Smoke, Smog, Dust 2013 Chiang Mai

[nikster]

TommoPhysicist, on 14 Mar 2013 - 20:12, said:

nikster, on 14 Mar 2013 - 19:52, said:

IMO a lot of the burning can be avoided. I don't want to tell farmers how to farm but one can use the waste from the previous crop as fertilizer for the new crop, rather than burning it - my neighbor in Pai did that, worked for him!

And the forests - there's no reason to burn them at all. Ok so they want to grow mushrooms, hunt the (last remaining?) animals, etc - there are reasons, but they're not very good ones. I think the forest fires could be stopped tomorrow with relatively small financial incentives for hill tribes living there - call 'em guardians of the forests and pay them for all area that wasn't burned. They'd get rewarded if they either put out fires or don't set them in the first place that way.

It'll probably take a generation or two.

The forest burning is to stop forest fires.

When you burn light growth the fire doesn't last long enough or get hot enough to burn the trees.

When you leave it a couple of years, an accidental fire has fuel to get hot enough and take all the trees with it.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20111111224509AA6NpSz

I am aware that that's one of the effects of the seasonal burning. And indeed, if it were to stop, we'd have to contend with large, village-threatening fires every couple of years, the same as you see in the USA.

However, that's not the reason the locals do it. I've heard many reasons, but this one was never mentioned.

[T_Dog]

IMO a lot of the burning can be avoided. I don't want to tell farmers how to farm but one can use the waste from the previous crop as fertilizer for the new crop, rather than burning it - my neighbor in Pai did that, worked for him!

And the forests - there's no reason to burn them at all. Ok so they want to grow mushrooms, hunt the (last remaining?) animals, etc - there are reasons, but they're not very good ones. I think the forest fires could be stopped tomorrow with relatively small financial incentives for hill tribes living there - call 'em guardians of the forests and pay them for all area that wasn't burned. They'd get rewarded if they either put out fires or don't set them in the first place that way.

It'll probably take a generation or two.

The forest burning is to stop forest fires.

When you burn light growth the fire doesn't last long enough or get hot enough to burn the trees.

When you leave it a couple of years, an accidental fire has fuel to get hot enough and take all the trees with it.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20111111224509AA6NpSz

Have to say I haven't run into anyone in the hills very concerned about that. I talk a lot with locals and they think the burning helps more mushrooms grow. When the rainy season comes, I sometimes cycle past dozens of people miles from anywhere picking mushroom.

[driedmango]

TommoPhysicist, on 14 Mar 2013 - 20:12, said:nikster, on 14 Mar 2013 - 19:52, said:

IMO a lot of the burning can be avoided. I don't want to tell farmers how to farm but one can use the waste from the previous crop as fertilizer for the new crop, rather than burning it - my neighbor in Pai did that, worked for him!

And the forests - there's no reason to burn them at all. Ok so they want to grow mushrooms, hunt the (last remaining?) animals, etc - there are reasons, but they're not very good ones. I think the forest fires could be stopped tomorrow with relatively small financial incentives for hill tribes living there - call 'em guardians of the forests and pay them for all area that wasn't burned. They'd get rewarded if they either put out fires or don't set them in the first place that way.

It'll probably take a generation or two.

The forest burning is to stop forest fires.

When you burn light growth the fire doesn't last long enough or get hot enough to burn the trees.

When you leave it a couple of years, an accidental fire has fuel to get hot enough and take all the trees with it.http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20111111224509AA6NpSzI am aware that that's one of the effects of the seasonal burning. And indeed, if it were to stop, we'd have to contend with large, village-threatening fires every couple of years, the same as you see in the USA.

However, that's not the reason the locals do it. I've heard many reasons, but this one was never mentioned.

that is false. Tropical forests don't burn the same.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Note that Northern Thailand is semi deciduous forest, Not tropical rainforest. It does get very dry come April.

