shallow breathing does mitigate the exposure somewhat.

If you are on a chao-naa budget and cannot afford to have a single room air conditioned, then the second option of having a summer home is probably out of the question. Select option 1 with shallow breathing ... i.e. no [good] sex 'till June.

'Till next year,

MawGreg

[swain]

Today in Chiang Mai was the worst I have ever seen ... you can look directly at the sun through the haze .. I live in Hang Dong Chiang Mai and the smog blocked out the ability to see the mountains. My wife and I moved here to get away from the insanity that is bangkok but we have started talking today about moving again. We have a baby coming and I cant see raising a child in this soup they call air.

Its too bad as we have just gotten comfortable here... found a house, Rimping opened a store near us and the internet connection is solid.

It really looked like there had been a forest fire someplace .. it reminded me of when this happened in Oregon, or when St Helen's erupted up in Washington and blocked out the sun.

Question: that Al Gore movie .. where did you see it and when is it on again. I would love to see it.

[Ulysses G.]

I've got about as strong a constitution as anyone I've ever met, but this smoke is starting to get to me. Headaches fotr 2 days now. Somebody, do a rain dance.

I'm a fat, arthritic, old fart and the air in Chiang Mai right now doesn't bother me a bit.

[Gonzo the Face]

I've got about as strong a constitution as anyone I've ever met, but this smoke is starting to get to me. Headaches fotr 2 days now. Somebody, do a rain dance.

I'm a fat, arthritic, old fart and the air in Chiang Mai right now doesn't bother me a bit.

Using that hair filter again are you.....???????? If you are down in the valley and using a thick bushy hair filter..... the polution ain't too bad......

[invex]

Some 2 years back, there was a very big bilboard near the moot on the way to the new JJ Market and Lotus and next to Big Bike shop. It listed a few elements of the air quality / pollution in CM. When it got worse, they removed it and replaced it by a bilboard with some ads and with a "Welcome to CM" hahahahahahaha

Last year, CM was the most polluted city in SE Asia and far more polluted than Calcutta.

This is Thailand my friends.

[chiang mai]

I've tried addressing this problems by looking to purchase decent sir purifier for my home but there are none available. The ones that you see in the shops, Bionaire and Honeywell etc have very poor efficiency ratings and are way overpriced. The really useful ones that are made in the US, Austin Air, IQ Air, Health Pro Plus etc will not ship to Thailand for fear of copyright infringement, I know, I've asked them and they refuse.