Hello,

Just returned to Chiang Mai 30 December 2014 and have started sneezing constantly and have watering eyes. Does anyone else notice this? I dont rememeber it from last year. I see there is a constant haze in the air. I wonder of it is air blowing down from China with the northeast monsoon? I worked in China a few years ago and it reminds me of the same thing.

I'm also a mess with allergies, just this past week. Sneezing, headache, congestion. I don't remember having these symptoms last December/ January.

Isn't there a website to check the air pollution in Chiang Mai, day by day?

Assuming we're both reacting to air pollution, would an anti-histamine drug help the symptoms?

I wont take medicine for it, but its disturbing thinking that anything like that (polluition) will never get better over time. From this website you can see that its about the same as Bangkok here.

http://aqicn.org/city/chiang-mai/

Once an allergic reaction to elements in the air sets in, it is difficult to stop without a short course of antihistamines or a nasal spray that contains a steroid. The inflammatory reaction, once set off by an irritant, gets established almost anything could trigger sneezing etc.

It is amazing how much particles are caught by an air conditioner. Here in central BKK, AC service and filter cleaning is essential at least every 4-6 months so a single therapy such as antihistamine is usually not enough and must be combined with general measures such as AC cleaning, damp dusting in homes and also ensure that vacuum cleaners are fitted with proper HEPA filters.

Air quality in CM is seldom good, and it is especially bad at this time of year as farmers in surrounding areas burn their fields.

The mountains around CM tend to keep in pollutants.

Advise as per FBN above.