I’ve lived in several places across Thailand, including Phuket, Chiang Mai, Amnat Charoen, Pattaya, Bangkok, Hua Hin, and Ranong.

Right now, I’m in Kra Buri, Ranong—one of the wettest provinces, equidistant between Ranong and Chumphon, and between the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand.

From my experience, this is the cleanest air I’ve encountered in Thailand so far.

Ranong has few centres where westerners gather, if you need that I would suggest Chumphon with an expat area around Thung Wua Laen.

We live in Chumphon | Facebook

1 hour ago, Presnock said:

Yeah, yesterday early AM moon was a beautiful ORANGE color here in CM due to the pollution.

That happened a lot in Jomtien. People have their phones out are saying ooh look at the amazing sunset and you think that'll be the pollution..

4 hours ago, jvs said:

What kind of mask did you use? I tried running with a mask and was getting not enough air!

Us a good 3M respirator.

Approx Bt.70 per mask.

Use once and discard.

Any moisture, if left for a while, will cut down on flow of air.

I use these.

I think they are excellent for the purpose.

Also: DON'T FORGET to buy those GIANT RED HEADPHONES, while you are at it.

The red band on the mask does have a significance, by the way.

2 hours ago, Hummin said:

Could your soi cat give you sources and fact check to?

Him make Top Cat look like Tweedy Bird.🙃🙃

On 4/5/2026 at 2:14 AM, MIke B Bad said:

9 hours ago, Presnock said:

Like I said beautiful ORANGE, unlike the sick orange from the president

why...Why? even go there this has nothing to do with the USA or Trump!!!

I'm about 300km north of Bangkok. Phetchabun usually has some of the freshest inland air in the country due its topography. However, this is the worst smog I've seen up here in a decade. I've been coughing up crud for three days - I don't smoke - and the visibility is noticeably impeded by a yellowy-grey tinge with no discernible clouds, just a soupy haze.
If this is what an AQI of 112 is like, I'd hate think of what the residents of CM's at AQI 220+ are experiencing - or even when it hit 300 last week.

On 4/5/2026 at 1:14 PM, MIke B Bad said:

Anywhere in Isaan is out of the question......the air is so bad where we are you can't see the mountains that are less than 2km away.

I guess I have the advantage of actually knowing where Isaan is! I lived in BKK for 10 years, and in Isaan for 4. The air quality at our Isaan house is very good, all year long. I think you are describing Chiang Mai / Northern Thailand.
Isaan (or Isan) is the northeastern region of Thailand, comprising 20 provinces situated on the Khorat Plateau. It is bordered by the Mekong River to the north and east (Laos border), Cambodia to the southeast, and the Phetchabun Mountains to the west. It is Thailand's largest region by area.
Have to ask, where do you live? Are you even IN Thailand???

5 minutes ago, JustinTyme said:

I guess I have the advantage of actually knowing where Isaan is! I lived in BKK for 10 years, and in Isaan for 4. The air quality at our Isaan house is very good, all year long. I think you are describing Chiang Mai / Northern Thailand.
Isaan (or Isan) is the northeastern region of Thailand, comprising 20 provinces situated on the Khorat Plateau. It is bordered by the Mekong River to the north and east (Laos border), Cambodia to the southeast, and the Phetchabun Mountains to the west. It is Thailand's largest region by area.
Have to ask, where do you live? Are you even IN Thailand???

I have to ask where you live, as I lived in Isan, Udon Thani (16 yrs), and the air pollution was horrendous at times. That would be months at a time. Here it is today, so if living above Korat or Ubon, I'd say it's not very healthy.

27 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

I have to ask where you live, as I lived in Isan, Udon Thani (16 yrs), and the air pollution was horrendous at times. That would be months at a time. Here it is today, so if living above Korat or Ubon, I'd say it's not very healthy.

Yes, I suppose we can cherry pick locations, and also admit one person's "horrendous" is another persons "whatever." You see, before we moved north from BKK, and built a house ... I actually did RESEARCH about floods, smog, heat. I found an area that is beautiful, peaceful, and what my wife and I call "the no drama zone." No floods, clean air, no crime, nice people, etc. Here are the current conditions in our area. Mai Pen Rai.

49 minutes ago, JustinTyme said:

I guess I have the advantage of actually knowing where Isaan is! I lived in BKK for 10 years, and in Isaan for 4. The air quality at our Isaan house is very good, all year long. I think you are describing Chiang Mai / Northern Thailand.
Isaan (or Isan) is the northeastern region of Thailand, comprising 20 provinces situated on the Khorat Plateau. It is bordered by the Mekong River to the north and east (Laos border), Cambodia to the southeast, and the Phetchabun Mountains to the west. It is Thailand's largest region by area.
Have to ask, where do you live? Are you even IN Thailand???

