tropico Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Since Thursday the readings for PM10 have been increasing in Chiang mai reaching dangerous levels of about 120 micrograms/cubic meter. In addition of course there are usual diesel fumes and dust from construction sites which make the outdoors activities quite hazardous especially for elderly, children, and people suffering of asthma and other respiratory problems. Lampang and Lamphun PM10 were; 146 and 139 micrograms/cubic meter Here is a picture of CM from Doi Suthep around 15:00 (Saturday 16th) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 My guess is that about 1% of the current CM pollution was caused by a local farmer on Friday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masuk Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Just back from 2 days at PAI. The smoke there is just as bad as Chiang Mai, the hills in the distance could hardly be seen. Not one farm/roadside fire in the whole trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldgent Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 is there anything that can be done about this appalling situation ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellodolly Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 is there anything that can be done about this appalling situation ? Yes The question is will there be any thing done about it? I am no expert on the situation but I believe we are in a valley that has a heat inversion cover holding the smoke in. Also we get some of it from forest fires as far away as China. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropico Posted March 18, 2013 Author Share Posted March 18, 2013 From what I have seen so far, there is just a lot of talking but no law enforcement and the fines are too low. Lets face it, Thailand is a developing country and will remain so for a long time. Beside Bangkok most other places are pretty rural and people behave as such. One more thing to notice, and I think it is directly related to this problem, is the lack of responsibility which affect many aspects of life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinnieTheKhwai Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 (edited) You're starting a duplicate topic; there's a pinned one at the top of the list where you can read all about it. So far this is an excellent year, even with the recent return to more typical values for the time of year. It's 18 March and only now there is a chance that we go above 120 ug/m for the daily average. (No, that does not mean I'm not happy about the situation, in fact I left town with the wife and kids. But objectively speaking compared to other years, it's quite good so far. And within the North, Chiang Mai has the best values compared to surrounding provinces. There goes the diesel fumes argument, because all surrounding places are much smaller towns. Most likely it's geographical features and/or less burning of fields in the immediate area within the valley that cause Chiang Mai to turn out better than average for the region.) Suggest you read up for a bit (also last year's discussion). Edited March 18, 2013 by WinnieTheKhwai 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropico Posted March 18, 2013 Author Share Posted March 18, 2013 You're starting a duplicate topic; there's a pinned one at the top of the list where you can read all about it. So far this is an excellent year, even with the recent return to more typical values for the time of year. It's 18 March and only now there is a chance that we go above 120 ug/m for the daily average. (No, that does not mean I'm not happy about the situation, in fact I left town with the wife and kids. But objectively speaking compared to other years, it's quite good so far. And within the North, Chiang Mai has the best values compared to surrounding provinces. There goes the diesel fumes argument, because all surrounding places are much smaller towns. Most likely it's geographical features and/or less burning of fields in the immediate area within the valley that cause Chiang Mai to turn out better than average for the region.) Suggest you read up for a bit (also last year's discussion). Hi Sir I am just stating a situation and provided an updated picture. I am not saying that is either worse or better than last year. Whatever is the reason (geographical, burning, etc) it is not safe to breath the air, especially for a certain part of the population. And regarding the diesel fumes of course it is an addition to the smoke and a serious problem that is always there. Data from previous years suggest that there is not a constant pattern but some years are better than others because of various reasons such as for example the early onset of rain. However the number of people hospitalized for respiratory problems are a staggering number and seems way worse than Bangkok. Personally I think that more we speak about this situation and more people would be aware of the danger. I always try to read more but of course I cant read everything !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinnieTheKhwai Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 ^ Agreed with most of that. In relation to Bangkok though, almost all of the air pollution in Chiang Mai happens in the dry season, around March. In Bangkok it's a more constant thing. Chiang Mai's peaks in March are worse than Bangkok, but over the course of an entire year the air quality in Chiang Mai is (much) better. Best thing to do is just take a holiday in March. It coincides with the big school holidays, which is convenient. There is a lot of attention tot he issue, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CobraSnakeNecktie Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 (edited) is there anything that can be done about this appalling situation ? not for the pollution sources because rural people don't listen to the govt. They can't get rural people to drive on the proper side of the road, wear a helmet, drive sober or you name it. I think there are lot of things a person can do to mitigate the negative health effects. -Buy a quality mask from 3M etc.. The fabric ones are useless. -Travel during the 4 to 6 weeks of bad air -Buy or build a simple water misting system for enjoying yourself outdoors on your patio or balcony. The water droplets will bind and ground the offending particles. Will also cool the air. -Stay indoors with a decent filter setup or air cleaning plants -Buy a newer car with a built in and replaceable air filter -Drink a lot more water so the body has a better chance to clean itself -try to stay positive... more crap in your body will tend to depress you so try to balance that out. -use the downtime from exercise and being outside to catch up on neglected tasks like ranting on TV etc. Edited March 18, 2013 by CobraSnakeNecktie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywais Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Troll post and reply removed. And as mentioned, there is a pinned topic dedicated to this subject so would prefer to keep the information and comments centralized. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/611721-smoke-smog-dust-2013-chiang-mai/ //Closed// Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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