[jko]

Stayed out past Doi Saket last night near the Hot Springs, and watched the whole mountainside burn - ribbons of yellow and orange fire, obviously deliberately set. The air is filthy this morning, and I'll bet the people who lit the first match quickly drove miles away from the poisonous acrid pollution they have created.

We know this is carcinogenic, we know this is madness, we know it is rank foolishness, we know it is irresponsible, lawless behaviour, and it reflects miserably on the authorities - who, year after year, seem either impotent or unwilling to stop it.

The very sad thing is that if this was Singapore, the problem would be solved within a week or less, with the offenders jailed - or even caned for putting people's health in danger.

Truth is, that flat, boring and unremarkable little island - much of it reclaimed from the sea, and with no natural attractions or resources, no mountains, forests or beautiful beaches, no ancient monuments, or rich culture (and no corruption) - is paradoxically so far ahead of Thailand, in so many ways.

What a pity we cannot at least try to follow their example.

Edited March 15, 2013 by jko

[nikster]

Stayed out past Doi Saket last night near the Hot Springs, and watched the whole mountainside burn - ribbons of yellow and orange fire, obviously deliberately set. The air is filthy this morning, and I'll bet the people who lit the first match quickly drove miles away from the poisonous acrid pollution they have created.

We know this is carcinogenic, we know this is madness, we know it is rank foolishness, we know it is irresponsible, lawless behaviour, and it reflects miserably on the authorities - who, year after year, seem either impotent or unwilling to stop it.

The very sad thing is that if this was Singapore, the problem would be solved within a week or less, with the offenders jailed - or even caned for putting people's health in danger.

Truth is, that flat, boring and unremarkable little island - much of it reclaimed from the sea, and with no natural attractions or resources, no mountains, forests or beautiful beaches, no ancient monuments, or rich culture (and no corruption) - is paradoxically so far ahead of Thailand, in so many ways.

What a pity we cannot at least try to follow their example.

Objection on a few different fronts. Never in a million years would I want to move from Thailand to Singapore. If I thought life was better there, I'd go. I think the opposite is very much the case.

Second, Singapore gets hazed from Indonesia - seasonal burning there pretty similar to what's happening here. You know how they solve this problem? They don't. Because they can't.

The locals that set these fires - they stick with the fires to do whatever they wanted to do setting the fires in the first place. They're not running away - they're unaware that the smoke is bad. Mind you these are the same locals I see tending the fields in Pai, where they spray vast quantities of insecticides on their fields with no protection on.... more educated local Thais told them it's bad, their response is everybody dies some day. I imagine that's the way they feel about the smoke, too.

Whether or not the forests would have large scale fires if it wasn't for seasonal burning is impossible to know. I can speculate they probably would as the north gets bone-dry in the summer. Pai valley has a desert climate in March! You are free to speculate something else though. Pointless to discuss the what if IMO.

[Tywais]

A friend of mine just told me that he heard reported, though briefly, that a significant amount of current pollution is coming from China now and affecting most of the North. This is due to the winds and also why the cooler than normal weather we have been experiencing. Scapegoat?

[jko]

Stayed out past Doi Saket last night near the Hot Springs, and watched the whole mountainside burn - ribbons of yellow and orange fire, obviously deliberately set. The air is filthy this morning, and I'll bet the people who lit the first match quickly drove miles away from the poisonous acrid pollution they have created.

We know this is carcinogenic, we know this is madness, we know it is rank foolishness, we know it is irresponsible, lawless behaviour, and it reflects miserably on the authorities - who, year after year, seem either impotent or unwilling to stop it.

The very sad thing is that if this was Singapore, the problem would be solved within a week or less, with the offenders jailed - or even caned for putting people's health in danger.

Truth is, that flat, boring and unremarkable little island - much of it reclaimed from the sea, and with no natural attractions or resources, no mountains, forests or beautiful beaches, no ancient monuments, or rich culture (and no corruption) - is paradoxically so far ahead of Thailand, in so many ways.

