Chiang Mai Hit By Smog For Five Consecutive Days

[george]

Chiang Mai hit by smog for five consecutive days

CHIANG MAI: -- Chiang Mai has been hit by smog and has dangerous tiny dust particles higher than safety standard for five consecutive days, the provincial pollution control office said Sunday.

The office's three air quality measuring stations found that the province had particle pollution, which is less than 10 micrometers in diameter (PM10) higher than the safety standard of 120 microgrammes per a cubic metre of air for five consecutive days.

The station at the provincial hall Sunday recorded the lelvel of PM10 particle at 168.4 microgrammes per a cubic metre of air.

The level of PM10 particle was recorded at 208.0 microgrammes at the Yupparaj Withayalai School in Muang district and at 130.4 at the Phuping Palace.

-- The Nation 2009-03-08

[Rasseru]

Thanks for posting. It's about time people started paying attention to the problem of poor air quality in Chiangmai.

[cmsally]

Hardly surprising when they are burning left, right & centre.

This year is far worse than last, there are fires literally everywhere.

It seems the effort put in last year has completely vanished from peoples memories - its business as usual.

A familiar excuse is to burn so those stupid mushrooms will come up.

If this is really the case I propose a ban on the dam_n mushrooms!

[elektrified]

Indeed they are burning everywhere. Last night I counted 4 fires in my moobaan alone; one the size of a bonfire. The air is terrible.

Yesterday I was driving down the Sansai road (the first one off the Mae Jo Road) and my eyes burned so badly and I was tearing so much that I had to pull over for fear of getting into an accident. The air was so thick with dust and soot that it was difficult to see more than 15 meters ahead.

The air quality is much worse now than it was last year.

[brennanstimpy]

Chiang Mai hit by smog for five consecutive days

CHIANG MAI: -- Chiang Mai has been hit by smog and has dangerous tiny dust particles higher than safety standard for five consecutive days, the provincial pollution control office said Sunday.

The office's three air quality measuring stations found that the province had particle pollution, which is less than 10 micrometers in diameter (PM10) higher than the safety standard of 120 microgrammes per a cubic metre of air for five consecutive days.

The station at the provincial hall Sunday recorded the lelvel of PM10 particle at 168.4 microgrammes per a cubic metre of air.

The level of PM10 particle was recorded at 208.0 microgrammes at the Yupparaj Withayalai School in Muang district and at 130.4 at the Phuping Palace.

-- The Nation 2009-03-08

Like any Thais care

[Mapguy]

Chiang Mai hit by smog for five consecutive days

CHIANG MAI: -- Chiang Mai has been hit by smog and has dangerous tiny dust particles higher than safety standard for five consecutive days, the provincial pollution control office said Sunday.

The office's three air quality measuring stations found that the province had particle pollution, which is less than 10 micrometers in diameter (PM10) higher than the safety standard of 120 microgrammes per a cubic metre of air for five consecutive days.

The station at the provincial hall Sunday recorded the lelvel of PM10 particle at 168.4 microgrammes per a cubic metre of air.

The level of PM10 particle was recorded at 208.0 microgrammes at the Yupparaj Withayalai School in Muang district and at 130.4 at the Phuping Palace.

-- The Nation 2009-03-08

An Open Request to George:

George, you are one of the engineers who run this "railroad" (ThaiVisa, that is) and my impression over the past two years is that you have a genuine concern about the problem of air pollution so I really don't understand why you keep creating more threads about air pollution with so many miscellaneous posts because, in my view, it tends to forestall or generally confuse any coherent discussion of the issue.

I have more respect for TV posters and readers (regardless of their opinions) than to relegate TV conversation on substantive matters to pub chatter. I don't think you are trying to blow smoke, but too many threads sparked by whatever The Nation prints is creating a lot of haze over an effort to provide useful additional information.

So, wouldn't it by nice to be a little more thoughtful about where to post new information?

Edited March 8, 2009 by Mapguy

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Hear hear.

