What are parents doing during burning season?

[thaibutty]

Yet another thread on moving to Chiang Mai and the annual smog. Sorry to start another one;)

I've been thinking of moving to CM for a long time now. Have been in Phuket for 10+ years but am ready to leave. If it wouldn't be for the annual burning season I would make the move to CM in an instant. But as a father of little kids I don't think that 9,5 good month a year outweigh the negative effects of 2,5 - 3 month of terrible air quality.

Looking through tons of old threads about this topic it seems that most people who can will leave the North during the worst weeks and only return when the first rains cleared the air. But with kids being in school that would not be possible. Some people suggested that the worst air quality coincides with the main school holidays. But upon checking with the international schools this doesn't seem to be the case. They only have school holidays for Songkran starting in the beginning of April.

I checked with some of the schools what they are doing during the times when the air qualitiy is really poor and they all said they restrict the school activities to inside activities.

So my question goes to all the parents here.

What are you doing during the burning season? Taking kids out of school and heading for the beach? Keeping them indoors for several weeks until the worst is over?

Can you even keep the poor air outside your houses and schools?

[elektrified]

We leave every March for about 6 weeks and head South to the beaches. If we don't go, my child gets sick the entire time with respiratory problems. In the past it got so bad he needed respiratory therapy 2-3 times a week.

[eyecatcher]

We leave every March for about 6 weeks and head South to the beaches. If we don't go, my child gets sick the entire time with respiratory problems. In the past it got so bad he needed respiratory therapy 2-3 times a week.

I would call that a blessing in disguise.

[elektrified]

We leave every March for about 6 weeks and head South to the beaches. If we don't go, my child gets sick the entire time with respiratory problems. In the past it got so bad he needed respiratory therapy 2-3 times a week.

I would call that a blessing in disguise.

No complaints here. I love spending time by the beach. We try and go someplace new/different each year.

[hmficc]

we go out a burn something.

[thaibutty]

We leave every March for about 6 weeks and head South to the beaches. If we don't go, my child gets sick the entire time with respiratory problems. In the past it got so bad he needed respiratory therapy 2-3 times a week.

I would call that a blessing in disguise.

No complaints here. I love spending time by the beach. We try and go someplace new/different each year.

Sounds like a plan;)

But what about school? Is your son not going to school yet? Or are you taking him out for these 6 weeks?

[Awk]

Unfortunately you are correct in that the school holidays does not coincide too well with the burn season if you are at an international school. There is some holiday at that time for the local international schools also, but it's mostly the last three weeks of the burn season, at which point the peak has often passed. I still head for the beach for those three weeks however, as the government airquality monitoring stations indicate the air quality is still very poor.

What do to do in the one and a half month to two months before that holiday? Keeping inside 24h/day would constitute a very sad existence unfortunately, though perhaps it would be the smart choice. Myself, I do the following:

- Avoid outside exercise. I.e., I do not do any outside running at that time, nor do my children. We still play outside and also do light exercise (badminton, ballgames, etc. My children are small so lack of technique automatically reduces the intensity of this type of exercise).

- The windows on all bedrooms are closed and duct-taped around the frames (we rent a house that is poorly isolated. If you live in better quality, I assume no duct-tape is necessary).

- High quality air purifiers in the bedrooms start running at full speed half an hour before bedtime. Half an hour at top speed (or even 15m with the air purifier and room size I have) is enough to bring the air quality to the best level it will be. Thereafter the speed is reduced to the medium, due to the noise, for the rest of the night. During the day, the air purifiers are moved to the living room and run there. I try to keep the windows and doors shut there also. Even opening them up for half a minute may bring in an enormous amount of new air from the outside, and I may then have to wait a considerable amount of time before the air purifier has cleaned it again.

There are some DIY alternatives regarding air purifiers. See e.g. here: "http://smartairfilters.com/en.html". I believe it's a business created by the guy who was sharing his DIY design for free before. While the website appears to be a business, he also links to his old information on how to do it yourself. Definitely worth a read if you don't want to pay B20,000+ for a high quality air purifier.

I bought Blueair from E.A. Easy Co. in Nontaburi, but there are other good companies also. There are many much cheaper air purifiers for sale also, but recommend you do your own due diligence on them, which mostly means checking test results. I would recommend buying the largest (as measured by CADR) model. Best case, you can run it at a low setting and it will provide performance similar to a more noisy medium/high setting from a smaller model.

[philw]

We leave every March for about 6 weeks and head South to the beaches. If we don't go, my child gets sick the entire time with respiratory problems. In the past it got so bad he needed respiratory therapy 2-3 times a week.

I would call that a blessing in disguise.

Nice one !!!

[elektrified]

We leave every March for about 6 weeks and head South to the beaches. If we don't go, my child gets sick the entire time with respiratory problems. In the past it got so bad he needed respiratory therapy 2-3 times a week.

I would call that a blessing in disguise.

No complaints here. I love spending time by the beach. We try and go someplace new/different each year.

Sounds like a plan;)

But what about school? Is your son not going to school yet? Or are you taking him out for these 6 weeks?

School is out from mid March (as I recall) to early May.

[iainiain101]

We have stayed but prefer to be away. Our kids are In Thai school, so the holidays allow us to take two month trips abroad.

If your kids are in International schools then the holidays don't work for the smokey season.

Most International school kids are only here for a couple of years though, so maybe it's not too bad.

[Mapguy]

OP, there is no need to apologize. There is, of course, a problem for both adults and children.

