Smoke, Smog, Dust 2015 Chiang Mai

[worgeordie]

The Government has really let people in the North down,every year

talk of crackdowns,now rewards if you report any burning,and nothing

ever happens,its all worthless talk,maybe if they took it seriously, made

an example of the worse violators with either a large fine or maybe better

a prison term,just to let those that set fires that they have to stop.

The pollution from the traffic increases ever year,add the forest fires,

Chiang Mai is not a pleasant place to be this time of year.

regards Worgeordie

[johnsjourney]

This is relatively fresh air for many Chinese tourists. There is a 30m views video gone viral in China this weekend http://globalvoicesonline.org/2015/03/01/a-former-state-tv-reporter-shines-a-viral-light-on-chinas-smog/ so at least there is some popular pressure.

[blueyeshk]

Much less fires today as of the fire map. Anyway if in need Thai lion has some nice promotion for southbound flights right now

Edited March 2, 2015 by blueyeshk

[Tywais]

Much less fires today as of the fire map.

Definitely a large change for some reason. Updated firemap snapshot March 2, 2015. Maybe make a movie clip at the end of the season using the snapshots.

[khwaibah]

Majority of the fires are Northern Cambodia,into southern Lao. and extreme western Thailand then Burma.

[Hugh Jarse]

First time this year Doi Suthep disappears/is not visible. And I live not that far away at canal road.

Time to leave and go southbound....

If you are able to do so. I hear that New Zealand is a good place to be now.

[Hugh Jarse]

Out of interest, where are those planning an escape going to, and how long do you plan to be away?

We've done Hua Hin (within driving distance, 10 hours later you're there), Samui (direct flights even if they're really expensive), Phuket (flights), Ko Chang.

Important criteria: Needs to be on the ocean. All inland places are just as polluted as up here.

We usually come back at or around Songkran, April 15th. The last 2 years that's when the first rains fell, and air improves quickly after that. Not immediately, but in a week or two.

and Air Asia have flights to Surat Thai and thence to Samui or the beaches adjacent.

[JJThefish]

Is running aircon while sleeping dangerous during burning season? I didnt have any respiratory issues last year. I am more concerned about long run health risks

[masuk]

I have fitted 3M micro filters onto my air con filters. These keep out dust, pollen and fine particles.

I have just started a routine of running the air con for about one hour, with windows and doors closed,so that at least some of the dust in the room is filtered out.

I'm afraid the luxury of sleeping with open windows at this time of the year is just not a good idea.

[JJThefish]

Thanks Masuk

I might try that. where would I be able to purchase 3M micro filters?

[chiangmaiexpat]

The level of incompetence and indifference towards this problem on part of official sites and institutions in Chiang Mai is quite stunning.

On Monday, children in our school were asked to exercise outside in the smog for hours, because it was scout day. My daughter came home with burning eyes and a headache.

Earlier, my wife actually went to the local Orbotor to report a fire that was burning in our direct neighbourhood. She encountered complete indifference and with a bunch of odd excuses (lack of evidence and witnesses were cited), nobody attended to the case.

Cheers, CM-Expat

[EnlightenedAtheist]

The level of incompetence and indifference towards this problem on part of official sites and institutions in Chiang Mai is quite stunning.

On Monday, children in our school were asked to exercise outside in the smog for hours, because it was scout day. My daughter came home with burning eyes and a headache.

Earlier, my wife actually went to the local Orbotor to report a fire that was burning in our direct neighbourhood. She encountered complete indifference and with a bunch of odd excuses (lack of evidence and witnesses were cited), nobody attended to the case.

Cheers, CM-Expat

Yes, that Mai Pen Rai is a two-edged sword! Like anywhere the establishment (the farmers here) dislikes changes (unless it is of a benefit to them)! It could be ignorance. It could be greed or necessity! Are Thai TV programs really informing the public, in a meaningful way? Here is a video called "under the dome" that should help the Chinese know that they have a problem. Maybe it needs to be translated in Thai and shared on all of the social platforms (if allowed ) ! Maybe it should be called "DUST in Thailand? Getting cancer in Chiang Mai? Smog in Thailand" not Mai Pen Rai?