What a pity we cannot at least try to follow their example.

Objection on a few different fronts. Never in a million years would I want to move from Thailand to Singapore. If I thought life was better there, I'd go. I think the opposite is very much the case.

Second, Singapore gets hazed from Indonesia - seasonal burning there pretty similar to what's happening here. You know how they solve this problem? They don't. Because they can't.

The locals that set these fires - they stick with the fires to do whatever they wanted to do setting the fires in the first place. They're not running away - they're unaware that the smoke is bad. Mind you these are the same locals I see tending the fields in Pai, where they spray vast quantities of insecticides on their fields with no protection on.... more educated local Thais told them it's bad, their response is everybody dies some day. I imagine that's the way they feel about the smoke, too.

Whether or not the forests would have large scale fires if it wasn't for seasonal burning is impossible to know. I can speculate they probably would as the north gets bone-dry in the summer. Pai valley has a desert climate in March! You are free to speculate something else though. Pointless to discuss the what if IMO.

You miss my point Nikster ...

Singapore may get haze from elsewhere, but nobody can set things alight down there, and get away with it, as in Thailand.

The people here last night didn't just burn a couple of fields, they waited until dark and set a whole mountain afire. I can't imagine they stayed to choke like we did.

None of us living here I imagine, would want to move to Singapore, for obvious reasons - too small, too authoritarian, too expensive, much less friendly, etc.

Fact is though, they created a little jewel out of almost nothing, and that tiny country - with hardly any tourism resources, and an area of only 714 square kms - had something like 14 million visitor arrivals in 2012.

Thailand, with scores of wonderful beaches, plus a whole multitude of other attractions, and over 700 times the size of Singapore, achieved 22 million - just 8 million more.

Singapore may indeed be boring, too 'organised' and obsessed with chewing-gum free pavements, etc. but if only Thailand could only follow just some of its examples (whilst remaining quintessentially Thai) e.g, eliminating or reducing corruption, enforcing important laws, beautifying its cities, reducing crime and road accidents - we would probably have the finest destination in the world.

Instead, we do not appear to even have the ability to prevent uneducated people from burning the forests, year after smoke-filled year, giving Northern Thailand the highest incidence of lung cancer in the Kingdom, ruining the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of people up here, discouraging tourism, and destroying an unknown quantity of plants, animals and insects.

There is the paradox - and there indeed lies the pity.

[nikster]

Why are we discussing Singapore at all? It has nothing to do with this problem.

I used to live in Pai so I know exactly what you saw - people setting the entire hillside on fire. It happens in Pai every single year. Entire mountain sides set on fire, controlled blazes all around. It's not just Chiang Mai, and Pai, it's all over Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and even provinces further south.

And I know that they stick around, and tend to the fire, too.

One day in Pai I was at a friend's house, at the edge of the forest. Suddenly the flames appeared; an orderly line all the way across the forest. they got closer and closer to the house. We were really worried - it wasn't a huge blaze but flames about 2m high, something like that. We were like oh, s**** what do we do now, we've got to save the house. Looking for hoses etc. It seemed like whatever we'd do, no way we could fight this fire.

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere two elderly crooked ladies appeared. Each one had a bucket of water. They slowly walked along the flames and doused them by splashing water on it with their hands, very gently, little sprinkles. In the same way you'd throw grain for chickens. I couldn't believe my eyes, but those large flames stopped right away. I was thinking fire trucks and high pressure hoses, and helicopters dropping water - yet here they were two grandmas splashing a little water, extinguishing the fire. The locals know what they're doing to keep those fires under control, that's for sure. They just don't know how bad the smoke is for them...

Edited March 15, 2013 by nikster

[PoodMaiDai]

Do we have any Yingluck "STOP BURNING" billboards up yet like we did last year, in English, around the tourist areas where all the farmers hang out?

