As smog season returns, can Thailand avert another health crisis?

[NorthernRyland]

Just now, Mike Lister said:

Given the history of the hill tribes I suspect they feel the same way about everyone else as you feel about them, the US, Laos, China, Vietnam etc etc. Nobody has seriously tried to get them to assimilate, instead they are tolerated as second class citizens, trying to change their culture is an uphill struggle at best. But for sure, a large part of the burning problem exists in that quarter.

Thailand does pretty well with them even though I know there's bad blood between them. They seem to be generally distrusting of outsiders, which makes sense given they're literal tribes and they don't want to change their culture which they're very proud of. It's the same story as with the native people in America and the European colonies.

 

So what do you do? Thai's DO attempt to assimilate them and put them into Thai schools and speaking Thai, which is good for them honestly but that also means they get intermixed and their culture destroyed so I don't blame them for being bitter either. The whole thing is unfortunate.

[dinsdale]

It's alreay here. SW greater BKK has had brown skies for at least the last 2 maybe 3 wks. It's overcast, still and heavy pollution.

[mommysboy]

The answer is very simple isn't it?

[Burma Bill]

8 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

This is 2021. Rice and sugar worked in previous centuries. Now, they do not make any sense.

With respect, they do. Rice is grown to feed families, with surplus being sold to provide a small income. Sugar cultivation in Isaan is very important for the local economy with MitrPhol's Mills processing the cane and providing employment for many local Thai people. Over in Lanna, another very important crop that is widely grown is maize, in particular sweet corn, on the hills and mountain sides, also in the valleys, of the Northern Provinces. Once the kernels have been harvested they go to processing factories for canning or freezing in packs. The remaining acres of dry stalks/leaves are then burnt, not cut and collected or ploughed in. Yes, there was air pollution during the harvests, but it was not only the Thai farmers. We experienced smoke from the farmers in neighboring Burma and Laos. No doubt down south you may experience smoke/haze from Cambodia, Malaysia and South Burma when the wind is blowing from their direction! I lived in an agricultural environment during my 20 years "up North" so I am well aware of the farming culture which will never change. To say "the law should be enforced" from your bar stool in Pattaya or office chair in Bangkok, may I inform you that many of the law enforcement officers up North own farms or support family members in farming. Photo of sweetcorn being grown on hillsides in Lanna (sadly, much deforestation)

 

[chilly07]

Problem is crop burning not vehicle exhaust. Need to  make crop buyers liable not individual  farmers

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, mommysboy said:

The answer is very simple isn't it?

Oh is it really? Do enlighten us.

[JackGats]

Rubbish, cannabis smoke is the real threat, if only because of "the smell"! Never mind smog with its thousands of carcinogens.

[Moonlover]

20 hours ago, khunjake said:

One of the many reasons why we bailed out of BKK. It just gets worse each year and there is never a solution provided to the problem. It now spreads to Hua Hin and Pattaya as well. Living upcountry can be tough but at least we got clean air. 

 

19 hours ago, motdaeng said:

 

upcountry in thailand, not many places have clean air. so, which area are you talking about?

 

I noticed that @khunjake got a couple of 'laugh' emojis for his post, that's normal but he's right, there places where the air quality is good all year round. I know because I live in one of them. To the east of Sakon Nakhon where there is no sugarcane, industry or in our case a main road close by, our air is nearly always 'satisfactory or better. Only rarely does it go up into the 'moderate' zone, (I'm using Air4Thai Sakon Nakhon as my yardstick)  

 

There's bound some wag turn up soon quoting figures saying I'm wrong. (they've done it before) I'm the one breathing it and I'm very happy with it, so don't bother yourself. It'll be water off a ducks back.

[sherwood]

27 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Oh is it really? Do enlighten us.

The answer is NO.

TIT

 

[Purdey]

What is the point of encouraging tourists if the air is unbreathable? Why focus so much on tourism as an economic savior but not protect it? Why doesn't the government survey what locals and foreigners think about air pollution? 

There seems to be a lackadaisically ignorant attitude to cleaning up Thailand. 

Edited October 28, 2023 by Purdey

[motdaeng]

23 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

 

I noticed that @khunjake got a couple of 'laugh' emojis for his post, that's normal but he's right, there places where the air quality is good all year round. I know because I live in one of them. To the east of Sakon Nakhon where there is no sugarcane, industry or in our case a main road close by, our air is nearly always 'satisfactory or better. Only rarely does it go up into the 'moderate' zone, (I'm using Air4Thai Sakon Nakhon as my yardstick)  

 

There's bound some wag turn up soon quoting figures saying I'm wrong. (they've done it before) I'm the one breathing it and I'm very happy with it, so don't bother yourself. It'll be water off a ducks back.