[Thakkar]

Creating and maintaining a permanent pollution tread might be a good idea. Ditto for 'best place to eat this or that'

[IanForbes]

The smog was very noticeable from part way up the Doi Suthep road near the falls. The air was much cleaner up there as well.

[Humbugcat]

Could someone possibly tell me when the Chiang Mai smog first began to build up in 2009. I can see from threads on this forum that it was very bad by late February but I can not tell when it began. I would like to judge when it is likely to begin to build up in 2010.

Indeed any information from previous years would also be most welcome, partricularly 2007 when I believe it may have been at its worst to date.

I have read here that the villagers to the North begin to burn right from the beginning of January, but when does the smog usually become noticeable around Chiang Mai itself?

[Priceless]

Could someone possibly tell me when the Chiang Mai smog first began to build up in 2009. I can see from threads on this forum that it was very bad by late February but I can not tell when it began. I would like to judge when it is likely to begin to build up in 2010.

Indeed any information from previous years would also be most welcome, partricularly 2007 when I believe it may have been at its worst to date.

I have read here that the villagers to the North begin to burn right from the beginning of January, but when does the smog usually become noticeable around Chiang Mai itself?

It all depends on what you mean by "smog" and "build up". If you define "smog" as a PM<10 pollution daily level in excess of 120 microgrammes/m³, which is the Pollution Control Department limit, then the first day was 20 February and the last day was 17 March. In total there were 16 daily measurements in excess of this value during this year's "dirty season".

Normally you can expect the worst pollution levels to occur some time between mid-February and the end of March, though rarely for all of that time. If you really want to dig into this, you can work your way through the following table:

(N/A means that more than 25% of the data for that month or year is missing.)

/ Priceless

[zzaa09]

....so much for our Shangri-La

[Priceless]

....so much for our Shangri-La

I guess it all depends on what you compare to...

/ Priceless

[Paagai]

Is everyone missing the obvious here? It hasn't rained much for quite a few days! Actually, rainfall all season seems to have been very light; have had to go back to watering the grass again

A good couple of hours downpour and things will revert to normal.

BTW, I see India is also experiencing problems with the monsoon this year, flooding in some places with dorught in others in an abnormal pattern.

[chiang mai]

Here we go again with all the same old cyclical arguments.

I agree with Mapguy, let's just have a single thread so that we don't have to repeat all of the same old discussions and conclusions, please!

[chiang mai]

Is everyone missing the obvious here? It hasn't rained much for quite a few days! Actually, rainfall all season seems to have been very light; have had to go back to watering the grass again

A good couple of hours downpour and things will revert to normal.

BTW, I see India is also experiencing problems with the monsoon this year, flooding in some places with dorught in others in an abnormal pattern.

Oh, so the air quality in CM is acceptable as long as it rains every couple of days, otherwise folks might wish to consider leaving in order to preserve their health? Yes, that sort of fits with that very tiresome and somewhat dubious graph.

[zzaa09]

As the locals were field burning some 100 years ago as they are today, wonder what the thoughts and concerns were back then?

[Priceless]

Is everyone missing the obvious here? It hasn't rained much for quite a few days! Actually, rainfall all season seems to have been very light; have had to go back to watering the grass again

A good couple of hours downpour and things will revert to normal.

BTW, I see India is also experiencing problems with the monsoon this year, flooding in some places with dorught in others in an abnormal pattern.

I guess that I'm at least missing something obvious then. I thought that this old thread was resurrected by a poster who was interested in the pollution of February/March this year, and of the common patterns. That is what I tried to reply to, anyway.

According to the Pollution Control Department, the air quality in Chiang Mai has been quite outstanding since at least the beginning of May. The reports from the last few days have been no different from that, so there is really no need to "revert to normal".

/ Priceless

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

As the locals were field burning some 100 years ago as they are today, wonder what the thoughts and concerns were back then?

well a 100 years ago the average life expectancy in Thailand was probably 35 years or less. They had a lot of bigger issues like malaria, typhoid, polio, lack of infection treatment etc.

I am not shy about complaining about the pollution in Feb and March. The last week has not seemed bad at all.