[Mapguy]

A friend of mine just told me that he heard reported, though briefly, that a significant amount of current pollution is coming from China now and affecting most of the North. This is due to the winds and also why the cooler than normal weather we have been experiencing. Scapegoat?

That appears to be the sort of scapegoating that crops up every year. If the fire mapping is any good, there is little burning in Yunnan. If you look to the west of Yunnan in Burma, the burning is fairly extensive as it is widespread over most of SE Asia and parts of South Asia every season.

We still could use more meteorological information on basically how far and how high PM<10 is airborne.

[Tywais]

A friend of mine just told me that he heard reported, though briefly, that a significant amount of current pollution is coming from China now and affecting most of the North. This is due to the winds and also why the cooler than normal weather we have been experiencing. Scapegoat?

That appears to be the sort of scapegoating that crops up every year. If the fire mapping is any good, there is little burning in Yunnan. If you look to the west of Yunnan in Burma, the burning is fairly extensive as it is widespread over most of SE Asia and parts of South Asia every season.

We still could use more meteorological information on basically how far and how high PM<10 is airborne.

Actually it is not the burning it is the enormous industrial pollution that would be the factor, if it is a factor. As such, the fire maps won't help with that.

//however, what I smell is smoke but industrial pollution would mess with the PM<10 or PM<2.5. Good question on the carrying distance of that type of pollution though.

[nikster]

A friend of mine just told me that he heard reported, though briefly, that a significant amount of current pollution is coming from China now and affecting most of the North. This is due to the winds and also why the cooler than normal weather we have been experiencing. Scapegoat?

That appears to be the sort of scapegoating that crops up every year. If the fire mapping is any good, there is little burning in Yunnan. If you look to the west of Yunnan in Burma, the burning is fairly extensive as it is widespread over most of SE Asia and parts of South Asia every season.

We still could use more meteorological information on basically how far and how high PM<10 is airborne.

Yeah - people just love to blame the other countries. Sure, Burma is burning a lot, but so is Thailand, they're just about equal when you look at the Sat maps.

Go to Pai, sit in the middle of the smokestack, then reflect on the absurdity of blaming another country for the smoke.

[Ned]

Check out the fire map. Just about everything north of Bangkok is currently on fire. Laos is burning too but Burma much less. China and India look largely fire free. Phuket and further south look like the only sensible place to be right now.

[Mapguy]

The latest brief bulletin of the Chiang Mai News is here:

http://www.chiangmai...ews.php?id=1410

Also attached are a diagram of PM particle size and a WHO article on how PM affects health.

Here is some relatively recent research done in Thailand on rice straw burning: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3018782/

[The diagrams of particle size are attached to Post #40 above]

Edited March 15, 2013 by Mapguy

[puukao]

Maybe these fires are related to the possible action of mandatory insurance (maybe second to all the motorcycle accidents). I feel weird, but I walk everywhere with a face mask on. Not everyday, and most days I don't, but today and yesterday I sure did. People look at me like i'm slow, but I think about the possibility of lung cancer from the smoke. I will leave next month, but who knows what damage can be done by then. yes, i'm paranoid, but not paranoid to go south immediately. well, i'm also lazy and a friend is in the city and we bike a lot here. anyhow, my point is maybe the government knows this will eventually lead to massive run on the hospitals.

sorry, I've done zero research on this, so it's just a random thought.

[Mapguy]

A friend of mine just told me that he heard reported, though briefly, that a significant amount of current pollution is coming from China now and affecting most of the North. This is due to the winds and also why the cooler than normal weather we have been experiencing. Scapegoat?

That appears to be the sort of scapegoating that crops up every year. If the fire mapping is any good, there is little burning in Yunnan. If you look to the west of Yunnan in Burma, the burning is fairly extensive as it is widespread over most of SE Asia and parts of South Asia every season.

We still could use more meteorological information on basically how far and how high PM<10 is airborne.

Actually it is not the burning it is the enormous industrial pollution that would be the factor, if it is a factor. As such, the fire maps won't help with that.

