Smoke, Smog, Dust 2016-2017 Chiang Mai

[vivid]

Visible pic just in.

Very very clear deterioration for the whole region. Just a matter of time if this kind of deterioration is allowed to continue, together with the Super El Nino (albeit it's sliding down already after peaking in late Nov, but also do remember that the effects are long lasting and there is a "momentum" thingy).

Edited March 20, 2016 by vivid

[blueyeshk]

Sign it:

https://www.change.org/p/chiang-mai-governor-improve-haze-pollution-information-for-public-health-in-northern-thailand?lang=en-GB#petition-letter

[slerickson]

Little bit of smoke our way near Lamphun last night. Farmer burning trash and it got away from him.

Edited March 21, 2016 by slerickson

[vivid]

http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/chiang-mais-headache-corn-fed-smoke-haze

Haze became serious over past decade when rising corn prices enticed highland farmers to grow the crop

Tan Hui Yee Thailand Correspondent In Chiang Mai

It's 32 deg C in Chiang Mai as cars on the highway speed towards an invisible mountain. Doi Suthep, which usually looms over the city, has vanished into the ash-coloured horizon.

Welcome to smog season. From February to April every year, the mountainous region of northern Thailand turns from tourist magnet to an eye-watering hell as smoke from corn farms being cleared settles into the valleys.

Amid soaring temperatures, planes are occasionally grounded, while hospitals register a 50 per cent spike in patients with eye and skin allergies, as well as lung and heart ailments, say officials. Locals start watching air pollution readings as well as more homespun indicators.

"If I can't see Doi Suthep... I don't go anywhere," Chiang Mai's chief provincial health officer, Dr Paisan Thanyawinichkul, tells The Straits Times as he fiddles with his personal bottle of antihistamine eyedrops. "I close the doors and windows."

There are many culprits behind the filthy air. Private vehicles are one. Chiang Mai's provincial capital may be Thailand's second-largest outside Bangkok, but it still lacks a metro system or equivalent form of public transport. Between 2010 and last year, the number of private cars, lorries and vans registered in the province grew by 53 per cent. Urban sprawl chews up greenery that would otherwise act as a filter.

Homeowners in this vast, mountainous terrain find it easier to burn their rubbish rather than truck it to a disposal facility hours away.

Locals set fire to the forests to ferret out wildlife and pick an exotic mushroom, which sprouts from the charred ground. These dark, spherical hed thob are sold by foragers from makeshift roadside kiosks for as much as 1,000 baht (S$39) a kg.

But the biggest culprit by far is open burning on corn farms, which have steadily expanded in tandem with demand for animal feed.

According to the Asean Agricultural Commodity Outlook report, maize plantations in Thailand expanded by 77,880ha between 2008 and last year. Yet the 4.6 million tonnes of corn produced last year was only enough to meet about nine-tenths of local demand.

Corn is a major component of animal feed. It is mixed into fodder for chickens, ducks, cows and even fish either consumed in Asean's second-biggest economy or exported to the rest of the world.

While northern farmers have long burned their agricultural waste, experts say the haze became serious only over the past decade, when rising corn prices enticed highland smallholders to convert to the crop.

These farmers either sold their corn to middlemen or directly to Charoen Pokphand (CP) group, a Thai agricultural conglomerate, via contract farming arrangements.

Corn yielded quick cash because it could be harvested in four months. Plus, CP not only guaranteed the purchase price, but also reduced farmers' outlay by supplying seed and fertiliser, and then deducting their costs from the final payment.

The crop unfortunately also leaves the same amount of stubble, husk and other residue in weight as it does in corn - all of which is burnt at the end of each harvest.

Last year, when smog became so severe that the Singapore Armed Forces sent two Chinook helicopters to help fight the fires, CP - which also sources for corn in Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam - was singled out for criticism. It denied responsibility for the haze, but ended farming contracts in Mae Chaem, a particularly notorious "hot spot" in Chiang Mai province.

One of the farmers cut loose, Mr Chitnarong Chompootan, now sells his corn for 12 baht per kg instead of 16 baht.

"We were the scapegoats," he laments. "We were only responsible for 20 to 30 per cent of the smoke. The rest comes from elsewhere."

Indeed, satellite images during this period tend to show similar hot spots raging in Myanmar and Laos, which researchers also attribute to corn farms.

The price of animal feed corn dipped to an average 9.45 baht per kg last year from 10.51 baht per kg in 2012, according to data from the Thai Feed Mill Association. Yet some farmers have responded by clearing more land for corn.

"They have to keep expanding their plantation to get the same amount of money," says Dr Nion Sirimongkonlertkul from the Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna, who has been studying the issue for over a decade.

