Chiang Mai Air Quality and Pollution

[sammieuk1]

Many places around CM got marble size hail causing a lot of damage. mountain check still gone but that could be cloud ????

[cmsally]

Some pretty big hailstones !

 

https://www.cm108.com/w/17281/?fbclid=IwAR1LWuJqfNJs8hLbXvEgdzPnNvLmzXAe9Wf0G9shGsVI-lWl0z_vxQO62gs

[1FinickyOne]

2 hours ago, brommers said:

You are  lucky to have an AQI of 85, here in Sanpiisua it is 111 after at least 2 hours of good rains. There is a lovely fresh smell to the air but that is obviously deceptive. In Rimping on Sunday I bought 7 face masks which should see me through a couple of weeks.

the lovely fresh smell after rain is called the Petrochor... just sayin. 

[Ventenio]

Night over; day begins.  

 

Is this a 500-year rain storm?   you get a two hour break from the death air so you take to the internet and pronounce your happiness???    lol.

 

i remember during the war when the bombs stopped for 11 minutes after 11 days of bombing.  oh, we all wrote letters and celebrated.   then the big attack came.   during our break we all posted on twitter because we finally had something to be happy about!!!  

 

we need to take a step back and reassess how pathetic this has all become.   

Edited December 30, 2019 by Ventenio

[Kelsall]

"Bad air over; big rain."

 

It ain't over 'til it's over.

[Dazinoz]

At least chingmai331's post gave many of the keyboard warriors something to complain about.

[vivid]

Gezuz, is this normal for December?  Spiked to 200+ over the weekend.  I thought this was March or something.

 

Edited December 30, 2019 by vivid

[vivid]

On 12/28/2019 at 10:36 AM, Capacitor said:

3rd straight winter in Chiang Mai and this December has been ridiculously bad. I don't recall a single day in February last year when the mountain vanished behind an impenetrable veil of smoke like today.

 

Obviously it can't be vehicle emissions; is there a fire map or other means to see where the smoke is coming from? Not that it will change anything, but at least to have an idea of what's happening and why.

Yes, here you go...

 

Edited December 30, 2019 by vivid

[vivid]

BTW, just read the PM2.5 readings on PCD, aqmthai or AQICN (which gets it from PCD) with confidence.  Don't worry about the relative humidity, coz they have taken that out of the equation by normalising the intake stream to around 35% RH (official standard).

However this is only for the official stations/sources, some for eg on airvisual just use laser scattering devices and do not normalise the intake stream RH%.

 

eg, this is not Thailand, but the concept is there

 

 

[Bruce Aussie Chiang Mai]

Might pizz down Nye, clean the air and some boom boom music lol

????❤????????

[saengd]

On 12/28/2019 at 11:26 PM, Yom said:

Don't want upset anyone, but I'm sure it's not only 'the people' in Thailand responsible?

No.

We see them burning, but the major problem might lie far west and far north east.

Some weeks ago I noticed (like last year) greyish/brownish high clouds floating from NE.

The AQI-level remained relatively ok.

Since a couple of days the winds blewing from the west (for better understanding,

from India) brought a significant increase of fine dust particles PM2.5 in northern Thailand.

It's so easy, isn't it?

It's obvious if you have a look at the pictures, where most of this dirt comes from.

May be next week, next month it could  blow in from China.

Sorry, China. It's my opinion and my experience.

But China has done a lot of improvements  over the last years. This is to appreciate .

Everything might be worse.

Think about all this slash and burn everywhere, then the CM-vehicles,

the mushroom burnies and so on. - Oh, yes, there are some neighbouring countries

giving a sh!t on all this.

 

Only two copies, Dec. 25 and 27

 

http://berkeleyearth.org

 

Btw, there might be a connex between dirt in the air and the lignite fired powerplants

Mae Sot, near Tak and Mae Moh near Lampang.

I would appreciate any idea.

Thanks.

You may wish to spend time studying the firemaps in conjunction with the wind maps, if you do that you'll see that imported airborne pollution is a significant contributor to northern Thailand's airborne pollution problems....NOTE TO POSTERS: I wrote "significant contributor", I did not suggest anything else, before you go there!

 

You are also correct that the lignite fired power plants are a major contributor to pollution, for that reason Lampang is one of the dirtiest places in the country.

 

Phuket and Southern Thailand frequently suffer from high levels of airborne pollution from Indonesia and Malaysia, that fact is generally accepted. For some reason it is not generally accepted that Northern Thailand has a similar problem where Myanmar and China are the culprits.

