Air Quality In Cm

[thaiswimmer]

Hi, I've heard all kinds of stories including from the Bkk Post about the air quality being 5 times the level considered to be dangerous.Considering relocation but........thank you

[whiterussian]

Only way to find out is come up here.

Yes, this year has been the worst I have experienced in 4 years. We have had about 2 months of awful smoke pollution. But it's getting better now we are egtting some rain and the hill fires are finishing.

On the bright side, my wife enjoyed a bowl of ant egg soup yesterday !!! ( I presume the forest fires have uncovered the ants nests ready to be harvested)

Best time is around start of rainy, and at end of rainy season.

Bliss.

Edited April 3, 2010 by whiterussian

[gotlost]

This year was not as bad as last year and last year was worst than the year before. 2007 was the worst year on record. The bad part is over. Come on up and see for yourself.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Yes; just before Songkran I'll post the figures for this year. There were eight bad days this year (all in March, as usual), with PM-10 pollution over the limit.

heard all kinds of stories including from the Bkk Post about the air quality being 5 times the level considered to be dangerous.

That is not correct though. There were 8 days over this level, but the highest occurrence on March 16 was 2.2 times over this limit. Mae Hong Son though the levels were much higher though, 4.3 times over the limit on March 18.

It happens every year due to burning of fields and forests in the greater region, including specifically Burma. Mae Hong Son and the Northern part of Chiang Rai had an absolutely atrocious season this year. Chiang Mai was pretty average, though I really didn't enjoy 16 and 17 March.

Note: if you are relocating to the North. (not just Chiang Mai), then keep in mind that March really is a shitty month. Super dry and super hazy. When retired I would most certainly not spend March in Chiang Mai.

Edited April 4, 2010 by WinnieTheKhwai

[antony77]

We lived in Chiangmai for many years. My wife suffered from chronic rhinitis it got worse and worse. She had to take antibiotics when her sinuses got infected and anti-histamines all the time. It was a miserable condition. I started having mild respiratory problems. We moved to a beach south of Hua Hin and within a year all these problems had completely cleared up. It is really a shame because nothing seems to be done about the problem which is caused by the massive burning of forests and land. Every year it seems the pollution gets worse.

[Donnyboy]

We lived in Chiangmai for many years. My wife suffered from chronic rhinitis it got worse and worse. She had to take antibiotics when her sinuses got infected and anti-histamines all the time. It was a miserable condition. I started having mild respiratory problems. We moved to a beach south of Hua Hin and within a year all these problems had completely cleared up. It is really a shame because nothing seems to be done about the problem which is caused by the massive burning of forests and land. Every year it seems the pollution gets worse.

thats kind of funny (not in the humour sense) cause back in my home city Auckland (due to pollen), i have rhinitis for most of the year, but upon moving to CM it usually clears up, apart from a handful of days

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

see for yourself

Today at 10:30 a.m. and normal

Edited April 4, 2010 by CobraSnakeNecktie

[ogb]

When was that 'normal' shot taken?

I've been here in June, July, October, December, January, March & April, and sadly, I think it rarely has looked as good as in that 'normal' shot.

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

When was that 'normal' shot taken?

I've been here in June, July, October, December, January, March & April, and sadly, I think it rarely has looked as good as in that 'normal' shot.

It's pretty old shot but It's that clear most months. The exceptions are feb, mar, april. Sometimes when the air is clear and dry I clearly see the mountain range to the north where Chiang Dao is.

The air recently got better about a week ago but its again in the red zone. Really anything above AQI 50 is going to be inflammatory to a lot of people. Inflammation responses in the body can range from allergies, sinus, respiratory, cardiovascular, joint, digestive etc. Just depends on what a persons weak link is.

yesterday's PCD. The Uparaj data is most representative of the air in the 'city' of the 3 C.M. monitoring sites.

[bjohn34]

This year was not as bad as last year and last year was worst than the year before. 2007 was the worst year on record. The bad part is over. Come on up and see for yourself.

