Smoke, Smog, Dust 2018 Chiang Mai

[cmsally]

New 2018 topic for fire & smoke conditions in Chiang Mai.

Members can report the conditions in their area and updates of the pollution numbers (PCD) in this topic. Also publish news updates regarding local conditions.

[cmsally]

Chiang Mai Air Pollution

 

PM2.5 at 161  = Unhealthy

[TheScribe]

The real smog is starting now.  This website is a good place to track it:- 

 

http://aqicn.org/city/thailand/chiangmai---cmis/

 

Also Air4Thai app on your smartphone.

 

[TrempestSG]

I just joined and looking for information to plan my ride to ChiangMai from Singapore from 20th Apr - 1st May 2018.
I've booked the accommodation so hope the weather clears up soon.
I miss the magnificence of Doi Inthanon!

Thanks for the heads up.

[Thailand]

What pollution?

 

 

[WinnieTheKhwai]

19 hours ago, TheScribe said:

The real smog is starting now.  This website is a good place to track it:- 

 

http://aqicn.org/city/thailand/chiangmai---cmis/

 

Also Air4Thai app on your smartphone.

 

 

I don't recommend using the Air4Thai app because it doesn't take PM2.5 levels into account.  It goes by the old/current PM10 based standard.   

 

I like the aqicn.org site, but keep in mind it converts everything to the US EPA AQI index so you cannot compare those numbers with either the raw PM2.5 or PM10 figures you see in the Air4Thai app; it's literally not the same scale/thing that's being shown. 

 

Also keep in mind that the aqicn.org site will happily show stations on the map that have different capabilities.  So then Mae Hong Son ends up looking relatively good... only because it only measures PM10 and the aqicn site doesn't clearly indicate this. (You can see it by clicking on it and then checking the graphs, and notice that the number is based on the PM10 reading.   Which is still useful (you can guess a PM2.5 concentration based on PM10), but doesn't make it easy to compare.

 

The short version:  between now and Songkran is a really good time for a holiday South. Like Andaman-south, the pollution is equally bad currently in Bangkok and only a little better in the Pattaya area.  Although it will come and go a bit, it's very possible for next week to be pretty good again.  (Somehow, every time I decide to leave the air quality improves.. it's a little like causing rain by washing your car..)

 

And air filters help inside the house, either the 3M filters for your air conditioners, or get a dedicated air filter from Home Pro or Siam TV or something.  

 

Oh, and smokers don't get to complain about air quality, no matter what it is you're smoking.  Smoking even a small number of cigarettes is WAY worse than anything you breathe in naturally.  Just being in the same area with a person who smokes sends the numbers sky-high.

Edited February 14, 2018 by WinnieTheKhwai

[heybruce]

On 2/13/2018 at 1:15 AM, TrempestSG said:

I just joined and looking for information to plan my ride to ChiangMai from Singapore from 20th Apr - 1st May 2018.
I've booked the accommodation so hope the weather clears up soon.
I miss the magnificence of Doi Inthanon!

Thanks for the heads up.

Too soon to say what air will be like then.  Hope for some good rains before you arrive.

[canuckamuck]

It's not bad yet.

[naboo]

I wonder when someone will come up with the idea of tying some jet engines up to "blow" the smoke away.

 

It worked with the boats on the Chao Phraya, right?

[sharktooth]

San Sai this morning... and these were just the ones I photographed. Passed much worse...

 

 

[Ruffian Dick]

It's not bad yet.

No, I’m in Chang Pheuak right now and can barely smell smoke. AQI is supposed to be “152”, haha.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[connda]

It rained hard out here in NE Lamphun province this afternoon.  Cleared out the air and can actually see the mountains again.  Opened all the doors and windows and aired the house out.  Nice break in the smog!
Looks like we'll get a little more of the same tomorrow so nice to have 2 or 3 days with better air quality before the haze set back in.

[Sparkles]

We drove up to Fang last Wednesday for 2 nights.When leaving our place ,around 9am,near Mae Hia, Doi Suthep had disappeared and the air in CM City was pretty bad but then when you have a few 100 smoke belching Songteaws circling the city that's not going to help or change.

 

Past Mae Rim and through Chiang Dao visibility was fairly clear with only a few previous roadside burnings evident.

 

Once in Fang, at the resort, which was very close to Doi Pha Hom National Park, with the excellent hot springs, the air was remarkably good.

 

Having said that on leaving the owners said that they will close the resort at the end of this month for as long as it takes the expected smoke  haze to clear which apparently drifts annually across from Burma .They felt in not fair to expose their customers to it.

 

Noticeably it was a pleasant max 25 degrees each day and  there was pleasant breeze in Fang which of course we don't get in CM due to the "bowl" effect caused by the mountain ranges. 

 

As for rain, lucky Lamphun, not a single drop back home  at our place,just wind, which is normal, knew it would drop somewhere.

[CheGuava]

On 2/24/2018 at 5:21 PM, Sparkles said:

Having said that on leaving the owners said that they will close the resort at the end of this month for as long as it takes the expected smoke  haze to clear which apparently drifts annually across from Burma .They felt in not fair to expose their customers to it.

