Do you think living in Chiang Mai will shorten your lifespan?

[music065]

Do you think that living in Chiang Mai in your retirement will shorten your lifespan (due to smoke, pollution, etc)?

[beachproperty]

If the burn season doesn't improve....YES your life span will be shortened!

[Teak]

Certainly by temptations....

[chingmai331]

A highly statistical question. An individual life-span would be very difficult to predict but throughout the farang population in T'land you would need many years and many data points to answer the question.

IMO, the biggest predictors of early death are cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol and poor driving habits. The first two relate to anywhere in the world.

The most important decision i ever made, in my entire life, was to quit the cigs.  So glad i did quit. Now on 44 years without the coffin nails.

[FolkGuitar]

Nope. At least, not by pollution. Perhaps by traffic accident. Perhaps from smiling too much. But the air here isn't any better or worse than most of the places I've lived. I certainly won't adjust my life based on how long I'll live. 

But in any event, perhaps the last thing I ever think about is how long I will live. If anything, I'll think about how well I live. Then,  I'll live until I die. That's all.

 

[MaeJoMTB]

I've already lived longer than I expected.

So no.

[FolkGuitar]

7 minutes ago, chingmai331 said:

The most important decision i ever made, in my entire life, was to quit the cigs.  So glad i did quit. Now on 44 years without the coffin nails.

 

Now THAT is a very valid pathway to a longer life. My hat's off to you. As a cigarette smoker who has not smoked in 19 years and 4 months myself, stopping was one of the best decisions I've ever made. A rather large percentage of smokers would like to stop, but don't know the best way to go about it. THERE IS HELP.   Facebook's "Stop Smoking Support AS3"  a free support group, has helped thousands of people get free of cigarettes.  One day at a time.  It works for cigarettes too.

[amexpat]

If you stay here during the burn seasons of course your life span will be shortened, unless something else gets you first. 

The year-round pollution, denied by so many, doesn't help either. I'm here because the rewards outweigh the risks.

 

[Gruff]

39 minutes ago, FolkGuitar said:

Nope. At least, not by pollution.

 

 How can you possibly say that? 

[happyas]

Absolutely not.

 

 

[worgeordie]

Well I have achieved my 3 score and 10,so every year is a bonus, 

30 years here, still quite fit,dont think the smoke has affected me

that much,if i had still been living in UK, I think i would be dead,

weather,& stress,wrong food. the World is polluted and that's a fact

regards Worgeordie        P.S. dont worry,be happy

Edited January 20, 2018 by worgeordie
add on

[userabcd]

The internet contains an abundance of predictions and a persons lifespan in a polluted environment could be shortened by between 0 and 10 years.

[FolkGuitar]

1 hour ago, FolkGuitar said:

Nope. At least, not by pollution. Perhaps by traffic accident. Perhaps from smiling too much. But the air here isn't any better or worse than most of the places I've lived. I certainly won't adjust my life based on how long I'll live. 

But in any event, perhaps the last thing I ever think about is how long I will live. If anything, I'll think about how well I live. Then,  I'll live until I die. That's all.

 

 

49 minutes ago, Gruff said:

 How can you possibly say that? 

 

Because the air here isn't any better or worse than most of the places I've lived. Or, more importantly, where I would WANT to live.

 

I've lived in Thailand for 17 years now. (I kept saying 15 years out of habit, but my wife reminded me that we moved here in 2001.)  I'm 71 years old. I'm an avid scuba diver, I compete every year in International Fencing tournaments, walk between 10-20 kilometers a week (more when my old knees can take it,) and simply find no difficulties breathing during burning season. When the air gets so bad that I can't see the mountain I'll put on an N95 mask for one or two weeks, but that it.

 

I just really don't give much thought to dying. I'd rather pay attention to living.

 

 

[elektrified]

You need to be diligent and protect yourself from the pollution as best as you can, but what one really needs to be cautious of is the food - especially vegetables that have been sprayed with pesticides and herbicides. There is a researcher (M.D.) from Chiang Rai who has been studying this for many years now and has been seeing unusual and/or rare cancers as well as thyroid, ovarian, breast, lung, NHL, leukemia, etc.  in patients who consume foods sprayed with pesticides and herbicides.

 

We only buy our vegetables from Doi Kham or other organic sources now. For at least 7 years now, any other fruits or veggies that we buy, we take the government's recommendation of soaking in Sodium Bicarbonate for 20 minutes and rinsing. It's not a perfect solution but it helps.

[sqwakvfr]

I recently walked from Tae Pae Gate to Kuad Suan Kaew.  I walked in the early afternoon and the biggest concern  was the exhaust coming from Tuk Tuks and Song Thaews.  I grew up in California and the air was clean(many know California has some of the toughest environmental laws in the USA) and I benefitted from this.   I have been in Chiang Mai for a year and everyday I take Ricola for my throat and NasalCort for my sinuses.  I am almost out of NasalCort and apparently it is not available in Chiang Mai.

 

I don't know what the long term effects of living in Chiang Mai will be but in the short term my throat and sinuses are not doing so great.  I doubt a Catalytic Converter can be installed on a Tuk Tuk? 555

[bkk6060]

14 minutes ago, sqwakvfr said:

I recently walked from Tae Pae Gate to Kuad Suan Kaew.  I walked in the early afternoon and the biggest concern  was the exhaust coming from Tuk Tuks and Song Thaews.  I grew up in California and the air was clean(many know California has some of the toughest environmental laws in the USA) and I benefitted from this.   I have been in Chiang Mai for a year and everyday I take Ricola for my throat and NasalCort for my sinuses.  I am almost out of NasalCort and apparently it is not available in Chiang Mai.