Edited March 4, 2015 by EnlightenedAtheist

[khunphil]

Thanks Masuk

I might try that. where would I be able to purchase 3M micro filters?

Makro is out of stock. Home pro still have some filtrete 3m.i just bought some today.

Edited March 4, 2015 by khunphil

[T_Dog]

The winds came up and the PM10 levels dropped like a rock so I got out for a mountain bike ride in the hills east of Mae Rim today. Unless you get out there, you don't know the extent of the local burning. You can ride for a 100 kilometers on these trails and this is what you will see. There were still stumps smouldering and all that smoke drifted into Chiang Mai over the last two days. Virtually all the forests in Northern Thailand are burned every year to induce mushroom growth or to clear more farm land. I talked with a red ant egg gatherer last week on these same trails and I expect he was the same person that lit the fires so he can harvest mushrooms when the rainy season comes. There is zero education or enforcement of burning laws as Thailand has bigger fish to fry, so don't expect any changes until a weather system pushes the smoke out like today. It was great to get a ride in during the smokey season where I normally hide in filtered air.

[dutchkev]

The winds came up and the PM10 levels dropped like a rock so I got out for a mountain bike ride in the hills east of Mae Rim today. Unless you get out there, you don't know the extent of the local burning. You can ride for a 100 kilometers on these trails and this is what you will see. There were still stumps smouldering and all that smoke drifted into Chiang Mai over the last two days. Virtually all the forests in Northern Thailand are burned every year to induce mushroom growth or to clear more farm land. I talked with a red ant egg gatherer last week on these same trails and I expect he was the same person that lit the fires so he can harvest mushrooms when the rainy season comes. There is zero education or enforcement of burning laws as Thailand has bigger fish to fry, so don't expect any changes until a weather system pushes the smoke out like today. It was great to get a ride in during the smokey season where I normally hide in filtered air.

Totally agree with Tdog , I live out on the Samorng rd , they burn here everyday , a local guy told me yesterday, not to worry, it's natural smoke , won't do u any harm!!!

I also rang the number to report fires, they told me if I was concerned I should go and help them put out fires

It's a lost cause the only solution is to move

[chiang mai]

Can we have some numbers and some times of when, " winds came up and the PM10 levels dropped like a rock", please?

And when you say "hills east of Mae Rim" I think of the range that is quite some way distant from Mae Rim. But I'm confused when you say you live on the Samorng Road, presumably you mean the Samoeng road? Sorry, more questions than answers, just trying to put what you've written into perspective since I live in that area and I haven't seen anything of what you've seen.

[nikster]

I very much agree with T_Dog. The armchair analysts watching fire maps and whatnot need to get out and about and just you know hit a few routes around Chiang Mai. There you will find the evidence. Where there's smoke, there is fire!

Living in Pai and going to Chiang Mai - no forest area is untouched. ALL of it is burned. Everything. That I believe is the biggest source of smog in the summer (March/April). That people set everything else on fire too doesn't help but in terms of magnitude the forest fires everywhere surely take the cake.

We got a lucky break today. Alternatively, I saw the fire trucks spraying the air with water around Ta Pae gate yesterday. Maybe it works?! Kidding...

PM10 dropping like a rock - if you opened your eyes you'd have seen it! I was in town around 5pm, go outside and suddenly there's a beautiful blue sky and some distant clouds! I could hardly believe it. My eye level guess for the PM10 of that is 80 or less.

[chiang mai]

I live in Mae RIm.

My view to the East is rice paddies with mountains in the far distance, my view to the West is rice paddies with the mountains (aka Samoeng) in the near distance.

This "arm chair analyst" says that much of what has been written thus far, does not compute!

Perhaps some detail might help, "East of Mae Rim" stretches a long way!

[T_Dog]

Can we have some numbers and some times of when, " winds came up and the PM10 levels dropped like a rock", please?

