Any relief at higher elevations?

[seesip]

I'm guessing if you get up high enough the smoke might not be as bad, but there's no readings at any of those places. Anyone found any improvement up around Doi Inthanon or anywhere else in the province?

[Mavideol]

the higher the lesser the air to breath but same or more smoke....in case of fire/smoke lay as low as possible, smoke travels to higher not to lower places

[vivid]

Nope......

 

 

 

[elgenon]

Are there any underground caves? : )  Cooler too.

 

Hey! Maybe that is a million dollar idea! Please don't copy it. : )  Now renting rooms in a cave for 1695B/ day. All the bugs you can eat for free!

[cardinalblue]

Aren’t the bugs part of the 1695B price?

[Chicken George]

Get to the coast.. Jomtien.. 

[ToddinChonburi]

Book a flight to Japan

[THAIJAMES]

There must be hundreds or thousands of expats that have left chiangmai including myself for better air.

Edited March 27, 2019 by THAIJAMES

[Sparkles]

Good for you but 100's of thousands I doubt it.People working can hardly take extended time off ,kids going to school ,other like us retired but maybe not having enough savings for an extended break and having to employ someone to look after our gardens

The solution is of course right at the door step of those in power.Year after year promises are made but nothing is done therein lies the problem ..inaction.

We had 10 drops of rain in our part of Hang Dong last night ...thunderstorms will be the annual saviour

[Dante99]

17 minutes ago, Sparkles said:

Good for you but 100's of thousands I doubt it

he wrote "hundreds or thousands"  which is significantly different 

[drtreelove]

My personal experience is that the air is much better, cleaner and cooler at the higher elevations. At least it was when we lived in CM between 2002 and 2010; I regularly went mountain biking and hiking at the summit of Doi Pui, in the area above Bhuping Palace, Wat Sanku to the forestry checkpoint kiosk to the actual summit, the area where the visitor center and camping site is now, CMU Site A coffee farm and especially Site B where there are cabins to rent. My wife and I would rent an A-frame cabin for a few days to get up and out of the smog. It was rustic, no electricity, sleeping pads and mosquito nets but bring your own bedding and food, for 600 a night at that time. 

 

There are hiking or mt bike trails all over the mountain, cross country out to Mae Rim, from the Khun Chang Kian Hmong village down to the park headquarters or Monthathan falls, or from Doi Pui Mhong Village down to the Samoeng-Hang Dong road. Exploring, exercising in the great outdoors and breathing clean, cool air for awhile was really the only way I could have handled Chiang Mai and it's gross polluters for as long as I did.

https://mychiangmaitour.com/doisuthep-pui_national_park/

https://www.tourismthailand.org/Attraction/Doi-Luang-Chiang-Dao--3986

Doi Inthanon is even higher (the summit is the highest point in Thailand) and a nice day trip, and there are accomodations there too. And then there is the whole of the mountainous north to explore.

[mike787]

 No reprieve.  Just enjoy it or leave Thailand.  No other choice.

[jak2002003]

1 hour ago, THAIJAMES said:

There must be hundreds or thousands of expats that have left chiangmai including myself for better air.

But, clearly, not for the better beaches...……   Prefer my beaches not to be covered in rocks, slimy seaweed, algae and grass.  

[THAIJAMES]

1 hour ago, jak2002003 said:

But, clearly, not for the better beaches...……   Prefer my beaches not to be covered in rocks, slimy seaweed, algae and grass.  

Only rocks no seaweed algae or grass.  I'm actually traveling around not staying any place more than a few days. Here is a nice beach a few days ago.  Still miss chiangmai.  I don't mean to make anybody jealous. Sorry in advance if I did.

Edited March 27, 2019 by THAIJAMES

[Lacessit]

On 3/26/2019 at 12:19 PM, Mavideol said:

the higher the lesser the air to breath but same or more smoke....in case of fire/smoke lay as low as possible, smoke travels to higher not to lower places

I guess that's why when I travelled to Big Bear Lake in the San Bernadino Mountains from Los Angeles, I was breathing clean air instead of the yellow shit I could see down below. Ever heard of inversion layers?

[vivid]

Yeah of course there is such a thing called inversion layer and of course the higher you go the better it gets.  That's the theory, and that is true. 

 

But in reality, i believe the haze layer in N Thailand is pretty "thick".  Look at the youtube video of a flight coming in for landing that i posted above, that's what is happening in reality.    Probably you'd need to go a few thousand feet up in order to get any decent relief ie AQI below 150 (red) instead of purple or brown.  If you really want clean air, probably above 10,000 ft? 

 

PS.

Just look at Samoeng hospital a few days ago during those 2 days of serious haze days.  That's about 1500 ft? 

 

 

Not sure what is the altitude of these stations, they are nearest to Doi Inthanon?   But of coz there seems to be a hint of slightly better air quality than vs Chiang Mai city.

Edited March 27, 2019 by vivid

[vivid]

The above are places that one might stay at, so i guess that hardly qualifies as reasonable relief.  I guess if you can set up camp on top of Doi Inthanon then that'd give you the best outcome (is it possible?  Not sure, since i am not living there). 

