Fires burning in neighboring countries blamed for Chiang Mai woes - most polluted city in the World

[webfact]

Picture: Thai Rath

 

Chiang Mai was the most polluted city in the world yesterday late morning to evening according to iqair.com

 

For what has seemed like weeks residents of the northern city have not been able to see Doi Suthep.

 

Thai Rath reported that the "blanket of smoke and dust" that has descended on the city and outlying areas at places like Doi Luang and Chiang Dao, had come from Myanmar and Laos where fields are being burned to stubble.

 

The winds are wafting over causing health problems for Thais. 

 

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

In Chiang Dao a senior official said there was almost no field burning in his area, it was indeed coming "from the neighbors".

 

Several great scenic views have been obliterated by the particulate matter in the air.

 

The media used GISTDA , satellite tracking data, to inform their story.

 

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[BritManToo]

In Thailand its always somebody else's fault! 

[ChrisY1]

Great reputation for Thailand, and particularly, Chiang Mai..now named the most polluted city in the world (hard to believe...but who am I)..how will TAT butter this up?

[KhunBENQ]

16 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

In Thailand its always somebody else's fault! 

But quite true in this case.

Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia are virtually big fireplaces.

CM approx. at the center of this map:

Edited March 13, 2023 by KhunBENQ

[KhunBENQ]

[sqwakvfr]

But the problem is: 1) Same place 2) Same time of the year 3) Every year.  So the neighboring countries have the fires every year at the same time?  This is year the blame can be deflected to it's neighbors.  What or who gets the blame next year?  

[2baht]

49 minutes ago, webfact said:

The winds are wafting over causing health problems for Thais. 

It were'nt us, khup!

[realfunster]

41 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

That website has a useful timeline function, where you can check past dates.

I present 14th & 28th February, 2023...the prosecution rests m'lud.

I propose the defendant is guilty as charged and must do better.

 

It is, however, true that at present, Myanmar/Laos and Cambodia are basically on fire, I wonder what actions can be taken at an ASEAN level to address this ? I recall Singapore/Malaysia used to get swamped by Indonesian smoke and there was some progress with that. 

Edited March 13, 2023 by realfunster
Typo

[Dmaxdan]

It's raining in Chiang Mai today so the air quality will be fresh and crystal clear from tomorrow....

[NanLaew]

50 minutes ago, sqwakvfr said:

But the problem is: 1) Same place 2) Same time of the year 3) Every year.  So the neighboring countries have the fires every year at the same time?  This is year the blame can be deflected to it's neighbors.  What or who gets the blame next year?  

You've answered your own questions.

 

It's not a deflection. I worked for three pre-monsoon seasons in remote northwest Myanmar and around this time each year, we would post active fire watches and have rapid response teams to recover our gear from the vicinity of flashpoints. On a quiet day, we would see about half a dozen alerts.

 

Just had a look on FIRMS and it's still the same.

 

https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#t:adv;d:2023-03-12;@94.5,24.0,12z

Edited March 13, 2023 by NanLaew

[novacova]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Chiang Mai was the most polluted city in the world yesterday late morning to evening according to iqair.com

North Lampang way more dense smoke where it stagnates in a small valley, been staying in cm past two weeks to get away from it

[NanLaew]

5 minutes ago, novacova said:

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Chiang Mai was the most polluted city in the world yesterday late morning to evening according to iqair.com

North Lampang way more dense smoke where it stagnates in a small valley, been staying in cm past two weeks to get away from it

No longer on the podium.

 

[catch104]

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

In Thailand its always somebody else's fault! 

Yup, a very strong tradition...

[IamNoone88]

4 hours ago, ChrisY1 said:

Great reputation for Thailand, and particularly, Chiang Mai..now named the most polluted city in the world (hard to believe...but who am I)..how will TAT butter this up?

Number 1 again

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

In Chiang Dao a senior official said there was almost no field burning in his area, it was indeed coming "from the neighbors".

Always someone else...

The wind always comes from a neighbouring country so they say.. 

Thailand says smoke from Laos comes on an easterly wind.

CM says smoke come from Myanmar on a westerly wind..

such bad luck.

[JCauto]

Do we really have to go through this ritual every year? Step one, blame the neighbors for doing what they do every single year in order to survive. Step two, blame the farmers in Thailand for having to survive by doing the same. Step three, downplay the inevitable discovery that CP Group and other agro-industry giants were actually driving the burning through commodities cropping for their animal feed and other food production. Step four, make sure nothing changes, rinse and repeat next year! 

[NorthernRyland]

17 minutes ago, JCauto said:

Do we really have to go through this ritual every year? Step one, blame the neighbors for doing what they do every single year in order to survive. Step two, blame the farmers in Thailand for having to survive by doing the same. Step three, downplay the inevitable discovery that CP Group and other agro-industry giants were actually driving the burning through commodities cropping for their animal feed and other food production. Step four, make sure nothing changes, rinse and repeat next year! 

It's 2023 no one has to burn in order to survive. Get with the times bro.

[Tarteso]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

the most polluted city in the world

Where is the award? ???? 

 

5 hours ago, webfact said:

causing health problems for Thais. 

And Falangos ????