And when you say "hills east of Mae Rim" I think of the range that is quite some way distant from Mae Rim. But I'm confused when you say you live on the Samorng Road, presumably you mean the Samoeng road? Sorry, more questions than answers, just trying to put what you've written into perspective since I live in that area and I haven't seen anything of what you've seen.

Sigh...... All those photos are taken within 6 km of downtown Mae Rim. So it is indeed the front range or the first set of hills you see when you look west from HWY-107, but those burned out areas go forever and north up to Mae Taeng where I rode for many years. If you want GPS .kmz locations of where those photos where taken, send me a PM and I will hook up the Garmin.

The winds picked up right after lunch today, and you can certainly see the effect on the PM10 data from Chiang Mai. It was windy enough up on the mountain side that phone conversations were difficult due to the wind noise.

[chiang mai]

Can we have some numbers and some times of when, " winds came up and the PM10 levels dropped like a rock", please?

And when you say "hills east of Mae Rim" I think of the range that is quite some way distant from Mae Rim. But I'm confused when you say you live on the Samorng Road, presumably you mean the Samoeng road? Sorry, more questions than answers, just trying to put what you've written into perspective since I live in that area and I haven't seen anything of what you've seen.

Sigh...... All those photos are taken within 6 km of downtown Mae Rim. So it is indeed the front range or the first set of hills you see when you look west from HWY-107, but those burned out areas go forever and north up to Mae Taeng where I rode for many years. If you want GPS .kmz locations of where those photos where taken, send me a PM and I will hook up the Garmin.

The winds picked up right after lunch today, and you can certainly see the effect on the PM10 data from Chiang Mai. It was windy enough up on the mountain side that phone conversations were difficult due to the wind noise.

Thank you for the added detail, I've not been on the Samoeng Road for some weeks hence I'll go take a look. It's not that I don't believe what's being said, it's simply that I don't see evidence of it in my daily life, other than Sunday mornings.

[masuk]

The winds came up and the PM10 levels dropped like a rock so I got out for a mountain bike ride in the hills east of Mae Rim today. Unless you get out there, you don't know the extent of the local burning. You can ride for a 100 kilometers on these trails and this is what you will see. There were still stumps smouldering and all that smoke drifted into Chiang Mai over the last two days. Virtually all the forests in Northern Thailand are burned every year to induce mushroom growth or to clear more farm land. I talked with a red ant egg gatherer last week on these same trails and I expect he was the same person that lit the fires so he can harvest mushrooms when the rainy season comes. There is zero education or enforcement of burning laws as Thailand has bigger fish to fry, so don't expect any changes until a weather system pushes the smoke out like today. It was great to get a ride in during the smokey season where I normally hide in filtered air.

Totally agree with Tdog , I live out on the Samorng rd , they burn here everyday , a local guy told me yesterday, not to worry, it's natural smoke , won't do u any harm!!!

I also rang the number to report fires, they told me if I was concerned I should go and help them put out fires

It's a lost cause the only solution is to move

A few weeks of low tourist numbers and a great many farangs moving out of town for the smoky season, might make someone take notice.

The photos were rather clear evidence of what we've been getting in Chiang Mai.

[LarryBird]

The smoke doesn't bother you.... Until it does.

Funny how Thais claim to love their kids so much, but subject them to this.

[blueyeshk]

You know there are no wildfires at all but only men made once, when around important celebration days the air clears and burning stop magically for a day.

Edited March 5, 2015 by blueyeshk

[Puwa]

Can we have some numbers and some times of when, " winds came up and the PM10 levels dropped like a rock", please?

And when you say "hills east of Mae Rim" I think of the range that is quite some way distant from Mae Rim. But I'm confused when you say you live on the Samorng Road, presumably you mean the Samoeng road? Sorry, more questions than answers, just trying to put what you've written into perspective since I live in that area and I haven't seen anything of what you've seen.

Here are yesterday's numbers from the Sala Klang station, which is closest to Mae Rim. (Which incidentally is always referred to as City Hall, when in fact it is the Provincial Hall; city hall is the one near 3 Kings.) There was definitely blue sky and improved visibility for a few hours yesterday afternoon in the Mae Ram - Huay Sai subdistricts of Mae Rim. And like T-Dog, I took the opportunity to ride my local trails, burnt over but for the most part not smoldering anymore.

