When The Haze Going To Hit ?

[driedmango]

The levels were 300 and safe is 30 the scale goes to 500 they need a new scale as places in China were 700 the a few days ago. The small particles are very danger. The worst is early morning when the whole soup goes to the ground.

Sorry I should have said 10 times worse than considered safe.

The health effects if air pollution like that I can argue but thousands end up at hospital.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect App

[Awk]

Head to the beaches.. I think this year is going to be the worst.

Any info on how this effects young kids?

From what I've read it seems to be a fairly general consensus that children are considerably more at risk from air pollution due to various factors, including that they breathe in comparatively more air per unit of body weight, and perhaps more importantly that their body is still growing and developing, including the lungs and the rest of the respiratory system. I also read some research indicating that children do not necessarily get the same strong and visible symptoms adults do, so while adults may take the hint and stop, go inside, relax, children may be blissfully unaware and continue doing whatever they were doing.

I have no idea if the latter is related to why some people (myself included) seem to be little affected, while others are strongly affected, but I have never read anything reputable indicating that those who do not feel affected are in fact any less affected when it comes to long term health consequences.

[Plastic Brontosaurus]

Been back in CM since October and view Doi Suthep and the mountains from my window. In October - November all was clear but in December the haze started, and the past week or so it has been much worse. I flew to Udon and back (on Nok) last week and you can see the layer of photochemical smog that covers the North clearly as a dark grey "blanket" covering the land - at high altitude you fly above it, and then you descend into it when going to land but it reaches pretty high up (there's no flight data info screens on those Saab 340's so can't say at what altitude the smog tops out but it goes up a few km's, probably hits some really cold air where it can't penetrate or whatever).

Can't figure out how to upload photos onto here (it wants a web link for some reason) but otherwise would have uploaded the two photos - over the smog and into the smog taken from the plane and you'd know what I mean.

So to answer the OP: yes the haze has hit, and it will get worse before it gets better...

[mic6ard]

I would say the haze is already starting. Plenty of smoke and other particles are already in the air. There are plenty of people burning wood, etc. for heat.

The worse is yet to come.

[BTM]

I am about to move my family up to CM area.... I have 3 kids, so this is really making me rethink the move... my wife and i we were looking forward to the climate after being in Phuket for so many years.. my daughters are 4 and 7 and my son 12 and I would hate them to get sick from this....

we are supposed to be leaving in the next couple of weeks..... Is this a real major concern to you guys up there? Time to rethink?

[cloudhopper]

I am about to move my family up to CM area.... I have 3 kids, so this is really making me rethink the move... my wife and i we were looking forward to the climate after being in Phuket for so many years.. my daughters are 4 and 7 and my son 12 and I would hate them to get sick from this....

we are supposed to be leaving in the next couple of weeks..... Is this a real major concern to you guys up there? Time to rethink?

IMO one is far more likely to be a crime victim or traffic fatality anywhere on Phuket than succumb to respiratory distress in CM, at least outside of the city.

[Semper]

How is early April?

Should be ok from the smog/haze, could be wet though.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Early April is when the hot season kicks off in ernest. Rain is very, very rare. That only starts with the occasional afternoon shower a bit after Songkran.

[jaideeguy]

Could someone please post a link to that website that shows the fires in SE Asia. I followed that last year with great interest and noted that most of the bigger fires were in Burma or near the Thai border.......also Laos.

[Semper]

Early April is when the hot season kicks off in ernest. Rain is very, very rare. That only starts with the occasional afternoon shower a bit after Songkran.

Well, Songkran was what I was thinking about.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Early April is when the hot season kicks off in ernest. Rain is very, very rare. That only starts with the occasional afternoon shower a bit after Songkran.

Well, Songkran was what I was thinking about.

Ugh..! I apologize for my slowness.

[Thailand]

Could someone please post a link to that website that shows the fires in SE Asia. I followed that last year with great interest and noted that most of the bigger fires were in Burma or near the Thai border.......also Laos.

[Plastic Brontosaurus]

I am about to move my family up to CM area.... I have 3 kids, so this is really making me rethink the move... my wife and i we were looking forward to the climate after being in Phuket for so many years.. my daughters are 4 and 7 and my son 12 and I would hate them to get sick from this....

we are supposed to be leaving in the next couple of weeks..... Is this a real major concern to you guys up there? Time to rethink?