 

I don't know what the long term effects of living in Chiang Mai will be but in the short term my throat and sinuses are not doing so great.  I doubt a Catalytic Converter can be installed on a Tuk Tuk? 555

If you are worried wear one of those surgical masks.

[canthai55]

1 hour ago, userabcd said:

The internet contains an abundance of predictions and a persons lifespan in a polluted environment could be shortened by between 0 and 10 years.

Internet ? Predictions ? you can find anything you want - for or against.

I like the zero year prediction 555

[toughlove]

Is it possible to die of boredom? I nearly did I think. First time I sat in a taxi and was actually delighted he was speeding.. To the airport [emoji3]

[WinnieTheKhwai]

I don't think this is even in doubt, on average you *drastically* reduce life expectancy just by general safety risk: primarily traffic related, but also anything else for which safety guidelines exist in the Western world but are absent or unenforced here.

 

So the above would be the number 1 cause by far, and then there are smaller factors like food safety (both bacteria or pesticides) and air quality which anywhere in Asia is far worse than in Europe or North America.

 

And somewhere in between will be personal causes... people are a lot more likely to fall into alcohol abuse and other self-destructing behavior.

 

But... ITS WORTH IT!! :D

 

 

Edited January 20, 2018 by WinnieTheKhwai

[markcm19]

anyone who says no has no idea what they are talking about. Two of the leading causes of premature death are air pollution and traffic accidents --- Chiang Mai is among the worst places in the world for traffic accidents, and the air is extremely poor quaity year round and dangerous for a few months per year.  Only an uninformed person could state otherwise.

[MaeJoMTB]

6 minutes ago, markcm19 said:

anyone who says no has no idea what they are talking about. Two of the leading causes of premature death are air pollution and traffic accidents --- Chiang Mai is among the worst places in the world for traffic accidents, and the air is extremely poor quaity year round and dangerous for a few months per year.  Only an uninformed person could state otherwise.

No, it's heart disease, traffic accidents, and strokes.

Air quality barely gets a mention

[canthai55]

Am more and more convinced that the reading of public internet forums has to be one of the leading causes of premature death, location be damned

[happyas]

50 minutes ago, markcm19 said:

anyone who says no has no idea what they are talking about. Two of the leading causes of premature death are air pollution and traffic accidents --- Chiang Mai is among the worst places in the world for traffic accidents, and the air is extremely poor quaity year round and dangerous for a few months per year.  Only an uninformed person could state otherwise.

Nonsense!

I said no to the question,[Do you think living in C/M will shorten your lifespan?]because no one knows how long their lifespan will be for a start.

Its as relevant as the old "how long is a piece of string?"

[bkk6060]

Just now, canthai55 said:

Am more and more convinced that the reading of public internet forums has to be one of the leading causes of premature death, location be damned

Haha.  For sure and mental diminishment.

[sirineou]

3 minutes ago, happyas said:

Nonsense!

I said no to the question,[Do you think living in C/M will shorten your lifespan?]because no one knows how long their lifespan will be for a start.

Its as relevant as the old "how long is a piece of string?"

 

 Carrying that logit to an extreme then one could say that jumping in front of a speeding train will not shorten your lifespan because you really didn't know how long you were going to live . 

I would say that if one did not engage in risky behaviours  one has a reasonable expectation to live with in the parameters of universally accepted statistics. 

So IMO it is reasonable to ask the question of whether moving to CM provided a considerable risk that could adversely affect your expected lifespan. 

[1FinickyOne]

As compared to living where? 

 

I think there are many factors in each place and maybe most important is how much you enjoy life there. 

 

I was first in CM in 1974. I now live a few hours south but visit about monthly or more and I just get a special feeling every time I turn off the highway and continue west into the city, with Doi Suthep in front of me. Just feels like a special recurring place in my life. How much time does that add? 

 

 

[tolsti]

If you join the Chiang Mai Expats Club you may well die..... Of boredom.

[happyas]

3 hours ago, sirineou said:

 Carrying that logit to an extreme then one could say that jumping in front of a speeding train will not shorten your lifespan because you really didn't know how long you were going to live . 

I would say that if one did not engage in risky behaviours  one has a reasonable expectation to live with in the parameters of universally accepted statistics. 

So IMO it is reasonable to ask the question of whether moving to CM provided a considerable risk that could adversely affect your expected lifespan. 

It may well  be reasonable to ask and as i said initially IMO the answer is NO.

A more pertinent question may well have been;

Do you think that living in C/M could be detrimental to my long term well being? {if i happen to be one of the minority that suffer from the effects of pollution ?}

Edited January 20, 2018 by happyas

[beavercreek]

I was reading that farang deaths in Thailand website.  It appears that if you stay off motorcycles and don't take your own life; chances of death are slim.  Boats and water are dangerous, too.  And whether the skydivers were accidental or intentional, they wouldn't have happened on a lower floor.  Surprising, more aren't killed as pedestrians, but riding the motorsai is way more lethal than walking.

[cyberfarang]

Best way, become a chain smoker, drink 2 bottles of whiskey a day and have loads of unprotected sex with bargirls. It will shorten your life substantially, but a least you`ll die happy with a smile on your face.