[CNXBKKMAN]

Favorable weather conditions is the only thing that that will help this month like yesterday afternoons wind. There should be at least one thunderstorm shower before the month is out. March really is a shit month in CM.

[blueyeshk]

Not limited to cm but the whole north

[chiang mai]

Can we have some numbers and some times of when, " winds came up and the PM10 levels dropped like a rock", please?

And when you say "hills east of Mae Rim" I think of the range that is quite some way distant from Mae Rim. But I'm confused when you say you live on the Samorng Road, presumably you mean the Samoeng road? Sorry, more questions than answers, just trying to put what you've written into perspective since I live in that area and I haven't seen anything of what you've seen.

Here are yesterday's numbers from the Sala Klang station, which is closest to Mae Rim. (Which incidentally is always referred to as City Hall, when in fact it is the Provincial Hall; city hall is the one near 3 Kings.) There was definitely blue sky and improved visibility for a few hours yesterday afternoon in the Mae Ram - Huay Sai subdistricts of Mae Rim. And like T-Dog, I took the opportunity to ride my local trails, burnt over but for the most part not smoldering anymore.

With the exception of a blip at 4pm (and it may just have been that), that looks like a fairly normal day - morning starts off fairly high, sun comes up and warms the colder air and by noon, the pollution that remains rises and disburses. Does anyone have any data sources to cause us to see things differently to the foregoing?

[evenstevens]

who needs the data crap

.

.in mae rim sick your neck out the window, at anytime during the day ,pick your highest points, then u will get all the data required,with your own eyes

and out beverly hills mae rim, they have nt cracked a whip yet , generally done around the middle of march, govt sponsored u know,and always after sunset,shifty devils they are

just the norm every year, so get used to it

[chiang mai]

Some of us need data. I certainly do, because when I do as you suggest the result is inconclusive, seriously! I can neither smell burning/smoke/pollution where I am in MR and I certainly can't see it and my eyes aren't stinging - I can see that the mountains to the West are hazy but I've no reason to believe that's caused by smoke, especially when the satellite fire maps show so few fires and when the PCD numbers are relatively low, more likely that "haze" affect is refraction caused by the inversion layer.

So why the difference between our views when we live fairly close together? Firstly, I live at ground level and not several floors up. Living in Muang previously on various high floors meant that I had a visual distortion of the air around me and I would complain bitterly about burning whilst others near by at ground level couldn't understand my concerns. Is that part of the difference between us?

[Puwa]

Can we have some numbers and some times of when, " winds came up and the PM10 levels dropped like a rock", please?

And when you say "hills east of Mae Rim" I think of the range that is quite some way distant from Mae Rim. But I'm confused when you say you live on the Samorng Road, presumably you mean the Samoeng road? Sorry, more questions than answers, just trying to put what you've written into perspective since I live in that area and I haven't seen anything of what you've seen.

Here are yesterday's numbers from the Sala Klang station, which is closest to Mae Rim. (Which incidentally is always referred to as City Hall, when in fact it is the Provincial Hall; city hall is the one near 3 Kings.) There was definitely blue sky and improved visibility for a few hours yesterday afternoon in the Mae Ram - Huay Sai subdistricts of Mae Rim. And like T-Dog, I took the opportunity to ride my local trails, burnt over but for the most part not smoldering anymore.

With the exception of a blip at 4pm (and it may just have been that), that looks like a fairly normal day - morning starts off fairly high, sun comes up and warms the colder air and by noon, the pollution that remains rises and disburses. Does anyone have any data sources to cause us to see things differently to the foregoing?

Actually, I just ran the numbers from March 1 to today, and compared PM10 at 12am, 8am, 12pm, 6pm (4pm today). There's no question that yesterday was an improvement. You can run a report from the PCD website for yourself if you'd like to see.

That's the data. As for individual impressions, it's good that you don't suffer any symptoms, but it stands to reason that others who do are more sensitive to daily fluctuations.