My guess is that to most people it's mainly horizon pollution. Unless you/the kids are particularly sensitive and/or have respiratory issues, I don't think it's a major cause for concern. When I open my door in the morning it smells a bit smokey or something along those lines (not strongly), other than that I don't think there's much of an issue. From my place Doi Suthep is about 6 - 7 kms away. When the smog hits bad, visibility of Doi Suthep goes down to about 20% or so. However its still visible, through 6 - 7 kms of smog. So the smog is not like smoke or anything. It's essentially pretty thin even though it may not meet health standards etc.

If it worries you why don't you come over for a week or so to see what its like. That way you can judge from personal experience.

It does not worry me, although I prefer clear air.

[LarryBird]

I am about to move my family up to CM area.... I have 3 kids, so this is really making me rethink the move... my wife and i we were looking forward to the climate after being in Phuket for so many years.. my daughters are 4 and 7 and my son 12 and I would hate them to get sick from this....

we are supposed to be leaving in the next couple of weeks..... Is this a real major concern to you guys up there? Time to rethink?

My guess is that to most people it's mainly horizon pollution. Unless you/the kids are particularly sensitive and/or have respiratory issues, I don't think it's a major cause for concern. When I open my door in the morning it smells a bit smokey or something along those lines (not strongly), other than that I don't think there's much of an issue. From my place Doi Suthep is about 6 - 7 kms away. When the smog hits bad, visibility of Doi Suthep goes down to about 20% or so. However its still visible, through 6 - 7 kms of smog. So the smog is not like smoke or anything. It's essentially pretty thin even though it may not meet health standards etc.

If it worries you why don't you come over for a week or so to see what its like. That way you can judge from personal experience.

It does not worry me, although I prefer clear air.

This is inaccurate. During heavy smog, Doi Suthep will completely disappear. When I first experience the smog 5 years ago, and the year after that, you couldn't see much more than 100 meters. It truly is awful. You can taste it, feel it, smell it, and of course see it.

People aren't on here discussing it because it's 'no big deal'. There's always a huge spike in hospital visits during this time as well. Doi Suthep is already starting to vanish and we're in Late January.

[davo01]

The smog over Bangkok over the last couple of months has been a thick white out, The question I keep asking people is wether its partly due to the humidity or wether it's 100% smoke??

Can anyone answer this?

Cheers

The picture below dosnt do it justice, far worse than it looks

[WinnieTheKhwai]

The smog over Bangkok over the last couple of months has been a thick white out, The question I keep asking people is wether its partly due to the humidity or wether it's 100% smoke??

The picture below dosnt do it justice, far worse than it looks

Can anyone answer this?

I can, as nobody else seems interested.

I checked the figures from the Pollution Control Department site, and it shows that the numbers for Bangkok are currently unhealthy.

It is almost ironic, that we currently see completely normal (even rather nice, for the time of year) weather/numbers for Chiang Mai but people are still hollering about only seeing an outline of a mountain quite a bit away, while Bangkok (and other parts in Central Thailand, check Ayudthaya, Saraburi (of course) and even Rayong on the coast show downright unhealthy levels, with several stations reporting PM10 figures of around 150 ug/m3..) Perhaps that's less obvious in Bangkok because many places don't have a view, but if this was Chiang Mai the esteemed readership wouldn't just make it seem like the sky is falling, it would seem like it fell straight through to the Earth's core and blew up the planet. Now, check the corresponding topic in the Bangkok forum, and there are three (3!) replies to it, one of them mine.

In Chiang Mai we seem to have a penchant for fact-free drama-queening, as also shown in the 'cold weather' topic where people want to hear 'opinions' in place of facts and numbers that are readily available. (It's not colder than normal, and December was quite a bit warmer than normal.)

Anyway, the data is here: http://aqmthai.servehttp.com/

Screen shot for today for reference:

Edited January 23, 2013 by WinnieTheKhwai

[Ulysses G.]

In Chiang Mai we seem to have a penchant for fact-free drama-queening, as also shown in the 'cold weather' topic where people want to hear 'opinions' in place of facts and numbers that are readily available.

Hear,hear!

Edited January 23, 2013 by Ulysses G.

[driedmango]

Yes u spent march in the haze and it was a bummer to say the least. Others we not caring, for me even as heavy smoker scares me. I took it serious when I read into it. I wanted to move to Chiang mai but I would at least miss then worst bits.

Bangkok is a relief at this time, I will put it that way.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect App

[driedmango]

I remember last year... Don't go outside.. I went to the mall doors open no relief.. Everyone trying to fit 3m things on their ac.. Officials squirting water in the air for TV lol..

Pai was a no go friends there getting out..

It felt like the sky was falling in a way but hey better than hong Kong.. Or is that just fog they say ? Lol

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect App