Health Advisory

[Ulysses G.]

Hi,

I'm supposed to be coming to Chiangmai for a few days break - this Sunday (18th March) - Wednesday. The haze seems to be bad there. Would you recommend that I cancel?

Or are things expected to get better soon with the artificial rain?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thank you

It depends on how sensitive you are to such things.

When I go to Manilla the pollution really bothers me and Luang Prabang during burning season, but I'm quite comfortable in downtown Chiang Mai right now.

[Austhaied]

On a lighter note. Let's just call this bloke in to sort it out..

[Robroy]

Please can you give your source for that statistic.

The 'second-highest lung cancer rate in the world' quote is from Professor Sumittra Thongprasert in the Chiang Mai Mail:

"Prof Sumittra Thongprasert claims that the incidence of lung cancer in Chiang Mai is ranked second highest in the world."

http://www.chiangmai-mail.com/077/features.shtml

With diligence typical of Thai journalism, the CM Mail doesn't tell us who Prof Thongprasert is.

However a google search reveals s/he is from the Medical Ecology Department, Chiang Mai University.

Indeed at http://www.chiangmai-mail.com/063/news.shtml (a second CM Mail article), Prof Thongprasert "revealed that Chiang Mai had an incidence of lung cancer higher than every other region in Thailand. The number of patients with respiratory diseases was greater than 600,000 patients last year."

It just keeps getting worse, doesn't it?

The table saying CM has more lung cancer than Bangkok is at:

http://www.chiangmainews.com/indepth/details.php?id=625

tho like many of the very unprofessional Chiang Mai Mail's articles, it is unsourced.

Someone else asked:

"I'm supposed to be coming to Chiangmai for a few days break - this Sunday (18th March) - Wednesday. The haze seems to be bad there. Would you recommend that I cancel?"

I couldn't in good conscience recommend visiting anywhere in the north at the moment. In CM, the worst carcinogens, the <PM10s, are 2.5 times their maximum safe level today.

Because of the problem I am leaving CM for good this year. I'm currently checking out flights and apartments at Phuket and Hua Hin, and am thinking about decamping south as an interim measure too - i.e. for a couple of months till burning season ends. Both myself and my gf have been quite sick from the smoke.

[cdnvic]

Prof Thongprasert "revealed that Chiang Mai had an incidence of lung cancer higher than every other region in Thailand. The number of patients with respiratory diseases was greater than 600,000 patients last year."

40% 0f the population of the province?

[THAIJAMES]

Prof Thongprasert "revealed that Chiang Mai had an incidence of lung cancer higher than every other region in Thailand. The number of patients with respiratory diseases was greater than 600,000 patients last year."

40% 0f the population of the province?

That sounds about right if you consider all the people that came down with bronchitis and other respitory problems. Mine lasted almost 1 month of deep cough early this year.

If it is not the smoke, then it is the dust from construction, the smoke from night clubs or in many cases the deep coughs from spreading of viruses.

Someone should stand at the airport and pass out face masks to tourist with a warning leaflet.

I am sure the sight of tourists wearing masks would bring quick actions by the authorities to improve the problem.

Edited March 12, 2007 by THAIJAMES

[p1p]

Prof Thongprasert "revealed that Chiang Mai had an incidence of lung cancer higher than every other region in Thailand. The number of patients with respiratory diseases was greater than 600,000 patients last year."

Thank you for that. Now I need to try to find where Prof. Thongprasert got the information.

I would like to quote it in another piece of work, but can not do so without the original, preferably unimpeachable source.

WHO and UN sources do not seem to support such a claim.

[ThaiPauly]

Cough, Cough Cough..sneeze ,sneeze and sneeze.

I am just staying indoors with everything shut tight and the air-puifier on turbo!

My case is not helped owing to the fact that roads are being carved out of the mud not 20 metres from my house...Its a double-whammy for us,

In a week my Son is coming from the UK on holiday here ......he keeps asking me is it gonna be OK...I keep saying it will be fine by then....if it does not change then I think we will head south and hook up with him on an island somewhere..it will be a great shame as he loves CM.

Dawn is breaking as I write and once again Doi Sutep is invisible ..and I live right underneath it..in the 3 years I have been here I have never experienced it this bad or anything like it.

I will have to consider our future...We do not have any great reason to live in CM and could really live anywhere in LOS....

Whats to say next year will be a whole lot better.? The benefits of the cool high season are now being completley negated IMHO

[KhunMarco]

There's a spot light just outside my balcony. I wanted to take a picture because I've never seen so much dust in the air, unfortunately my compact camera doesn't have the necessary dynamic range to capture what the naked eyes can see. Scary stuff, guys..scary stuff..

[chanchao]

Mine has. Took some pictures this morning (8am) but I'm not sure that's fair to be comparing mid day pics with morning pictures. In any case if you ever wanted to take some 'bad chiang mai' pics then the mornings are an excellent time.

It's remarkable though that it blocks the sun. Normally at 8am in this time of year the sun would be very bright, you'd need sunglasses when driving, etc. Right now though even at 8-9 am it looks like a much earlier time just after sunrise, a red sun, etc. I'll do a pic of that if I may:

(This was yesterday at 6pm or so, but the morning effect is about the same)

[chanchao]

(It's a morning pic though... Still.. if it keeps getting worse then it'll look like this all day!)

Edited March 13, 2007 by chanchao

[p1p]

For info only

They have just published the average <P10 for the last 24 Hours - 284. Disasterously high.