//however, what I smell is smoke but industrial pollution would mess with the PM<10 or PM<2.5. Good question on the carrying distance of that type of pollution though.

Interesting. Perhaps Chinese industrial pollution could be a factor, but how important?

Thailand is far from China's industrial areas. Industrial pollution is not as seasonal as agricultural burning. Thailand's pollution (outside industrial areas) is markedly different throughout the year due generally to seasonal agricultural practices.

Nearby, we do have some industry, but not a lot. Lampang pollution is problem. And, of course, we have the day-to-day problem of local traffic pollution and miscellaneous burning, some due to the orchard pruning season just prior to the rainy season.

On the other hand, looking at recent pollution reports from China, the industrial areas (particularly to the far north and northeast) did damn near choke to death in January due to seasonal atmospheric conditions, but the prevailing winds were headed for Thailand, as I recall.

Humidity and atmospheric pressure also have an impact on pollution. There's research that notes higher humidity reduces PM<2.5 and higher atmospheric pressure increases it. I wonder how that plays out?

For now, I'll go along with the simple observation that when it rains, the pollution level plummets. When it is clear and dry, the farmers get back to preparing the fields, dry land is cleared, the forests burn, and Doi Suthep disappears like in some Wagnerian opera.

Edited March 15, 2013 by Mapguy

[driedmango]

This smoke us deadly. If you can afford to leave for a while do so, complain about it to your embassy. They really need health hazard warning fir this.

[driedmango]

Stayed out past Doi Saket last night near the Hot Springs, and watched the whole mountainside burn - ribbons of yellow and orange fire, obviously deliberately set. The air is filthy this morning, and I'll bet the people who lit the first match quickly drove miles away from the poisonous acrid pollution they have created. We know this is carcinogenic, we know this is madness, we know it is rank foolishness, we know it is irresponsible, lawless behaviour, and it reflects miserably on the authorities - who, year after year, seem either impotent or unwilling to stop it. The very sad thing is that if this was Singapore, the problem would be solved within a week or less, with the offenders jailed - or even caned for putting people's health in danger. Truth is, that flat, boring and unremarkable little island - much of it reclaimed from the sea, and with no natural attractions or resources, no mountains, forests or beautiful beaches, no ancient monuments, or rich culture (and no corruption) - is paradoxically so far ahead of Thailand, in so many ways. What a pity we cannot at least try to follow their example.Objection on a few different fronts. Never in a million years would I want to move from Thailand to Singapore. If I thought life was better there, I'd go. I think the opposite is very much the case.Second, Singapore gets hazed from Indonesia - seasonal burning there pretty similar to what's happening here. You know how they solve this problem? They don't. Because they can't.The locals that set these fires - they stick with the fires to do whatever they wanted to do setting the fires in the first place. They're not running away - they're unaware that the smoke is bad. Mind you these are the same locals I see tending the fields in Pai, where they spray vast quantities of insecticides on their fields with no protection on.... more educated local Thais told them it's bad, their response is everybody dies some day. I imagine that's the way they feel about the smoke, too.Whether or not the forests would have large scale fires if it wasn't for seasonal burning is impossible to know. I can speculate they probably would as the north gets bone-dry in the summer. Pai valley has a desert climate in March! You are free to speculate something else though. Pointless to discuss the what if IMO.

exactly right, these are not controlled burns that prevent forest fires, this is all sorts of crap.. a healthy forest does have fires that take out weak members, the problem in the USA is they cut the healty forest and what grew back wasn't natural... just like where I live even then you don't get this mass smokey season, its apples and oranges. As more and more people grow on this earth we can't act this way.

[LemanRus]

My hosts, the people of Thailand, are well within their rights to tell me to get on my bike and go fix my own country.

[driedmango]

My hosts, the people of Thailand, are well within their rights to tell me to get on my bike and go fix my own country.

all sorts of Thais in my country..its their country to.. the earth and air is for all.

