Smoke, Smog, Dust 2018 Chiang Mai

[ZeVonderBearz]

1 hour ago, LolaS said:

do you have any foto to prove this? or are you telling me I am making things up?

Prove what? I'm saying you're in denial about the air, smoke and pollution. Your previous comment proves this. It doesn't need a foto to prove that, just read what you wrote. 

[hobz]

2 hours ago, LolaS said:

I live there, no where to be seen or felt smoke or air polluion

I live in northern hang dong (just South of outer ring road and on Monday they burned in the moo baan on the other side of a field from my moo baan. The smell was Terrible. But it lasted only a few hours.

[RamenRaven]

On 9/26/2018 at 10:34 AM, LolaS said:

do you have any foto to prove this? or are you telling me I am making things up?

Drive around the outskirts of Saraphi around 4-5 pm, with your windows rolled down, away from all the new condos on the main roads. Most of the smoke is south of the Chiang Mai Outer Ring Road. There is smoke everyday, everywhere.

[RamenRaven]

On 9/25/2018 at 9:03 AM, Samuel Smith said:

They cut the trees back after harvesting.  Plenty to burn.  As different fruit ripen throughout the year, there is always plenty to burn, pretty much all year.  Obviously, we don't get the cr@ppy smog all year, but if you climb to a high point overlooking Chiang Mai, there is always a smoke haze visible, unless there's been a lot of rain.  Car fumes 24/7 365 days a year too.

 

Chiang Mai has mostly rice fields and longan orchards. Smoke corresponds to harvest seasons and in the weeks following the harvests themselves. Many locals will start burning the tree branches as firewood for cooking fuel, since they can save on natural gas.

 

Longan orchard areas: smoke is worst in August and September

Rice field areas: smoke is worst in the winter

 

This is LOCAL smoke that won't drastically affect official PM readings in the city center. If you use an air quality measuring device, you can see local smoke from your neighbors' burning would cause the AQI (air quality index) to shoot up to way over 1,000, which is way worse and far more suffocating than the general widespread haze in March and April, which generally sees air quality readings in the 100-200 range. As a resident in the longan orchard areas, this is why I can easily survive March and April, but will completely suffocate when tree branches are being burned by the local pyromaniac farmers.

 

[RamenRaven]

It seems like for many of us, we have nowhere to go. Recently, there are wildfires all over Canada, the US, Australia, and even in Greece. The world is burning up. Looks like only Antarctica is left?

[canopy]

The big disappointment is that the burning in Thailand is largely deliberate, unnecessary, and harmful to the health of all there for extended periods of time.

 

[LomSak27]

Question I need to be exercising. And I will be moving to CM in November. Most of the condos I have looked at have their own enclosed gym with air con but does that filter out the bad smog once Feb-May hits? 

Or for that matter do gyms do that. I would pay money to join a private gym if they have good filters as I need to have somewhere to walk-run -exercise - at least 5 days a week for HBP and health.

 

Any comments on this would be appreciated as it is something I most definitely will be concerned about in the months ahead.

[SoilSpoil]

5 hours ago, LomSak27 said:

Question I need to be exercising. And I will be moving to CM in November. Most of the condos I have looked at have their own enclosed gym with air con but does that filter out the bad smog once Feb-May hits? 

Or for that matter do gyms do that. I would pay money to join a private gym if they have good filters as I need to have somewhere to walk-run -exercise - at least 5 days a week for HBP and health.

 

Any comments on this would be appreciated as it is something I most definitely will be concerned about in the months ahead.

About 40% of the year, the pm 2.5 levels are too high to exercise. The deeper parts of the lungs will be affected and damaged. Aircons wont stop the 2.5 particles. You could train, of course,  with scuba gear on.

[chaila]

2 hours ago, SoilSpoil said:

About 40% of the year, the pm 2.5 levels are too high to exercise. The deeper parts of the lungs will be affected and damaged. Aircons wont stop the 2.5 particles. You could train, of course,  with scuba gear on.

40% ?????  Make that 80% of the year

[LomSak27]

Ok so what about exercise in my room but with a 3M filters for air conditioners, or get a dedicated air filter from Home Pro or Siam TV or something. Good bad or otherwise.??

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

22 hours ago, LomSak27 said:

Ok so what about exercise in my room but with a 3M filters for air conditioners, or get a dedicated air filter from Home Pro or Siam TV or something. Good bad or otherwise.??

 

Ideally, you need to be running a HEPA air purifier sized appropriately for the space you're trying to use, and hopefully it's a space relatively sealed from the outside air. Or, you can try installing the 3M Filtrete material over your existing air con filters. But depending on the outdoor air quality, it may need to be replaced regularly, and alone may not be enough, by itself, when the smog gets really bad in CM.