Interesting. Last year was my first in CM and I thought this year was much worse than last. I left for 10 days just to get some air to breathe.

I don't have any data to support my conclusion. Just the feelings in my lungs and nose.

[gotlost]

This year was not as bad as last year and last year was worst than the year before. 2007 was the worst year on record. The bad part is over. Come on up and see for yourself.

Interesting. Last year was my first in CM and I thought this year was much worse than last. I left for 10 days just to get some air to breathe.

I don't have any data to support my conclusion. Just the feelings in my lungs and nose.

I always laugh when people who have only been in the Chiang Mai area for a couple of years and say "This is the worse that I have every seen the air pollution". Ah the doomsayers..... don't we just love them.

[amexpat]

I always laugh when people who have only been in the Chiang Mai area for a couple of years and say "This is the worse that I have every seen the air pollution". Ah the doomsayers..... don't we just love them.

So how long DOES one have to live here to tell the difference between last year and this year?

But you're right, it's lovely now. Yesterday I saw a faint outline of Doi Suthep and visibility is up to a couple of km from tall buildings.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

We'll get rid of the final remnants with some proper water effort over Songkran.

[Greenside]

When was that 'normal' shot taken?

I've been here in June, July, October, December, January, March & April, and sadly, I think it rarely has looked as good as in that 'normal' shot.

It's pretty old shot but It's that clear most months. The exceptions are feb, mar, april. Sometimes when the air is clear and dry I clearly see the mountain range to the north where Chiang Dao is.

I've been trying to get some clear pictures like your "normal" shot for about a year now and had I seen it as clear as that I'd have gone for it. We've hopefully seen most of the worst for this season but those clear periods seem few and far between these days

[antony77]

This year was not as bad as last year and last year was worst than the year before. 2007 was the worst year on record. The bad part is over. Come on up and see for yourself.

Interesting. Last year was my first in CM and I thought this year was much worse than last. I left for 10 days just to get some air to breathe.

I don't have any data to support my conclusion. Just the feelings in my lungs and nose.

I always laugh when people who have only been in the Chiang Mai area for a couple of years and say "This is the worse that I have every seen the air pollution". Ah the doomsayers..... don't we just love them.

I lived there for nearly 20 years and when I first arrived you could see Doi Suthep clearly the whole year around. And now see for yourself how it "disappears" in the dry season. The percentage of people with respiratory problems increases each year.

[amexpat]

I wonder.

When T.S. Eliot wrote "April is the cruelest month" was he in Chiang Mai?

He did suffer frequently from bronchitis and died of emphysema, you know.

[chiangmaiexpat]

I've just returned from Bangkok where my family and I took a respite from the smog season in Chiang Mai. Since I don't count on anyone here to solve the problem, I intend to make this a habit. I consider an extended holiday during March a sound investment into health. Fortunately, this period coincides with Thai school holidays. I have lived in CNX for 5 years and the pattern of air pollution has been always the same. It isn't nice, but at least it's predictable. There are two months of bad air from mid February to mid April and it always peaks in March.

Although there were some variations throughout the last 5 years, I cannot make out a clear tendency for better or worse. It stands to reason that global warming brings about more severe drought periods in this region and that more intensive cultivation (more people, more fields, more crops) will increase the number of fires, so there's a challenge which the Thai people aren't quite ready to meet. I recommend against relocating to Northern Thailand unless one has a strategy to deal with the pollution problem. It may be disappointing. The rest of the year is mighty fine, though, and conditions as shown in the "normal" picture above can be seen often during that time.

Cheers, CMX

Edited April 5, 2010 by chiangmaiexpat

[WinnieTheKhwai]

I wonder.

When T.S. Eliot wrote "April is the cruelest month" was he in Chiang Mai?

Probably not, because March is the cruelest month by far. April is just fine. (Well, other than that it's hot of course.)