For the discussion Smog is Smoke and Fog with Fog obviously being a natural phenomenon.

[Priceless]

Is everyone missing the obvious here? It hasn't rained much for quite a few days! Actually, rainfall all season seems to have been very light; have had to go back to watering the grass again

A good couple of hours downpour and things will revert to normal.

BTW, I see India is also experiencing problems with the monsoon this year, flooding in some places with dorught in others in an abnormal pattern.

Oh, so the air quality in CM is acceptable as long as it rains every couple of days, otherwise folks might wish to consider leaving in order to preserve their health? Yes, that sort of fits with that very tiresome and somewhat dubious graph.

As usual you are going a bit too far, but it is true that rain does improve the air quality. This is probably one of the reasons why you prefer the Phuket air. Phuket has on average 182 rainy days/year (according to the Thai Meteorological Department), i.e. it rains every second day. The corresponding figure for Chiang Mai is 118 days/year, i.e. slightly less than every third day. This was probably a strongly contributing factor in the very bad pollution of 2007. There was absolutely no rain from the end of October of 2006 to late April 2007, in addition to a very persistent inversion in February/March 2007.

Could you please explain what is "somewhat dubious" about the graph, apart from the fact that you don't like what it shows?

/ Priceless

[rawjade420]

On top of all the normal pollution comes Indo forest fires whicj adds to the already

bad air.

[Paagai]

Is everyone missing the obvious here? It hasn't rained much for quite a few days! Actually, rainfall all season seems to have been very light; have had to go back to watering the grass again

A good couple of hours downpour and things will revert to normal.

BTW, I see India is also experiencing problems with the monsoon this year, flooding in some places with dorught in others in an abnormal pattern.

I guess that I'm at least missing something obvious then. I thought that this old thread was resurrected by a poster who was interested in the pollution of February/March this year, and of the common patterns. That is what I tried to reply to, anyway.

According to the Pollution Control Department, the air quality in Chiang Mai has been quite outstanding since at least the beginning of May. The reports from the last few days have been no different from that, so there is really no need to "revert to normal".

/ Priceless

My point was, as your graph well illustrates, that normally at this time of year polution isn't a problem cos it rains often; keeps the air clean and the grass happy Sabbai Sabbai Your graph clearly shows the peak in Feb/March, every year, when normally it doesn't rain. Compared with several years previous recollections of late July and now August (normally one of the wetest months) this year it ain't rained much.

Yes it's poluted in Feb/March and, yes, every year a bunch of TV posters get hysterical about it starting in about December through to about May! Right now is hardly the same situation

[Priceless]

Is everyone missing the obvious here? It hasn't rained much for quite a few days! Actually, rainfall all season seems to have been very light; have had to go back to watering the grass again

A good couple of hours downpour and things will revert to normal.

BTW, I see India is also experiencing problems with the monsoon this year, flooding in some places with dorught in others in an abnormal pattern.

I guess that I'm at least missing something obvious then. I thought that this old thread was resurrected by a poster who was interested in the pollution of February/March this year, and of the common patterns. That is what I tried to reply to, anyway.

According to the Pollution Control Department, the air quality in Chiang Mai has been quite outstanding since at least the beginning of May. The reports from the last few days have been no different from that, so there is really no need to "revert to normal".

/ Priceless

My point was, as your graph well illustrates, that normally at this time of year polution isn't a problem cos it rains often; keeps the air clean and the grass happy Sabbai Sabbai Your graph clearly shows the peak in Feb/March, every year, when normally it doesn't rain. Compared with several years previous recollections of late July and now August (normally one of the wetest months) this year it ain't rained much.

Yes it's poluted in Feb/March and, yes, every year a bunch of TV posters get hysterical about it starting in about December through to about May! Right now is hardly the same situation

OK, we obviously agree then I have for quite some time been harbouring the idea that the normally high levels in February/March may be as much a result of the lack of rain as it is of the presence of burning. I can in no way prove this, but I have studied a number of measuring stations and found a strong negative correlation (about -0.7 to -0.9) between rainy days and pollution levels. It also appears that the number of days is more important than the amount of rain (i.e. millimetres).

