Are there yearly pollution problems from burning like CM has in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, etc...? It's still only January and it's sometimes hard to see Doi Suthep from the old city.

http://aqicn.org/city/thailand/chiangmai/city-hall/

Yes, much of the smoke/pollution comes from neighbouring regions.

But they've all been slashing and burning for hundreds of years so apparently it's OK.

Yes, much of the smoke/pollution comes from neighbouring regions.

Yes, much of the smoke/pollution comes from neighbouring regions.

Wing 41 could align all F16's on runway 36 and blow the smoke away 55

NB: wing 41 car passes ready for collection,

My neighbour is a high court judge and this evening he was burning all his fallen leaves. Blows straight into my window. And it's him, not a gardener / maid etc. That's the mentality here I'm afraid.

I have found pollution in CM to be worse than Cambodia and Vietnam. I am fairly convinced China has the biggest problem. 6 million Chinese have died due to lung issues, but studies aren't really clear since some of the "black lung" issues were from working underground.

I burn incense in my closet 24/7 to protect me from the pollution....

Then when I am done I celebrate with fireworks and motorbike racing...

Given how much worse it gets the closer you get to Burma, it's likely worse in those places. Though Vietnam of course is mostly coastline, so you shouldn't get much there?

But Burma, China, Northern India.. all horrific when it comes to air quality in some seasons.

never noticed it in phnom penh. penang gets its share much of it from sumatera across the straight. could see it from the ferry from butterworth but wasnt an issue when i got into it. singapore also gets hit fairly bad from same source.

Banning of diesel cars:

This might be old news for many, but printed newspapers take a week just to get from BKK to Chiang Mai, after their overseas delivery.

The Mayor of Paris has announced radical plans to ban diesel cars from the city from 2020.

The mayors of all major European cities, including London, are grappling with how to tackle pollution emitted by diesel fumes, whose tiny particles and nitrous oxides are harmful to health.

Diesel fumes are becoming a major problem in Thailand's cities, as there appears to be no check on exhaust systems, and it's quite common to see trucks and song tiaws spewing out black clouds of exhaust every time they collect a customer and move off.

Motor cycle riders would be most at risk, as well as passengers breathing in the fumes from the back of the song tiaw. In the narrow streets of Chiang Mai, it is particularly bad, as the air is filled with fumes.

Some Chinese cities have already banned diesels and it's made a large difference in pollution levels within 12 months.