[Robert Tyrrell]

Good Afternoon,

 

Thailand is literally 30-40 Years behind the Western World, Until they start stepping up with responsible Environmental Laws and Protections for the environment Thailands environment will suffer , Thailand your environmentally destroying your paradise !!!!   WAKE UP !!  

 

[spidermike007]

Blaming the neighbors is tantamount to saying nothing can be done, no improvements can be made, and the administration has no responsibility to address anything, anytime, anywhere. It is sheer, and stunning stupidity. A hundred things could be done to clean up the air. And what about the rest of the nation, the contributing factor of sugar burning, foul diesel soot, etc?

[tonypattaya]

Why should the Thai authorities be disbelieved in this instance, by contributors on this bb? It is so obviously the correct explanation.
Chang Mai is not an industrial area and nor is it known for over-congested traffic.

[spermwhale]

Yeah.. Although it's technically not the cool season anymore, these fires really ruin the best time of year in the North every single year. It's a regular thing and it only takes a few selfish farmers to ruin the day for millions 

 

 

[tonypattaya]

9 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Blaming the neighbors is tantamount to saying nothing can be done, no improvements can be made, and the administration has no responsibility to address anything, anytime, anywhere. It is sheer, and stunning stupidity. A hundred things could be done to clean up the air. And what about the rest of the nation, the contributing factor of sugar burning, foul diesel soot, etc?

Can you please tell us how to clean up the air in Chang Mai. I would like to know and I promise to send on your recommendations.
BTW this discussion is about the air quality in Chang Mai!

[NorthernRyland]

18 minutes ago, tonypattaya said:

Chang Mai is not an industrial area and nor is it known for over-congested traffic.

Chiang Mai is in my opinion polluted all year. Get up to a high point and look into the city and it's always smoggy. The only times it's clear is following a rain but it quickly builds up after a couple of days.

[NorthernRyland]

20 minutes ago, spermwhale said:

Yeah.. Although it's technically not the cool season anymore, these fires really ruin the best time of year in the North every single year. It's a regular thing and it only takes a few selfish farmers to ruin the day for millions 

 

 

They ruin the flower season every year because of this. March would be lovely if the air was clean.

[Marco51]

Whereas the fires burning across the borders from 150 to 250km away from greater CNX- also those locally from the hills and from EGAT burning sugarcane residue and lignite- would be the major culprits, it is always enlightening to see rows and rows of monster busses , standing empty at the roads leading in and out of CNX, at the parks (well...) and zoo and up and down Huay Keow and the University campus, parking and waiting for the zero Baht chinese group tours plus tons of locally government promoted inland tours , 400HP diesel engines running non-stop for hours for the lonely but sweating driver to be kept cool while waiting. Similar rows of the small Toyota Commuter "busses" in the way everywhere crisscrossing and these are even allowed in to town. And then there are the dubious red  scrap metal smoke belching red whatevers..........It is also remarkable how in Thailand different mathematics apply where our dear leadership  changes  a WHO standard of PM2.5 max of 12 valid for all other countries into a max of 50 for Thailand after which it does indeed get a touch unhealthy even here. Thai peoples' lungs and hearts must be very resilient, my dog doesn't even want to go for a walk. Right, and 1.3 Million people effected are simply hypochondriacs, stop coughing and wheezing you silly little children. Stay indoors if you have one, that's what it's for. This questionable record of being the world's most polluted city used to belong to New Delhi and "our Maoist brothers and sisters and whathaveyou" in Peking, maybe can ask how to get off that pedestal again, in case of doubt simply by decree to the press?

[Albaby]

1 hour ago, NorthernRyland said:

It's 2023 no one has to burn in order to survive. Get with the times bro.

In Oz we haven't burnt our farm,and it's big, for 20 years.

[ebean001]

Most of the smoke comes from other countries is true. the problem is the other countries are poor. burning is best for them. so who is going to pay the price to stop the smoke. It will not be a small number. maybe an increase in the price of rice with the requirment to stop buring. if caught buring, then fine them because they now have more money. of course, thai has to remain competitve

 

[JCauto]

1 hour ago, NorthernRyland said:

It's 2023 no one has to burn in order to survive. Get with the times bro.

Oh really? So you, like me, work in upland Northern Laos? How is it that you don't know about the upland rotational agriculture practiced by these and the millions of other indigenous farmers (non-Thai, -Lao, -Han, -Burmese, -Viet) in the region require burning? Have you some miracles in your pocket to allow them to somehow scrape an existence out of the steep and poor soils they live on without practicing their traditional agriculture?

It seems so easy when you come from abroad and sit in your A/C home to pontificate about the lives of the people in a place you recently rocked up to but have hardly any knowledge about. Perhaps you might volunteer time or funds to work with local NGOs who could provide you with the experience to understand what's really going on.

[NorthernRyland]

1 minute ago, JCauto said:

Oh really? So you, like me, work in upland Northern Laos? How is it that you don't know about the upland rotational agriculture practiced by these and the millions of other indigenous farmers (non-Thai, -Lao, -Han, -Burmese, -Viet) in the region require burning? Have you some miracles in your pocket to allow them to somehow scrape an existence out of the steep and poor soils they live on without practicing their traditional agriculture?

They haven't had any new ideas in hundreds of years? Figure it out. No more excuses from these people for polluting the entire region of SE Asia.