 

 https://www.windy.com/?18.791,98.978,5

[amexpat]

10 hours ago, saengd said:

For some reason it is not generally accepted that Northern Thailand has a similar problem where Myanmar and China are the culprits.

Many Thais will tell you that all of the pollution is imported.

[Yom]

@  saengd.

Thank you for your constructive words, I appreciate that very much.

Btw, I like windy and ventusky.com too, but maybe I'm a bit too lazy. Studying.

"significant contributor" is very nice.

'For some reason it is not generally accepted that Northern Thailand has

a similar problem where Myanmar and China are the culprits. "

One reason might be the close neighborhood in the north,

while in the south there is another religion ?

And while in 2019 'the-planet-is-burning', let's hope 2563 will be better.

 

https://aeon.co/essays/the-planet-is-burning-around-us-is-it-time-to-declare-the-pyrocene

 

 

[saengd]

10 hours ago, Yom said:

@  saengd.

Thank you for your constructive words, I appreciate that very much.

Btw, I like windy and ventusky.com too, but maybe I'm a bit too lazy. Studying.

"significant contributor" is very nice.

'For some reason it is not generally accepted that Northern Thailand has

a similar problem where Myanmar and China are the culprits. "

One reason might be the close neighborhood in the north,

while in the south there is another religion ?

And while in 2019 'the-planet-is-burning', let's hope 2563 will be better.

 

https://aeon.co/essays/the-planet-is-burning-around-us-is-it-time-to-declare-the-pyrocene

 

 

The problem in the South of Thailand is easier to accept, especially when Indonesia is the source because it impacts Malaysia and Singapore as much as Thailand, if not more so, and they are both well developed countries with loud voices. In that example Thailand is merely piggy backing on Malaysia/Singapore's complaint. 

 

But in the North the problem stems directly from neighbouring countries and there is nobody in between to piggyback on and Thailand doesn't like to create waves. I don't believe it's a religion based problem, it's more about proximity

 

 

[tabarin]

Been going trough the entire burning season last year in CM and thought to not be bothered until a good 2 months in and seems I do suffer from it since.

The irony is that I have been a moderate smoker for over 10 years and never got any of 'these' issues. 

Having seen some pretty high spikes in the past week, I am concerned it is only getting worse and will be longer this year. 
Now I do work on a exit plan from TH but assuming we would keep a second home here, it seems the south of Thailand is the only good option left.

As I have seen worser readings in Udon Thani and Khon Kaen, Bangkok and Pattaya isn't that great too. Hua Hin neither.

Are there more people like me who plan to move down south after all? Or are we just waiting to see how bad it is again this year?
I can't stand this each year, there are only like 5-6 nice months a year left if also considering other weather extremes. 

Shame though, I really hoped to live in the north of Thailand forever in the past. But can't accept this / too high risk for kid too.
Dealing with a mild lung infection myself while writing this (wether that is relevant to pollution or not, I am sure it helped my neighbours are burning daily).

Guess many people, including myself, keep ignoring the dangers until being confronted with sickness and pain. Really freaking hurts, time for change.

Edited January 1, 2020 by tabarin

[Samuel Smith]

10 hours ago, saengd said:

 

 

But in the North the problem stems directly from neighbouring countries 

 

 

BS!  The problem stems a lot closer to home.

[amexpat]

11 hours ago, saengd said:

But in the North the problem stems directly from neighbouring countries

Spoken like a native.

 

Take a night time flight out of CNX and count the fires while you are still over Northern Thailand. 

 

[Yom]

@ 

tabarin

You should have a look there:

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1140267-surat-thani-air-quality/

 

[tabarin]

34 minutes ago, Yom said:

@ 

tabarin

You should have a look there:

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1140267-surat-thani-air-quality/

Thanks but already checked manually for a year and the south is the best option on average. That there is some less nice days, is anywhere. 

Doubt is not much about that, just about which place is the nicest to life and moving there in X months (once I rented a house or condo to start from).

Will most likely go for Phuket as it is the biggest island, many flights as well fast shipping etc for my wife's eCommerce business.
Gonna be accepting the higher cost of living and we also eat at home a lot, so not much changes to that. 

Big winner is to be living near the beaches, the tropical life and doing water sports / fishing and more. But nowhere is perfect, that's sure and fine.