[Briggsy]

5 minutes ago, vivid said:

The above are places that one might stay at, so i guess that hardly qualifies as reasonable relief.  I guess if you can set up camp on top of Doi Inthanon then that'd give you the best outcome (is it possible?  Not sure, since i am not living there). 

The main campsite on Doi Inthanon is at 1300 m above sea level. This is the highest place you can stay on Doi Inthanon unless you are in the RTAF.

 

You can camp higher at Huay Nam Dang (just short of Pai), 1700 m, or Doi Pha Hom Pok (near Fang), maybe higher. If you wanna go full on, you can camp on top of Doi Luang Chiang Dao at 2100 m.

Edited March 27, 2019 by Briggsy

[connda]

30,000 feet and your gold.

[vivid]

7 minutes ago, connda said:

30,000 feet and your gold.

I have actually been trying to find that picture about a domestic flight flying at cruising altitude (20k+ feet) and the haze was all below, N Thailand haze, was posted in one of the previous Smoke, Dust, Smog Chiang Mai threads by another person.

   Very sobering picture, it is like a sheet of creamy white and flat clouds.  Interestingly it isn't yellow or orange.

 

8 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

The main campsite on Doi Inthanon is at 1300 m above sea level. This is the highest place you can stay on Doi Inthanon unless you are in the RTAF.

 

You can camp higher at Huay Nam Dang (just short of Pai), 1700 m, or Doi Pha Hom Pok (near Fang), maybe higher. If you wanna go full on, you can camp on top of Doi Luang Chiang Dao at 2100 m.

 

Great, now i gotta google up those sites and see what turns up.  ????  But i suspect OP would pretty much prefer somewhere like a homestay and with a certain level of comfort/convenience than a pure outdoors experience.  ????

 

Edited March 27, 2019 by vivid

[Briggsy]

2 minutes ago, vivid said:

I have actually been trying to find that picture about a domestic flight flying at cruising altitude (20k+ feet) and the haze was all below, N Thailand haze, was posted in one of the previous Smoke, Dust, Smog Chiang Mai threads by another person.

   Very sobering picture, it is like a sheet of creamy white and flat clouds.  Interestingly it isn't yellow or orange.

 

 

Great, now i gotta google up those sites and see what turns up.  ????

Doi Inthanon - drive there on 108

Huay Nam Dang - drive there on 1095

Doi Pha Hom Pok - drive there on 107 - 4-wheel drive or the like required or must use National Park transport

Doi Luang Chiang Dao - must walk up to the campsite after driving there on 107. 5 hours walk with pack.

[vivid]

23rd March 2019

 

Self-explanatory

[THAIJAMES]

2 hours ago, Lacessit said:

I guess that's why when I travelled to Big Bear Lake in the San Bernadino Mountains from Los Angeles, I was breathing clean air instead of the yellow shit I could see down below. Ever heard of inversion layers?

That's the main problem with Chiang Mai there's often and inversion layer that keeps the smog trapped over the city.  It's pretty clear to see when your flying in and out.

[vivid]

The video that i posted on page 1 seems to be starting off at 5000 feet (1500m) altitude?  There seems to be of little relief even at that altitude.   The description said that it was approx AQI 300 "only". 

 

Brigssy mentioned a full-on hiking / camping experience at Doi Luang Chiang Dao at 2100 m.  I suspect that even at that altitude (based on the above satellite pic), it might not help much in terms of alleviating symptoms in reality, though there would be some improvements in air quality of course.

 

Better to spend your money on Air Purifiers and masks, i guess. 

 

Attaching a reference on another plane on approach to CNX

Edited March 27, 2019 by vivid

[vivid]

Not sure how high up is this @ Doi Suthep.  If the air quality is decent, you should be able to see some blue skies in the far horizon.

 

The highly increased respiratory rates due to hiking (esp with a heavy backpack if you are looking to do some serious camping or something) is going to be a bad idea unless there is direct road access.

 

 

Edited March 27, 2019 by vivid

[Lacessit]

17 hours ago, vivid said:

Not sure how high up is this @ Doi Suthep.  If the air quality is decent, you should be able to see some blue skies in the far horizon.

 

The highly increased respiratory rates due to hiking (esp with a heavy backpack if you are looking to do some serious camping or something) is going to be a bad idea unless there is direct road access.

 

 

I must admit I can't come to grips with pushbike riders and joggers working out in the smog. They'd be better off inside with an air purifier and a cold beer.

[THAIJAMES]

If anyone flying in our out of Chiang Mai Please use a GPS app like for example GPS status to monitor your attitude just as you are above the pollution level.

 

This should give everyone a good idea how high they need to go to avoid the pollution ????

[vivid]

If i were to make a rough guess based on the satellite pics and Doi Inthanon @ 8.64, it'd be around 10k feet on the days where the AQI display background on the map are mostly in brown.   Any much higher and it defeats the purpose as you'd then face the issue of high-altitude sickness esp those who are older.