WT...are you on about? I live here...I'm looking out of my lounge window.....I can't see the mountains 2km away

3 minutes ago, MIke B Bad said:

WT...are you on about? I live here...I'm looking out of my lounge window.....I can't see the mountains 2km away

OK. Isaan covers an area of approximately 168,854 square kilometers. I think you set me off with the generalization "Anywhere in Isaan is out of the question..." WHERE in this very large place are you?? Because in my portion, "Delightful"

16 hours ago, ericthai said:

On 4/5/2026 at 1:14 PM, MIke B Bad said:

Like I said beautiful ORANGE, unlike the sick orange from the president

What has this got to do with me?

18 minutes ago, JustinTyme said:

Yes, I suppose we can cherry pick locations, and also admit one person's "horrendous" is another persons "whatever." You see, before we moved north from BKK, and built a house ... I actually did RESEARCH about floods, smog, heat. I found an area that is beautiful, peaceful, and what my wife and I call "the no drama zone." No floods, clean air, no crime, nice people, etc. Here are the current conditions in our area. Mai Pen Rai.

Are those 3 AQI meters inside a CM Uni classroom, as IQair disagrees with those readings, and make sense considering the surrounding meters. Not like you'd be sitting in a different valley, as it's flat terrain.

4 minutes ago, JustinTyme said:

OK. Isaan covers an area of approximately 168,854 square kilometers. I think you set me off with the generalization "anywhere in Isaan." WHERE in this very large place are you?? Because in my portion, "Delightful"

An AQI of (say) 70 is significantly worse than a typical day in central London......just to give you some perspective on your delightful air.

So no.....anywhere in Isaan is not going to give you freedom from air pollution (at this time of year).

Today, where I am it is 175....but I'm off back to London in a couple of weeks for some decent air quality.....555

7 minutes ago, MIke B Bad said:

An AQI of (say) 70 is significantly worse than a typical day in central London......just to give you some perspective on your delightful air.

So no.....anywhere in Isaan is not going to give you freedom from air pollution (at this time of year).

Today, where I am it is 175....but I'm off back to London in a couple of weeks for some decent air quality.....555

Oh! SOOO CLOSE! You managed to compare this to London in the springtime, which LITERALLY could not be further from relevant ... but you need to "mumble mumble. something something, Hitler" to win the Internet! Go for it Mike! Vee Vill Be Vaiting, Ach Tung!

17 minutes ago, JustinTyme said:

Oh! SOOO CLOSE! You managed to compare this to London in the springtime, which LITERALLY could not be further from relevant ... but you need to "mumble mumble. something something, Hitler" to win the Internet! Go for it Mike! Vee Vill Be Vaiting, Ach Tung!

Wow.

My extensive travels in TH lead to: Trang, Hat Yai, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat

On 4/5/2026 at 1:34 PM, Hummin said:

Best air is some of the islands, and Krabi along the coastline

Spouse and I loved Krabi when we visited. Could be a nice getaway for the OP.

I just got back from Khanom where I was for 4 days. Pretty nice and quiet area, got to see some dolphins too. The air was great compared to Chiang Mai but still a little hazy. No complaints from me.

Hotels were way more than I was expecting. Anything slightly better than average was at least 2500/night and I saw lots of 3,4,5k+ rooms too which didn't even look that impressive honestly.

The only problem was that there was a festival that weekend for modified cars/bikes put on by the owner of the tallest building in BKK so the whole area was packed with annoying Harley riders, Thai rednecks in pickups and fancy boys in cars that cost more than houses. Hopefully it's not always like that and we just got unlucky.

I think that's been my favorite possible smoke escape location so far so I may take my bike down there next year and stay a month. Take that with a grain of salt though because I really don't care much for southern Thailand so I may not know what I'm talking about. 😂

44 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

I just got back from Khanom where I was for 4 days. Pretty nice and quiet area, got to see some dolphins too. The air was great compared to Chiang Mai but still a little hazy. No complaints from me.

Hotels were way more than I was expecting. Anything slightly better than average was at least 2500/night and I saw lots of 3,4,5k+ rooms too which didn't even look that impressive honestly.

The only problem was that there was a festival that weekend for modified cars/bikes put on by the owner of the tallest building in BKK so the whole area was packed with annoying Harley riders, Thai rednecks in pickups and fancy boys in cars that cost more than houses. Hopefully it's not always like that and we just got unlucky.