That one thing is sure, is that I will not be living in CM in 2021 anymore (many with me, all though, most left already since 1-2 years).
Bored to become one of the last man standing here and drinking alone too, starts to be too much of a village with penny pinchers.

Edited January 1, 2020 by tabarin

[Yom]

3 hours ago, Samuel Smith said:

BS!  The problem stems a lot closer to home.

You're right, sometimes. OK, where? And how often?

 

Depending on time of the year and/or directions of the winds,

the output of the lignite fired powerplants, the exhaust of 'some' tuk-tuks i

ChiangMai etc.

Sorry, if you can't see the frequent finedust inflow from China, or the last days

from India, Burma?

'Nole me tangere' said the Old Romans.

Please, have a look at some screenshots and links:

http://berkeleyearth.org/air-pollution-overview/

 

aqicn.org/city/thailand/

 

 

last 72 hours

https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map

 

Btw, I don't know if all these fires in Indochina are emitting those dangerous PM2.5

and/or those much more dangerous nanoparticles.

 

 

 

 

[Yom]

 

' living near the beaches, the tropical life and doing water sports / fishing and more '

Wonderful.  -  And no smog, usually.

 

' the south is the best option ' - I would agree. And switch from the west coast, if necessary

to the east coast. But never would buy/build a house...

 

Good luck!

 

 

[Yom]

 

 

It all depends on time and place.

Edited January 1, 2020 by Yom
Mistake

[tabarin]

12 minutes ago, Yom said:

 

' living near the beaches, the tropical life and doing water sports / fishing and more '

Wonderful.  -  And no smog, usually.

 

' the south is the best option ' - I would agree. And switch from the west coast, if necessary

to the east coast. But never would buy/build a house...

 

Good luck!

Thanks, not planning to buy or build something easily indeed.
The irony is that I planned moving to tropical beaches like in Phuket before I even lived here, but ended up in CM.

My son is also still young (1year), so we have a few years left before school etc starts, so better to enjoy it now in case we change our mind later on.
Got some potential job offers (parttime) down there too, so all in all there is good potential.

Edited January 1, 2020 by tabarin

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

The real cause of the world wide fire epidemic. http://themillenniumreport.com/2019/12/climatechangegate-hidden-agenda-behind-the-huge-hoax-and-global-criminal-conspiracy/

[Yom]

On 12/31/2019 at 5:21 PM, amexpat said:

Many Thais will tell you that all of the pollution is imported.

Not all the air pollution of today, but there are a lot of fires in Cambodia, indeed.

 

  Almost no idea who the culprits might be.

Perhaps Bangkok, Khonkaen, Lampang, Mae Moh?

China and India these days, thank God not suspicious-looking .

 

AQI-Numbers

Bangkok about 150

Khonkaen 323

Lampang Health Promotion Hospital 153 - next to Mae Moh

Lamphun 167

 

[amexpat]

On 1/3/2020 at 1:58 AM, CobraSnakeNecktie said:

The real cause of the world wide fire epidemic. http://themillenniumreport.com/2019/12/climatechangegate-hidden-agenda-behind-the-huge-hoax-and-global-criminal-conspiracy/

Thanks for that.  I read it until I had to stop because my sides hurt from laughing so much!  

 

[DaRoadrunner]

 

Well I'm standing by a river

But the water doesn't flow

It boils with every poison you can think of

This ain't no technological breakdown

This is the road to Hell.

 

Edited January 4, 2020 by DaRoadrunner

[mike787]

If CM wanted to improve air quality they would....REALITY they DO NOT want it to change.  Thais LOVE it the way it is.

[tlandtday]

On 11/12/2019 at 9:29 AM, Puchaiyank said:

Thank you for bringing up the AQI concern.

 

I related this concern to a poster who wanted to come to Thailand and his questions were only visa related...

 

Received a nasty response from a TVF regular blasting me for bringing up the subject of air quality when the question was only about a visa...

 

Ostrich place their head in the sand to keep from dealing with reality...wonder where my poster friend has his head?   ????

There was a guy last year who went out of his way to warn people in Pattaya about the air pollution problem on pattaya addicts and the guy was banned for doing it.  Talk about censorship and vested interests.

[tlandtday]

1 hour ago, DaRoadrunner said:

 

Well I'm standing by a river

But the water doesn't flow

It boils with every poison you can think of

This ain't no technological breakdown

This is the road to Hell.

 

great song