[mania]

My hosts, the people of Thailand, are well within their rights to tell me to get on my bike and go fix my own country.

all sorts of Thais in my country..its their country to.. the earth and air is for all.

Yes of course Mother Earth type catch phrases sound nice but,

What LemanRus is describing is reality.

The Thais you say that are in "your" country would have no more pull

at telling "your" country to stop doing something that they surely

do which is not considered healthy.

The western countries have been doing harm in many ways for decades. They know it yet it continues

why? Because sometimes an immediate alternative does not exist.

Sad but true.

Yes we all dislike what we see in the air.

[Rasseru]

. . . On the other hand, looking at recent pollution reports from China, the industrial areas (particularly to the far north and northeast) did damn near choke to death in January due to seasonal atmospheric conditions, but the prevailing winds were headed for Thailand, as I recall. . . .

Did you not mean Japan, rather than Thailand?

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

it's the season of rationalizations.

It's really not so bad

It's not our fault

Nothing can be done about it

It's getting better year over year

It doesn't bother everybody

blah blah blah

Fukushima nuclear disaster because nobody would question the managers of the Nuclear plants.

By cultivating cultures that do not criticize or confront higher ups Asian societies are their own worst enemies.

[mania]

it's the season of rationalizations.

By cultivating cultures that do not criticize or confront higher ups Asian societies are their own worst enemies.

Actually most I know do not rationalize because

they realize it is never that simple.

Also a culture that did not criticize but instead

came up with viable solutions would be better yet.

I often see criticism but rarely workable solutions

from those doing the criticizing other than, Stop That!

I really wish things were as simple black & white as many

seem to think. What a wonderful world it would be.

Just Stop That !

Yet that is not reality. To say that is not in my opinion

a rationalization but a realization of the fact that the problem is more complex

than a simple "Stop That" answer allows.

I saw this one post by VF last from last year & thought he summed it up pretty well.

(floods aside as it is an older post)

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/544930-paradise-is-still-burning/#entry5183007

Edited March 16, 2013 by mania

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

it's the season of rationalizations.

By cultivating cultures that do not criticize or confront higher ups Asian societies are their own worst enemies.

Actually most I know do not rationalize because

they realize it is never that simple.

Also a culture that did not criticize but instead

came up with viable solutions would be better yet.

I often see criticism but rarely workable solutions

from those doing the criticizing other than, Stop That!

I really wish things were as simple black & white as many

seem to think. What a wonderful world it would be.

Just Stop That !

Yet that is not reality. To say that is not in my opinion

a rationalization but a realization of the fact that the problem is more complex

than a simple "Stop That" answer allows.

I saw this one post by VF last from last year & thought he summed it up pretty well.

(floods aside as it is an older post)

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/544930-paradise-is-still-burning/#entry5183007

well first of all you just shifted "rationalization" to "realization" using semantics

Your realization of it being "complex" is just another version of "there is nothing we can really do about it"

The most troubling problem with the blind spots of Thai society is that most citizens/voters etc don't even know there is a problem.

The first step of solving a problem is the realization that it is a problem.

Believe me I don't want or think Thai society should or even could change.

The most disturbing theme of my view is that Thai society is incapable of positive change and refinement.

I guess that makes me a racist or elitest looking down on the low potential primitive masses.

[mania]

well first of all you just shifted "rationalization" to "realization" using semantics

Your realization of it being "complex" is just another version of "there is nothing we can really do about it"

The most troubling problem with the blind spots of Thai society is that most citizens/voters etc don't even know there is a problem.

The first step of solving a problem is the realization that it is a problem.

Believe me I don't want or think Thai society should or even could change.

The most disturbing theme of my view is that Thai society is incapable of positive change and refinement.

I guess that makes me a racist or elitest looking down on the low potential primitive masses.

But I do not think a problem being complex means they

will never find an alternative or solution.