 

it's important to note that pollution isn't always visible, and just because it can't be seen or felt doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

sakon nakhon is not better than other areas in east thailand ... 

 

 

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, motdaeng said:

There's bound some wag turn up soon quoting figures saying I'm wrong. (they've done it before) I'm the one breathing it and I'm very happy with it, so don't bother yourself. It'll be water off a ducks back.

 

1 hour ago, motdaeng said:

 

it's important to note that pollution isn't always visible, and just because it can't be seen or felt doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

sakon nakhon is not better than other areas in east thailand ... 

 

 

 

Yer right. I'll stop breathing just in case! Quack quack.

[Moonlover]

6 hours ago, chilly07 said:

Problem is crop burning not vehicle exhaust. Need to  make crop buyers liable not individual  farmers

How can you possibly make the crop buyers liable for the actions of individual farmers?

 

One  exception of that could be sugarcane, where  with sufficient enforcement, the processing plants could be banned from from buying in a crop that has been burned before harvesting. But that's a discussion that been going on here for many years.

[alien365]

I was planning to take my dad on a holiday to Mae Kampong, Lampang and Nan the week after Songkran until I remembered about the burning. There's no point going to my planned places unless the sky is clear. Gonna have to figure out something to do in the south instead. My trip was for 3 people, spending would have been about 60,000 baht going to the local economy. Imagine how much money they are losing due to this when you increase the numbers. 

[SoilSpoil]

10 hours ago, alien365 said:

I was planning to take my dad on a holiday to Mae Kampong, Lampang and Nan the week after Songkran until I remembered about the burning. There's no point going to my planned places unless the sky is clear. Gonna have to figure out something to do in the south instead. My trip was for 3 people, spending would have been about 60,000 baht going to the local economy. Imagine how much money they are losing due to this when you increase the numbers. 

Same here, I strongly advise my friends and family members NOT to travel to Thailand from November till May because of the smog. Exception for the south of course. Thailand wants millions of tourists but doesnt care about these serious health issues. As someone already noticed, the solution is easy. Stop agricultural burning. 

Edited October 29, 2023 by SoilSpoil

[Northstar1]

Here we go again, but this year it’s starting in October!

guess what, nothing is going to happen or change!

don’t like it move !

simple!

thailand is not a retirement destination!

 

[retarius]

I'm not sure what constitutes a health crisis from smog? How many asthma sufferers need to be hospitalised for it to be called a crisis. Seems everything lis labelled a crisis these days? 

Seems to me this a case where urgent Government action is needed to stamp out the centuries old field burning each year....but asking for Government action is much like asking for Santa Claus to being you a Tesla for Christmas/./. ain't gonna happen. I'm a bit of a Victor Meldrew type and as I pass police stations I always count the number of cars that are actually out on the road fighting crime....pitifully few are out on the road and at immigration even the BMW smart cars are parked there permanently tethered to the electricity meter (I think they may have range problems). You literally never see one even being moved. So with cops sat on their arses all day long and having breaks for everything imaginable, can you really see them going out and arresting some old farmer in a rural area who tells you his fire was started by a neighbour's fire. 

Nothing will change.

[DavisH]

13 minutes ago, retarius said:

I'm not sure what constitutes a health crisis from smog? How many asthma sufferers need to be hospitalised for it to be called a crisis. Seems everything lis labelled a crisis these days? 

Seems to me this a case where urgent Government action is needed to stamp out the centuries old field burning each year....but asking for Government action is much like asking for Santa Claus to being you a Tesla for Christmas/./. ain't gonna happen. I'm a bit of a Victor Meldrew type and as I pass police stations I always count the number of cars that are actually out on the road fighting crime....pitifully few are out on the road and at immigration even the BMW smart cars are parked there permanently tethered to the electricity meter (I think they may have range problems). You literally never see one even being moved. So with cops sat on their arses all day long and having breaks for everything imaginable, can you really see them going out and arresting some old farmer in a rural area who tells you his fire was started by a neighbour's fire. 

Nothing will change.

P.M 2.5 is  a carcinogen. Avoid it if possible. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5920433/#:~:text=Previous epidemiological studies have indicated,%2C32)%2C and PM2.

[Thailand]

We have a new government and I am sure that the smog will be a top priority and they will have the problem resolved by the end of ---!

[WhatMeWorry]

On 10/28/2023 at 6:26 AM, Mike Lister said:

A tip for the confused amongst us: the hill tribes live in the forests.

The illegal "hill tribe" squatters are the biggest instigators of dangerous fires in the Thai citizens forests. These people should be removed and returned to their countries. 

[Mike Lister]

58 minutes ago, WhatMeWorry said:

The illegal "hill tribe" squatters are the biggest instigators of dangerous fires in the Thai citizens forests. These people should be removed and returned to their countries. 

And which countries would those be?