[chanchao]

I have a feeling some local people secretly like it because it means less heat and less sun rays on their skin.

[earlofwindermere]

My wife and a group of friends are booking tickets now for down south until this clears up. I didn't think it would get any worse.

Edited March 13, 2007 by earlofwindermere

[ThaiGoon]

This is definitely the worst ever air pollution I've ever seen in my life.

[chanchao]

I updated my air clarity (or lack thereof) page. Yikes!!!

As for the figures from PCD, as they're 24 averages and they were posted in the morning, I bet the actual figures for today (as will be posted tomorrow morning) will be over 300. (Anyone wanna bet?)

On to the page.. there's a new pic near the bottom as well:

http://www.nachang.com/dryseason/comparison.html

[yabs]

I went to chiang mai last january and was really impressed. It posessed real charm and wasn't broing either. try and find any other tourist spots in LOS which posses any sort of charm.

I was strongly considering on moving up here and even buyinga condo. The view of the mountains

from the city were fantastic and the air seemed so much fresher than bangkok.

I went back In march/april and was surprised to see or not to see as it were the mountains.

They had completly dissappeared in misty smog. Walking around seemed worse than in bangkok with my eyes streaming in no time. I quickly decided that this was not the place after all. greta shame

and also there seemed to be loads more construction. This was again bought about taksin

trying to cash in on oturism in his home town. Once again a paradise lost.

How many are tyere in thailand now Pattaya, samui, phuket, koh chang and now chinag mai

[Ricardo]

This is definitely the worst ever air pollution I've ever seen in my life.

I used to spend a couple of weeks per month in Istanbul, where they burn filthy 'brown coal', and visibility could go down to 100 metres at times. This is almost as bad - as my memories of there. Our resident staff all used to have serious health problems caused by living there.

The lady from the Met. Centre says 1800m visibility ? I'd say it has been down to 300-400m at certain times over the past week. And am not suprised that the planes have trouble finding the runway.

[Robroy]

My wife and a group of friends are booking tickets now for down south until this clears up. I didn't think it would get any worse.

We're doing the same - leaving at the end of the week for a couple of months - but also using it as a reccy for a permanent move by the end of the year.

Where are you headed?

I don't like the overdeveloped spots much (Phuket, Samui), and rather fancied Krabi town or Songkla town might be nice. A work in progress. But beaches and clean air would be essential. Good Internet is the only other thing that's mandatory - need a good connection for work.

[miltonbentley]

Carries on like this and it will be permanent night time tomorrow.

[egeefay]

Where are you headed?

I don't like the overdeveloped spots much (Phuket, Samui), and rather fancied Krabi town or Songkla town might be nice. A work in progress. But beaches and clean air would be essential. Good Internet is the only other thing that's mandatory - need a good connection for work.

Try Hua Hin

[jackr]

Don't like the sound of this. Any rain on the way?

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

Don't like the sound of this. Any rain on the way?

It should sprinkle a little in April.

[yabs]

wonder how the TAT will try and salvage this for their precious tourism industry.

probably try to say its Chiang mais mystical mist

Hua Hin?

Pattaya 2 in the making

but an expensive one as they have white sand

[WaiWai]

wonder how the TAT will try and salvage this for their precious tourism industry.

probably try to say its Chiang mais mystical mist

Read somewhere that BBC TV had visited CM recently, to film for their "Holiday" series.

Should be interesting viewing ...

[yabs]

if theres anything to view through the mystical mist.

[earlofwindermere]

Officials are finally getting to the root of the problem....

Officials had been searching for sources of smoke and found that Korean Bulgogi, a chain of outdoor barbecue restaurants, was a major source of smoke in northern cities, he said.

"We will soon ask these restaurants to reduce the smoke from their barbecue stoves. Although this would only be able to reduce a small amount of the smoke, we will have to do it to improve air quality," Mr Puchong said

(source Bangkok Post March 14, 2007 http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/tops...s.php?id=117408 )

[Robroy]

"The government will declare a state of environmental emergency in the northern provinces and impose harsher penalties on slash-and-burn violators if they don't stop within a week."

Glad they're not rushing into anything.

Personally I think they should give the burners another month. Wait and see if we actually have a problem. What about the burners' civil rights?

[chanchao]

> Officials had been searching for sources of smoke and found that Korean

> Bulgogi, a chain of outdoor barbecue restaurants, was a major source of

> smoke in northern cities, he said.

crrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrringe.... Quotes like that remind me why I stopped reading newspapers.

Anyway, today is a little better it seems. (Judging from the amount of sunlight getting through at 8am)

Still the PDC figures are 24 hour averages, so I still think we're in for a high number..

[engrin]

I have a few friends who are travelling Thailand right now and are wanting to travel to Chiang Mei at the end of this month.

Will the pollution pass by then? How long do these fires usually go for?

[chanchao]

Well, there's always moderate haze this time of year, but it's anyone's guess if it will return to the normal levels in a couple weeks time. Could be. The day to day variations even are quite remarkable.

So.. I'd advise them to be flexible, if it's still bad then pick another location. From the satellite images I saw in other discussions I noticed that most of Kanchanaburi province looked really clear. The Sangkhlaburi area especially is beautiful, and looked like it wasn't affected. So just like with the rain in the rainy season my advise would be to remain flexible and just go where the problems aren't.

The only sure thing is that it will completely clear away late April or somewhere in May.