I think that's been my favorite possible smoke escape location so far so I may take my bike down there next year and stay a month. Take that with a grain of salt though because I really don't care much for southern Thailand so I may not know what I'm talking about. 😂

It's usually very low key, and would bore most tourist who aren't into just some R&R.

We always swing over that way, and take the scenic route (4232/4073), along the coast when going through Surat Thani (hwy 41) to NST, instead of inland roads.

46 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

It's usually very low key, and would bore most tourist who aren't into just some R&R.

We always swing over that way, and take the scenic route (4232/4073), along the coast when going through Surat Thani (hwy 41) to NST, instead of inland roads.

yeah there were some nice mountain terrains too which really helped with some variety. The non-Thai tourists were mainly older expat looking types and married couples. I imagine in the winter it must be packed because how else are those places charging 3000/night going to stay open otherwise?

For what I know in the north 3000k/night is getting on the higher end and at least 2x what a regular good quality hotel would be otherwise. I guess that's why people are gong to Vietnam more these days.

13 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

yeah there were some nice mountain terrains too which really helped with some variety. The non-Thai tourists were mainly older expat looking types and married couples. I imagine in the winter it must be packed because how else are those places charging 3000/night going to stay open otherwise?

For what I know in the north 3000k/night is getting on the higher end and at least 2x what a regular good quality hotel would be otherwise. I guess that's why people are gong to Vietnam more these days.

They do seem to charge a premium price for the area, since not the easiest to get to. It is the Gulf, so not exactly spectacular surf.

We only overnighted there once, and not at Khanom Beach, because of silly pricing. Just north of, but in Khanom district. Nice enough, but also overpriced, for the uncomfy bed. A bit deceptive advert, and comfy bed cost 1000 baht more.

Arrived late, and just sleeping there, and no plan B. Small pool was nice, and we were the only ones there.

2 hours ago, KhunLA said:

We always swing over that way, and take the scenic route (4232/4073), along the coast when going through Surat Thani (hwy 41) to NST, instead of inland roads.

I guess I should mention, the more scenic part of the route, is a bit below Khanom Beach. A very nice road with viewpoints and coffee shops, restaurants along the way.

Most beautiful is a stretch, and not a road for playing on with your scooter, but nice views, and only takes about 30 longer, to get to NST, from the hwy 41 turn off, vs inland road, if headed to NST.

@4:30 of vid ...

On 4/7/2026 at 3:07 AM, The Oracle said:

I'm about 300km north of Bangkok. Phetchabun usually has some of the freshest inland air in the country due its topography. However, this is the worst smog I've seen up here in a decade. I've been coughing up crud for three days - I don't smoke - and the visibility is noticeably impeded by a yellowy-grey tinge with no discernible clouds, just a soupy haze.
If this is what an AQI of 112 is like, I'd hate think of what the residents of CM's at AQI 220+ are experiencing - or even when it hit 300 last week.

I live on the border there, and I think phetchabun is one of the worst places in Isaan during the hot dry season, and together with Phitsanulok, Loei, Korat and Chaiyaphum not much differences on average from what I have experienced the last 6 years.

I am using the AI app for daily updates

On 4/5/2026 at 7:14 AM, MIke B Bad said:

Anywhere in Isaan is out of the question......the air is so bad where we are you can't see the mountains that are less than 2km away.

No. Not "anywhere in Isaan".

4 minutes ago, youreavinalaff said:

No. Not "anywhere in Isaan".

Yep...anywhere.

14 minutes ago, MIke B Bad said:

Yep...anywhere.

You've been to everywhere in Isaan? That's quite incredible. Impossible, actually.

On 4/5/2026 at 1:28 PM, SAFETY FIRST said:

Agree, just keep away from some of the Soi 6 bars, got some wrong smells going on there.

Are you referring to the LB bars in the middle of the Soi?

The problem with hearing it from the horse's mouth is that you can't always smell/feel the pollution. Rayong, for example, it doesn't feel polluted at all. But, when you check the AQI figure, it often is one of the most polluted cities in Thailand.

5 minutes ago, thecyclist said:

The problem with hearing it from the horse's mouth is that you can't always smell/feel the pollution. Rayong, for example, it doesn't feel polluted at all. But, when you check the AQI figure, it often is one of the most polluted cities in Thailand.

Hua Hin has the sea haze also but never felt bad there, while up country my eyes and nose gets running and irritated.

The only solution is to build facilities to live and thrive with air purifiers and do not expose yourself to much during the worst seasons. Good time for travelling as well to the west coast