Greetings: i was planning to move to Chiang Rai, then heard about very bad smoke pollution up there. Is there anything changed about this, or will there be bad smoke particularly in March until they have burned all the mountains?? Seems it was very bad in 2008 but not so many recent reports. Many thanks for any input.

Fortunately mountains don't burn very well, it's the rice stubble and the little piles of swept up rubbish that contribute a lot of smoke.

I believe a lot comes down from China as well.

It's a fact of life here, nine or ten months of the year it's great, then we get the smoke.

It's avoidable, travel back to the old country or go south to the beaches. I'm certainly not giving up Chiang Rai because of the "haze season".

Fortunately mountains don't burn very well, it's the rice stubble and the little piles of swept up rubbish that contribute a lot of smoke.

I believe a lot comes down from China as well.

It's a fact of life here, nine or ten months of the year it's great, then we get the smoke.

It's avoidable, travel back to the old country or go south to the beaches. I'm certainly not giving up Chiang Rai because of the "haze season".

Some good advice...it's a good time to take a "vacation" to the islands or back to your "original" home....I think the perfect weather from about oct til about mid Feb more than makes up for a couple of months of smoke in CR.....or of course you could barricade yourself inside with full AC during the smoke months and read a pile of books or even write one. Seems to me the smoke is actually worse in CM than in CR but i am not sure. I do remember being in CM once in March and you could barely see the tops of the high rise buildings.....and overall I think i'd take the CR smoke over the Bangkok carbon monoxide and diesel clouds....

This will be my fourth year in CR during the smoky season, the first two weren't too bad and didn't last that long, it was noticeable but bearable but then last year was very bad and seemed to last about 6-8 weeks, hopefully this year won't be the same.

Like others have said, it's not a reason in itself not to move here. There are fires all over Thailand around Feb/March and just as many, if not more, over the border with Laos & Burma which just add to the problem. The perfect weather the rest of the year more than makes up for it and the cool season is a reason to live here more than the smoke is a reason not to.

It is getting on for that time of year. Now I'm down in Chiang Mai and what i have noticed so far is that the haze or smoke is late this year compared over the pass few. This time last year there was definitely a haze. I hope this is a good sign.

It is getting on for that time of year. Now I'm down in Chiang Mai and what i have noticed so far is that the haze or smoke is late this year compared over the pass few. This time last year there was definitely a haze. I hope this is a good sign.

Definitely not as bad as this time last year and, unusually, it's worse in CM than CR at the moment.

http://www.pcd.go.th/AirQuality/Regional/default.cfm

It is getting on for that time of year. Now I'm down in Chiang Mai and what i have noticed so far is that the haze or smoke is late this year compared over the pass few. This time last year there was definitely a haze. I hope this is a good sign.

Definitely not as bad as this time last year and, unusually, it's worse in CM than CR at the moment.

http://www.pcd.go.th...nal/default.cfm

Many thanks for the input...every place in the world usually has a couple of bad months not worth to be there...

Praying for rain at the mo hope will restrict burning. Not any smog yet ad Burma.had haf rain lsdt month.

A couple of days of rain would be nice.

The beautiful stratus clouds that blessed our sky yesterday and accentuated both sunrise and sunset, seem to be lingering further south today. At least that is what the satellite is showing.

This morning is very clear, with only a light haze affecting visibility of the furthest mountains. Looking straight up there is nothing but blue.

There has been a lot of burning in our area but to date none of it has stayed around for very long, unlike sometimes in the past. I’m no meteorologist but it would seem that todays breeze is helping and perhaps the lack of inversions or other atmospheric conditions that might trap the smoke here.

You can definitely smell the smoke at times but for now things are pretty wonderful.

Don't worry about suffering from a lack of inversions, it's just something you get with old age.

Don't worry about suffering from a lack of inversions, it's just something you get with old age.

I suppose with the word ‘inversion’ being used in music, physics, chemistry, mathematics or psychology (with a sexual connotation), I should have been more specific in my language and used temperature or thermal inversion in my post. But you know how I am wont to use as few words as possible to express myself, in the spirit of brevity and succinctness.