That the Thai's at this time do not have a viable solution

does not automatically suggest there never will be one.

How many decades had the West been warned about the ozone & their

gas guzzling SUV driving ways? Out of sight out of mind? Did they just Stop That?

No it took decades & none can say it is really under control still can they?

I think you will find USA still in #2 position behind China as the worst offender of Co2 emissions

Does that make them "incapable of positive change and refinement" as you say of the Thai's?

I think most Thai's do know there is a problem.

I do not think Thai society is incapable of positive change and refinement.

I imagine I would not live here if I held them in such low esteem.

Is there a problem? Yes 101% I agree

Can they just Stop That as a solution? No for many reasons mentioned.

Do you have any viable solutions or ideas?

Edited March 16, 2013 by mania

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

well first of all you just shifted "rationalization" to "realization" using semantics

Your realization of it being "complex" is just another version of "there is nothing we can really do about it"

The most troubling problem with the blind spots of Thai society is that most citizens/voters etc don't even know there is a problem.

The first step of solving a problem is the realization that it is a problem.

Believe me I don't want or think Thai society should or even could change.

The most disturbing theme of my view is that Thai society is incapable of positive change and refinement.

I guess that makes me a racist or elitest looking down on the low potential primitive masses.

But I do not think a problem being complex means they

will never find an alternative or solution.

That the Thai's at this time do not have a viable solution

does not automatically suggest there never will be one.

How many decades had the West been warned about the ozone & their

gas guzzling SUV driving ways? Out of sight out of mind? Did they just Stop That?

No it took decades & none can say it is really under control still can they?

I think you will find USA still in #2 behind China as the worst offender of Co2 emissions

Does that make them "incapable of positive change and refinement" as you say of the Thai's?

I think most Thai's do know there is a problem.

I do not think Thai society is incapable of positive change and refinement.

I imagine I would not live here if I held them in such low esteem.

Is there a problem? Yes 101% I agree

Can they just Stop That as a solution? No for many reasons mentioned.

Same as when the US & others realized they were damaging the ozone.

Could they just stop that?

Do you have any viable solutions or ideas?

Yes I do have a solution for air quality in the interim before burning near and far can be reduced.

Cities in the north need to install misting sprinklers in populated zones around to bind to the particulate matter and clean the air for breathing.

There is plenty of water and cheap labor to install the misters. Call it artificial rain or whatever. It would work to mitigate the health effects and quality of life in populated areas.

The corrupt and lazy leadership will not however go to such an effort if the population are submissive and quiet about the problem.

And don't kid yourself. Many many Thai's don't give much thought at all to air pollution.

[mania]

Yes I do have a solution for air quality in the interim before burning near and far can be reduced.

Cities in the north need to install misting sprinklers in populated zones around to bind to the particulate matter and clean the air for breathing.

There is plenty of water and cheap labor to install the misters. Call it artificial rain or whatever. It would work to mitigate the health effects and quality of life in populated areas.

I am glad to hear it even if I do not know the viability of it.

I would suggest not keeping it to yourself but offering it to them

You never know

[Tywais]

After my previous posts I decided to look into the travel distances of PM10 & PM2.5. These are the facts.

Relatively large particles (PM10) generally remain suspended in the air
for short periods of time (minutes or hours). PM10 particles can travel
as little as a hundred yards or as much as 30 miles. In contrast,
because smaller particles are lighter, PM2.5 can remain suspended in the
air for days or weeks, and can travel hundreds of miles before settling
out.

Source

There is more than size that is different in these types of particles.
Each type of particle has different material compositions and can come
from different places. The smaller the particle the longer it can remain
suspended in the air before settling. PM2.5 can stay in the air from
hours to weeks and travel very long distances because it is smaller and
lighter. PM10 can stay in the air for minutes to hours and can travel
shorter distances from hundreds of yards to many mile because it is
larger and heavier.

Source

In other words, it is possible for the worse particles PM<2.5 to reach us from China.