/ Priceless

[KevinHunt]

OK, we obviously agree then I have for quite some time been harbouring the idea that the normally high levels in February/March may be as much a result of the lack of rain as it is of the presence of burning. I can in no way prove this, but I have studied a number of measuring stations and found a strong negative correlation (about -0.7 to -0.9) between rainy days and pollution levels. It also appears that the number of days is more important than the amount of rain (i.e. millimetres).

/ Priceless

Let me get this right. You and Paagai have come up with this brilliant, original theory that when it rains the air is less polluted. It took charts, and figures and stats and calculations for you to reach that conclusion?

That's priceless.

Are you going for a joint Nobel prize or is one of you going to claim it for yourself?

My vote goes to Paagai - he's stating the bleedin' obvious, whilst you need charts and figures to back it up.

Edited August 4, 2009 by KevinHunt

[chiang mai]

Is everyone missing the obvious here? It hasn't rained much for quite a few days! Actually, rainfall all season seems to have been very light; have had to go back to watering the grass again

A good couple of hours downpour and things will revert to normal.

BTW, I see India is also experiencing problems with the monsoon this year, flooding in some places with dorught in others in an abnormal pattern.

Oh, so the air quality in CM is acceptable as long as it rains every couple of days, otherwise folks might wish to consider leaving in order to preserve their health? Yes, that sort of fits with that very tiresome and somewhat dubious graph.

As usual you are going a bit too far, but it is true that rain does improve the air quality. This is probably one of the reasons why you prefer the Phuket air. Phuket has on average 182 rainy days/year (according to the Thai Meteorological Department), i.e. it rains every second day. The corresponding figure for Chiang Mai is 118 days/year, i.e. slightly less than every third day. This was probably a strongly contributing factor in the very bad pollution of 2007. There was absolutely no rain from the end of October of 2006 to late April 2007, in addition to a very persistent inversion in February/March 2007.

Could you please explain what is "somewhat dubious" about the graph, apart from the fact that you don't like what it shows?

/ Priceless

You must be really bored Priceless to want to go down this same road again! Do we really have to regurgitate al the same arguments yet again.

[cmjantje]

I don't know where you all live but here in Farham the air is good, blue sky when the sun is there and three days ago it poured out of the air a complete day. Every two or three days we have rain, so nothing to complain, no need to water my garden.

[Mapguy]

Yikes! Time out! Priceless was just being helpful.

His efforts at correlation of data are new and rather interesting. Certainly reasonable conjecture to start out with; that is, days of rain rather than amount of rainfall comprise a key factor in improving air quality.

I still wish we could develop a cohesive discussion on this matter.

Edited August 5, 2009 by Mapguy

[Humbugcat]

....so much for our Shangri-La

I guess it all depends on what you compare to...

/ Priceless

Thank you Priceless for your charts. Interesting. It seems that my question has opened up a can of worms here, for which, as a newcomer to the forum, I do apologise. And I am searching really for a fairly simple answer.

I am personally looking for a destination in which to regularly escape the cold UK winters, October to March, and to see sunshine and blue skies most days. Before I learnt about the full extent of the burning and subsequent smog, Chiang Mai was number one on my list.

The whys and wherefores of the pollution are of no concern to me in this personal question (although clearly of huge concern in the overall issue). I only want to to be able to estimate how long I would be likely to still see blue skies and the sun. It seems to be that perhaps I could start to give up hope of that maybe around mid January. If that is the case I would be advised I think to search for a different winter destination. Great pity.

[helloall]

Hi Everyone

2 years ago i had the url for a guy who lives in Chiang Mai, is a radio amateur and has a weather stationm which he puts data online. My computer crashed and i lost it. Can anyone help me?

[KhunDave]

I don't know where you all live but here in Farham the air is good, blue sky when the sun is there and three days ago it poured out of the air a complete day. Every two or three days we have rain, so nothing to complain, no need to water my garden.

Come back and tell us how you feel in December