 

 

Yeah, I did that for a while, basically recommending visitors to not visit Chiang Mai in Match but I stopped doing it after recognizing that very few tourists even notice it, and go so far as to comment on the excellent sunny and dry weather.   (And recent years have been a little better than the old days anyway)

 

I believe most tourists would prefer March over September for example, which has excellent air by any standard, but a lot of rain..

 

[Sparkles]

8 hours ago, CheGuava said:

 

 

Yeah, I did that for a while, basically recommending visitors to not visit Chiang Mai in Match but I stopped doing it after recognizing that very few tourists even notice it, and go so far as to comment on the excellent sunny and dry weather.   (And recent years have been a little better than the old days anyway)

 

I believe most tourists would prefer March over September for example, which has excellent air by any standard, but a lot of rain..

 

Well looking at the photos from last year, at this particular location, you would hardly  be able to breathe.The owners themselves come to CM

[CheGuava]

20 hours ago, Sparkles said:

Well looking at the photos from last year, at this particular location, you would hardly  be able to breathe.The owners themselves come to CM

 

I see.  Yes, I guess if you're right next to the areas where field burning and forest fires happen then that would be quite nasty. 

I wish they'd get the police and army in and shoot everyone who burns anything in March.

[Ruffian Dick]

Some might consider that just the tiniest bit extreme.

It may be like the smoking ban on Thailand's beaches, in which the butts are probably washed out from every klong in the kingdom.

Chiang Mai has just the right topography for catching all the air pollution generated in the Land of Smiles.

But shooting a few people would be an excellent start, as you said.

[Sparkles]

What I find so annoying is that there are 100's of soldiers located in Barracks mostly north of CM with nothing to do who could be on call watching for fires illegally lit.They could be there in a flash. I mean how hard is it to locate where a fire is during the daylight hours.

 

Fine or arrest the culprits and  that would be a major deterrent but the same PR BS is put out every year and little or nothing  is done.

 

Songteaws like the rest of us are supposed to go through a yearly exhaust emission test to renew their registration,you can use your own imagination how they pass.

 

We followed on a windy section coming back from Fang a tarted up old tourist bus,in a convoy of 3 buses,we couldn't pass them  and simply had to stop and let them  go on their way.It was pumping out so much black smoke you could hardly see the back of the vehicle

 

Sadly Thais have accepted the conditions and don't complain .Kids go to school wearing masks and many are admitted to hospitals with breathing problems ,it must be sheer hell for them.

[TheScribe]

Monitoring website aqicn.org now reporting 'very unhealthy 203' for station CMIS. The whole Chiangmai-Lampun area now thick with smog.  

 

Previous years we used to get lots of chat on ThaiVisa about the problem - this year no-one's bothering.

 

Well, it's just another year, same toxic unbreathable poop. Powers-that-be unable and/or unwilling to do anything about the dreadful assault on the people's health and well-being.    Same-same. 

[XGM]

Doesn't the burning ban start today...?

http://www.chiangmaicitylife.com/news/51-day-burning-ban-march-1st-announced-combat-growing-smoke-problem/

[iainiain101]

Here is the AQI from two years ago today...quite a difference!

 

http://www.chiangmaicitylife.com/news/us-consulate-sharing-real-aqi-levels-based-on-pm2-5-on-their-facebook/

[mrmillersr]

4 hours ago, XGM said:

Doesn't the burning ban start today...?

http://www.chiangmaicitylife.com/news/51-day-burning-ban-march-1st-announced-combat-growing-smoke-problem/

The day the burning ban goes into effect, you get the worst readings of PM 2.5 of the year.  Welcome to the LOS (land of stupidity) where good health is not a priority and never will be. 

Edited March 1, 2018 by mrmillersr
changed a few words

[TheScribe]

Map of today's pollution from the aqicn website really shows what a lie it is accusing Myanmar and Laos etc. of causing this smog.  High readings in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Lampang.   Really clear air in Mae Hong Son, Mai Sai, Phayao, Nan and Phrae.  

 

Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai authorities are really losing control of this, and refuse to admit it.

 

[JimGant]

Quote

The day the burning ban goes into effect, you get the worst readings of PM 2.5 of the year. 

From all the burning to get ahead of the ban, no doubt. I know my neighbor did this, with all his tree trimmings that hadn't yet made it to his bonfire area.

[TheScribe]

The ban just isn't working.  

 

[TheScribe]

Unhealthy readings for Chiangmai and Lampang continue.  Nan, Phrea,  Mae Hongson,  Maesai have clean air.  

 

[LolaS]

not accurate for Chiang Mai

https://app.ubidots.com/ubi/public/getdashboard/page/gAfjzNIxwBZ0AsYwALovqce9KtA#/

 

[LolaS]

[cmsally]

PM2.5 of around 30 for CM Uni! Seriously can't be right!

Even my basic "sinusometer" can tell it must be over 150 for PM2.5

 

The aqi site says 155 !!

[LolaS]

1 hour ago, cmsally said:

PM2.5 of around 30 for CM Uni! Seriously can't be right!

Even my basic "sinusometer" can tell it must be over 150 for PM2.5

 

The aqi site says 155 !!

AQI site is not the reliable or reputable source of information, their technology is not based on real-time in-situ measurement, they don't use sensors on the ground, they calculate from approximation from satellite images, These approximations cannot defer from water vapor and PM2.5 particles