It is time to start talking about problems of Northern and Central Thai air pollution, just before the burning begins in earnest. We on Chiang Mai TV dedicate a topic to this every year now (and a few other miscellaneous toipics like it crop up, too). It seems that you have worked to review what has been posted already. Some past comments are thoughtful, as some above; some reflect the frivilous comments of some posters above.

As people already know, there are different reasons for the seasonal burning: one is burning rice straw, another is land-clearing, another is stimulating mushroom growth in the mountain forest, which often starts areal fires, some caused by careless people and mindless neighbors like local trash-burners, and finally clearing the verges of rural roads by burning. (Burning is not always seasonal, by the way, but let's not get into that.) Of increasing popularity is to blame the Burmese and Laotians. It is true that this problem is regional, but if Thailand were to change, the impact of its neighbors upon Thailand would be marginal compared to what is now experienced locally.

Direct answers to your question? Awk above has been very practical. Some people, as indicated above, just move away for a few weeks (and you can NOT predict when the worst days and weeks will occur except to say that they trend in late-February through March). Awk is simply expressing what --- with a lot of effort --- can be done when you can not head for the beach with very young children. I personally bridle when I read of such wealthy "escapism." I understand it, It makes sense, but what about the poor or, simply, those with children in school, people in jobs, or whatever, who cannot afford to go trotting off to the beach ?!

Good news? Bad news?

The BAD news is that, despite Khun Awk's (and other) best efforts, we do not live in a bubble. You cannot escape ambient air. You can mitigate somewhat the conditions part of the time.

The GOOD news? Unfortunately, there really is none to report at present in Northern and Central Thailand.

You are going to hear a lot from time to time from characters, such as the "It bothers some people, but not me" crowd!" Well, that's true. Nominally, it doesn't --- so one might think. They are just like former smokers and the "Second-hand-smoke-is-not harmful!" crowd But such pollution is insidious. You may not be so sensitive today, and not everyone is the same, but the effect ,if not immediate, is impactful on your health.

Just be thankful you do not live in metropolitan or industrial China or India.

[naboo]

This year I will take my wife and daughter down to a seaside resort in the first week of March and I'll go and pick them up when the pollution has cleared, hopefully just before Songkran.

Unfortunately I can't get the time off work, but there's no reason for them to sit in the crap.

[northernjohn]

Most people stay here. Awk gave some excellent suggestions. I have no figures but I do recall the first time I experienced the Smokey season here it did get real bad. It even was on CNN news. How ever that was a really bad one. They announced that the hospitals had over 1,500 people in to them for smog related issues. That was over and above the normal count for respiratory problems. Also one year we didn't have a Smokey season. Just a lot more rain that year at the smog season.

If your children are like electrified and physically unwell you have no choice in the matter other than get the best masks you can find. Which is a good idea any how.

I am a little curious as to what the average life expectancy in Chiang Mai as compared too Phuket is. That would be one good indicator.

[puukao]

I am 90% you will have long-term health problems due to the pollution. I have, and it's not that much fun. Why put your kid through this is beyond me, unless you really cannot afford to live elsewhere. People like to say, "Oh, little billy will be fine." And then 4-months later, "see, he seems fine." Then later in life you forget your choices. This is like putting your kid to work in the coal mines. There is simply no way in good conscious I could advice a parent to bring their kid to north thailand during the smog. Just like I don't advice on letting them smoke all day, or do drugs, etc....yes, some kids are less effects than others, but the odds are you are not helping yourself. no question, if you can, leave.

[Robert24]

it can get bad for maybe 2-3 weeks usually second half February/early March. Not much you can do. Use N95 masks when outside, use aircon with filters when inside, restrict outdoor activities. Best to leave if you can until the air is better again.

[Thailand]

The smoke is already in the air here. Very noticeable outside of the city around Hang Dong canal road area. Don't know about other areas?

We are seeing ash particles in our pool the last couple of days.

[elektrified]

Lately we've also noticed another situation; factory smoke in the city. Right near the JJ Market area is some type of factory blowing brown smoke out of the smoke stack all day. It's real nasty. If you stand at the corner of where the bars are located on the road to JJ Market, you will see the smoke stack.

Also, on the Mae Jo Road North of the Nong Jom intersection on the right side if you are driving towards the city is a factory/business of some sort that burns what smells like tires in the afternoon. The black smoke has got to be dangerous.

[Don Aleman]

Anything is better than St.Louis Mo. where parents have added looting to the burning season !

[zzdocxx]

Slightly off topic:

Does Chiang Rai experience the same type of smokey season ?

Thank you.

[khwaibah]

Slightly off topic:

Does Chiang Rai experience the same type of smokey season ?

Thank you.

In spades and at times worse.

[Lobo4819]

Other than the socialization, there is little that a child in a Thai school (or even one of the 'hi-so' schools) would miss by taking off for a month of travel and adventure with their family.

[HaleySabai]

Our daughter is 5yrs.old and going to the local Thai-preschool for social,language and culture activities.

Last year we went to Nepal for the month of March and had a great experience,year before was Bali,this year we will head south to a quiet,clean,inexpensive non-tourist beach.

Next year she may be attending APIS,but so what,travel is the best education for a kid. We also work in Canada for 4 months each year so we all get full exposure to a very clean environment.

Air quality in CM-city is not great regardless of burning,now with so much construction and massive increase in traffic, I go into town for only what I need.

The air is of course better in accordance to elevation,we have a place in OmKoi which is sparsely populated and around 1400m above sea-level,the air is fine in spite of burning down in the valley...damn cold there right now.

CM is still a great place to live,perhaps just not all year-round.

Edited December 3, 2014 by HaleySabai