Smoke

[evenstevens]

i arrived 2001,and until approx2004,the smoke or smog was reasonable,perhaps as the papers put it now. a haze

and generally the month of april was at its peak,now a days it starts slowly in feb ,by middle of march passes the dangerous levels until approx end of april

It wasn't. Likely you noticed it less. (You arrived in 2001; 1999 was the worst year on record.)

But measurements have been made going back to 1996, and it was actually worse back then, on average.

Also, the month of April was not the peak, it was March, just like now, and just like the foreseeable future.

The data is all there if anyone would like to take a look. ( http://aqnis.pcd.go.th/en/data )

PM10 In Chiang Mai Graph.jpg

many thks for your data info,but in my life time would back experience and first hand knowledge,to data info,,kindly go to post 59,second paragraph where a member has vindicated my views,all have a nice day

[WinnieTheKhwai]

I have photos of a younger me taken in April 1984 posing by The Pub on Huay Kaew (a popular hangout way back then) & Doi Suthep was clearly visible. Draw whatever conclusions you wish from these memories of this old expat

Yes, because the seasonal haze ends early April.

I have a picture from March somewhere in the 1970's and haze is clearly visible.

Chances are memories get better with time, and younger people are also less likely to be affected. But I can't say for sure as data only goes back to 1996 and anecdotal evidence is very unreliable. I just have some March pictures from long ago that show haze, but that's not hard data either.

Edited March 17, 2014 by WinnieTheKhwai

[evenstevens]

I have photos of a younger me taken in April 1984 posing by The Pub on Huay Kaew (a popular hangout way back then) & Doi Suthep was clearly visible. Draw whatever conclusions you wish from these memories of this old expat

Yes, because the seasonal haze ends early April.

^^^^^^^^^^^^beg to differ ,according to your data that u have given,the monthly average april readings for the past 6 yrs is approx 120 (bang on danger levels),they vary from 94 to 177,,all in all, both march/april months are very bad,to all concerned

[jaideeguy]

IMHO.................the seasonal haze has been with us as long as humans have inhabited the forests of SE Asia, Maybe a different mix of particles, but wood burning comprises most of today's and yesterday's haze...............they just didn't complain about it as much as we do.

I also believe that IF LOS stopped burning that we would still suffer the seasonal haze from all the neighboring countries that have much more forest to burn. Remember the terrible haze from Indonesia a few years ago that blanketed all of SE Asia?? It's just a part of the 'rich cultural experience' that SE Asia is...........enjoy it or leave it!!

Edited March 17, 2014 by jaideeguy

[WinnieTheKhwai]

I have photos of a younger me taken in April 1984 posing by The Pub on Huay Kaew (a popular hangout way back then) & Doi Suthep was clearly visible. Draw whatever conclusions you wish from these memories of this old expat

Yes, because the seasonal haze ends early April.

^^^^^^^^^^^^beg to differ ,according to your data that u have given,the monthly average april readings for the past 6 yrs is approx 120 (bang on danger levels),they vary from 94 to 177,,all in all, both march/april months are very bad,to all concerned

Look, I'm not going to hold everyone's hand googling and wading through PDFs, so just this once, the monthly average for the past 6 years for April:

April 2013 :

April 2012 :

April 2011 :

April 2010 :

April 2009 :

April 2008 :

From the attached images you can also check the values for March for each year (third row) and of course they're much higher. Some years early April still has a spike that breaks 120, but the main problem occurs in March. For travel planning purposes it's indeed a safer bet to arrive just before Songkran (second week of April.)

And given that it started exceptionally late this year, it wouldn't surprise me if the haze continues into the first or second week of April. Although weather conditions will impact that a lot so it's not really predictable.

Edited March 17, 2014 by WinnieTheKhwai

[evenstevens]

I have photos of a younger me taken in April 1984 posing by The Pub on Huay Kaew (a popular hangout way back then) & Doi Suthep was clearly visible. Draw whatever conclusions you wish from these memories of this old expat

Yes, because the seasonal haze ends early April.

^^^^^^^^^^^^beg to differ ,according to your data that u have given,the monthly average april readings for the past 6 yrs is approx 120 (bang on danger levels),they vary from 94 to 177,,all in all, both march/april months are very bad,to all concerned

Look, I'm not going to hold everyone's hand googling and wading through PDFs, so just this once, the monthly average for the past 6 years for April:

April 2013 : 2013.JPG

April 2012 : 2012.JPG

April 2011 : 2011.JPG

April 2010 : 2010.JPG

April 2009 : 2009.JPG

April 2008 : 2008.JPG

From the attached images you can also check the values for March for each year (third row) and of course they're much higher. Some years early April still has a spike that breaks 120, but the main problem occurs in March. For travel planning purposes it's indeed a safer bet to arrive just before Songkran (second week of April.)

And given that it started exceptionally late this year, it wouldn't surprise me if the haze continues into the first or second week of April. Although weather conditions will impact that a lot so it's not really predictable.

for clarification purposes only,i have based my figures on the first row,which i understood is moving average 24hrs pm10(ugm) if any one cares to go to WWW.AQMTHAI.COM

it is the last row of figures and the red colours mean that it has passed into the dangerous level which is above 120..,i can be corrected on this, but imo that is the right way to read this..

[WinnieTheKhwai]

That's a fine source, but you were saying "the monthly average April readings for the past 6 yrs is approx 120".

That's the part that wasn't accurate. (Different from the current 24 hour moving average, right now in mid March.) (Or did you mean the first column that I put in the images? That column is the maximum value measured on any day in the month. For April that maximum would usually fall in the first week.

( The aqmthai.com site doesn't even show values further back than 2 months maximum, but it's great for current values. Which is indeed around 122 right now, so that's pretty bad. (and will probably get worse this week.) )

Edited March 17, 2014 by WinnieTheKhwai

[northernjohn]

I have photos of a younger me taken in April 1984 posing by The Pub on Huay Kaew (a popular hangout way back then) & Doi Suthep was clearly visible. Draw whatever conclusions you wish from these memories of this old expat

Yes, because the seasonal haze ends early April.

^^^^^^^^^^^^beg to differ ,according to your data that u have given,the monthly average april readings for the past 6 yrs is approx 120 (bang on danger levels),they vary from 94 to 177,,all in all, both march/april months are very bad,to all concerned

Look, I'm not going to hold everyone's hand googling and wading through PDFs, so just this once, the monthly average for the past 6 years for April:

April 2013 : 2013.JPG

April 2012 : 2012.JPG

April 2011 : 2011.JPG

April 2010 : 2010.JPG

April 2009 : 2009.JPG

April 2008 : 2008.JPG

From the attached images you can also check the values for March for each year (third row) and of course they're much higher. Some years early April still has a spike that breaks 120, but the main problem occurs in March. For travel planning purposes it's indeed a safer bet to arrive just before Songkran (second week of April.)

And given that it started exceptionally late this year, it wouldn't surprise me if the haze continues into the first or second week of April. Although weather conditions will impact that a lot so it's not really predictable.

Ah the good old days of 2011

Smog has probably been a problem in this area for hundreds of years. The more rice fields the more smog. With the coming of the automobile it increased slightly in the city. But that was offset in the long run by the lack of all garbage being burned. Walk around the city and you do not find the barrels of garbage being burned it is more in the country now. Many villages I am told have a garbage collection now.

It is indeed sad that we do not have records going back to far. Memory particularly as we get older seems to change.

[evenstevens]

That's a fine source, but you were saying "the monthly average April readings for the past 6 yrs is approx 120".

yes winnie,from your chart, first row,do thank for this discussion