 

Regular air con filters aren't going to do anything meaningful to reduce the kind of very small particle air pollution that's really harmful to your health and reaches very high levels in CM during the burning season there.

 

[mrmillersr]

On 10/16/2018 at 10:38 AM, LomSak27 said:

Question I need to be exercising. And I will be moving to CM in November. Most of the condos I have looked at have their own enclosed gym with air con but does that filter out the bad smog once Feb-May hits? 

Or for that matter do gyms do that. I would pay money to join a private gym if they have good filters as I need to have somewhere to walk-run -exercise - at least 5 days a week for HBP and health.

 

Any comments on this would be appreciated as it is something I most definitely will be concerned about in the months ahead.

Seriously, if you are so into exercise and I assume your health, why in the world would you want to move to Chiang Mai?  It's about the same as someone worrying about getting lung cancer who takes up smoking.  Unless you've got one hell of a good reason to move here - don't.  Second thought, there are no good reasons so skip the last comment.

[canopy]

And let the burning begin. Since the rains stopped earlier in the month visibility has steadily declined and the horizons are no longer blue. Ash and the smell of smoke are sometimes in the air. While I welcome the cool air and am in shorts I've noticed villagers suffering and burning wood to stay warm in 70F range temperatures. The air quality charts confirm air quality has deteriorated into the yellow zone and it's the last day of October. There will be mainly worse air quality than this for the next 6 months give or take. All totally normal. This post is simply to document the start of the normal situation that happens every year for the benefit of those who don't understand the full extent of the smog problem plaguing the north.

 

[wolfmuc]

'And let the burning begin.'

Thanks 'canopy'. - Wise words.

I just hope it will not become too bad.

 

[kekalot]

On 10/26/2018 at 4:04 PM, mrmillersr said:

Seriously, if you are so into exercise and I assume your health, why in the world would you want to move to Chiang Mai?  It's about the same as someone worrying about getting lung cancer who takes up smoking.  Unless you've got one hell of a good reason to move here - don't.  Second thought, there are no good reasons so skip the last comment.

I agree with this, being into fitness myself i gave up on anything north of Lampang, i lived in Pai for a year and just the walk outside had me feeling ill, when you are used to exercising your lungs are stronger and will get MORE pm2.5 from the air compared to normal people and that is not good, i had to leave and i ain't going anywhere near those places.

[JimGant]

Yawn. I love the smell of burning vegetation. Reminds me of my youth in Virginia, when burning your Fall leaves at curbside was allowed. The aroma was wonderful. Now, of course, you can't do this. I imagine you can't fart in public anymore either.

 

Anyway, I've never been bothered by the air quality here in Chiang Mai. It doesn't bother my quality of life, and I'm sure something other than my lungs will be the contributor to my demise.

 

So, sit back, relax, and enjoy this wonderful place. Or if you're going to whine, move.

[SoilSpoil]

13 hours ago, JimGant said:

Yawn. I love the smell of burning vegetation. Reminds me of my youth in Virginia, when burning your Fall leaves at curbside was allowed. The aroma was wonderful. Now, of course, you can't do this. I imagine you can't fart in public anymore either.

 

Anyway, I've never been bothered by the air quality here in Chiang Mai. It doesn't bother my quality of life, and I'm sure something other than my lungs will be the contributor to my demise.

 

So, sit back, relax, and enjoy this wonderful place. Or if you're going to whine, move.

Love your sarcasm. Enjoying the smell of crop burning is bizar, thousands of children in hospitals every year is something else. Your advice is spot on though, move if you can. I did, live near to the sea, and the quality of my life improved instantly. I can exercise again, open the windows at night, hardly cough anymore, and feel a lot better in general. Goodluck in your smoked paradise.

[LolaS]

On 9/29/2018 at 4:04 AM, RamenRaven said:

Drive around the outskirts of Saraphi around 4-5 pm, with your windows rolled down, away from all the new condos on the main roads. Most of the smoke is south of the Chiang Mai Outer Ring Road. There is smoke everyday, everywhere.

fog is not the smog

[RamenRaven]

On 11/19/2018 at 5:51 PM, LolaS said:

fog is not the smog

Fog on a hot sunny afternoon with clear skies? Not sure about that.

[LolaS]

On 11/24/2018 at 4:37 PM, RamenRaven said:

Fog on a hot sunny afternoon with clear skies? Not sure about that.

where? show some evidence

[CharlieH]

Posts removed.

 

Flame/insult

 

Moderation.

[mrmillersr]

ng

On 11/17/2018 at 7:04 PM, JimGant said:

Yawn. I love the smell of burning vegetation. Reminds me of my youth in Virginia, when burning your Fall leaves at curbside was allowed. The aroma was wonderful. Now, of course, you can't do this. I imagine you can't fart in public anymore either.

 

Anyway, I've never been bothered by the air quality here in Chiang Mai. It doesn't bother my quality of life, and I'm sure something other than my lungs will be the contributor to my demise.

 

So, sit back, relax, and enjoy this wonderful place. Or if you're going to whine, move.

Another intelligent post from someone who claims he is not bothered by the air quality (actually would be more accurate to say the lack of air quality) and he is sure it will play no part in what finally kills him. 

People of Chiang Mai wake up.  Air pollution like you get in CM is a serious direct cause of many life threatening medical problems. It is also directly responsible for shortening the life spans of many who inhale the high levels of deadly PM 2.5 particles that you will soon be breathing again and this will last for months, contrary to what some of the uniformed will post that it only lasts a short time. 

 

Unless you can afford to take off for 3 to 4 months each year at the peak of this pollution, you definitely should consider moving and that is exactly what I did.  I only post with the hope that perhaps I can convince just one person/family to consider their health as their top priority before it is too late.  Believe me, there are a number of other place you can live in Thailand that are less polluted, less congested and offer all the same conveniences and needs you may have, just do a little research.  That's what I did and I'm much happier for it.

[LolaS]

6 hours ago, mrmillersr said:

 

 

Unless you can afford to take off for 3 to 4 months each year at the peak of this pollution, you definitely should consider moving and that is exactly what I did.  I only post with the hope that perhaps I can convince just one person/family to consider their health as their top priority before it is too late.  Believe me, there are a number of other place you can live in Thailand that are less polluted, less congested and offer all the same conveniences and needs you may have, just do a little research.  That's what I did and I'm much happier for it.

1

do you have any evidence for that? and if so, why are people on North living average lonager than other places in Thailand?

[Amoeba]

 

The pollution starts again, as always.

Yesterday Dec 2 2018 I saw this: 

 

 

 

 

 

[SoilSpoil]

 

do you have any evidence for that? and if so, why are people on North living average lonager than other places in Thailand?

Looking terrible in the North. And the burning season hasnt even started.

 

Makes an interesting discussion: life expectancy vs quality of life.

 

[Genmai]

 

ng

Another intelligent post from someone who claims he is not bothered by the air quality (actually would be more accurate to say the lack of air quality) and he is sure it will play no part in what finally kills him. 

People of Chiang Mai wake up.  Air pollution like you get in CM is a serious direct cause of many life threatening medical problems. It is also directly responsible for shortening the life spans of many who inhale the high levels of deadly PM 2.5 particles that you will soon be breathing again and this will last for months, contrary to what some of the uniformed will post that it only lasts a short time. 

 

Unless you can afford to take off for 3 to 4 months each year at the peak of this pollution, you definitely should consider moving and that is exactly what I did.  I only post with the hope that perhaps I can convince just one person/family to consider their health as their top priority before it is too late.  Believe me, there are a number of other place you can live in Thailand that are less polluted, less congested and offer all the same conveniences and needs you may have, just do a little research.  That's what I did and I'm much happier for it.

Hey, where did you move to?

[mrmillersr]

If I said where I live there would be the typical derogatory comments from those living and staying in CM for whatever illogical reasons they have.  I'll just leave it at where I moved to you can breathe the air, it has all the conveniences and amenities of CM without the congested traffic and it takes less than 20 minutes to do my retirement visa each year.  Also, I find the people much more friendly and that includes both the locals and farang. 

 

I lived in Chiang Mai for over 15 years and it had its good points but then I slowly watched it go downhill. I think there are many more who feel like I do but won't admit it and either can't or won't make the move.  When I reflect back on it now, the part I enjoyed most about Chiang Mai was leaving it,  I only wish I did it sooner. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[padoue74]

what's going on in Hang Dong? and also to Mae Hia?

https://gyazo.com/5fb5f74e698292034360739a2bbd8aaf

[kekalot]

58 minutes ago, padoue74 said:

what's going on in Hang Dong? and also to Mae Hia?

https://gyazo.com/5fb5f74e698292034360739a2bbd8aaf

probably the real readings compared to other local ones

Pai had hit like 450 last year and "something" was done over 1-2 days to the sensors (disappeared and reappeared) and it was like low 70s when it reappeared.

[SoilSpoil]

2 hours ago, padoue74 said:

what's going on in Hang Dong? and also to Mae Hia?

https://gyazo.com/5fb5f74e698292034360739a2bbd8aaf

These are new measuring stations, but the numbers seem a bit too high for the time of year.