Air pollution continued to hit unsafe limits in the provinces of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phayao and Mae Hong Son this week despite a 60-day burning ban until April 15.

Medical experts warn of serious long-term health effects if no sustainable solution is found.

The incidence of cancer of the trachea, bronchus and lung in the north is the highest among all regions, a phenomenon which they suspect is linked to the annual smog.

Officials are cajoling farmers to turn corn stalks into fertiliser, while Warm Heart Foundation, a Chiang Mai-based, non-governmental organisation, is trying to promote charcoal made from corn residue.

The farmers, weary of being reproached annually, are open to suggestion.

"If we have good water supply, we can do longan," says Mr Chitnarong. "What I want is for the government to take good care of the farmers, not just throw us some seeds and go away."

Chiang Mai fights seasonal haze. Watch the video at http://str.sg/ZtwY and read the blog at http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/where-burning-is-a-way-of-life

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 21, 2016, with the headline 'Chiang Mai's headache: Corn-fed smoke haze'

[vivid]

Chiang Rai's condition deteriorated.

[Cpkt8]

Partial view of Doi Suthep yesterday noon 21/3/16.

[Tywais]

I just posted this topic in News - Haze forces hospitalisation of 64,000

Seem to remember that exact same number mentioned a few years ago.

[vivid]

Looks like Chiang Mai has it ok this year. Still Unhealthy air for 24-hr PM2.5 etc......but it could have gotten a lot worse.

Chiang Rai and some other areas are still not looking good. Daily deterioration.

[elephant45]

I've been staying up at about 4000ft lately and although there is smoke, i can breath much more cleanly and not be constantly coughing up some sort of irremovable phlegm. So I believe a lot of this pollution is from vehicles (no mass transportation) and also from all these filthy construction sites grinding away at all kinds of materials which create micro particulate matter that gets in the air. Mass transportation is an absolute must and could we somehow ask the clever mainland Chinese Investors to stop building these cheap condos on every dam piece of empty land on after another?

[chiang mai]

I've been staying up at about 4000ft lately and although there is smoke, i can breath much more cleanly and not be constantly coughing up some sort of irremovable phlegm. So I believe a lot of this pollution is from vehicles (no mass transportation) and also from all these filthy construction sites grinding away at all kinds of materials which create micro particulate matter that gets in the air. Mass transportation is an absolute must and could we somehow ask the clever mainland Chinese Investors to stop building these cheap condos on every dam piece of empty land on after another?

Trust me, it's from the burning, otherwise we would see these high numbers year round and we don't.

Also, at 4,000 feet you're likely to miss a lot of the lower altitude smoke, heavier more dense particles fall to earth more quickly.

[elephant45]

Yah, probably true.

[Sparkles]

The situation in CM seesm to be a slight improvement on last year however its obvious that man made fires are still burning all over the province.

I have yet to se any media release on those that have been fined for not obeying the "no burn" rule.

I mean how difficult is for authorities it to locate the scene of a fire and prosecute those responsible ?

[vivid]

Wow...phayao, phrae and Chiang rai are really smoked out today vs previous few days.

Edited March 23, 2016 by vivid

[SoilSpoil]

Why is the situation in Chiang Rai worse than elsewhere?

[chiang mai]

It borders on Myanmar to the West and Laos to the North, burning from those two countries as well as the local home grown stuff combine to raise pollution levels.

[MESmith]

Why is the situation in Chiang Rai worse than elsewhere?

Lot's of corn farming to boost profits of a big Thai company. Burn off of waste follows.

[Tywais]

Chiang Mai's headache: Corn-fed smoke haze

Haze became serious over past decade when rising corn prices enticed highland farmers to grow the crop

It's 32 deg C in Chiang Mai as cars on the highway speed towards an invisible mountain. Doi Suthep, which usually looms over the city, has vanished into the ash-coloured horizon.

Welcome to smog season. From February to April every year, the mountainous region of northern Thailand turns from tourist magnet to an eye-watering hell as smoke from corn farms being cleared settles into the valleys.

Amid soaring temperatures, planes are occasionally grounded, while hospitals register a 50 per cent spike in patients with eye and skin allergies, as well as lung and heart ailments, say officials. Locals start watching air pollution readings as well as more homespun indicators.

"If I can't see Doi Suthep... I don't go anywhere," Chiang Mai's chief provincial health officer, Dr Paisan Thanyawinichkul, tells The Straits Times as he fiddles with his personal bottle of antihistamine eyedrops. "I close the doors and windows."

There are many culprits behind the filthy air. Private vehicles are one. Chiang Mai's provincial capital may be Thailand's second-largest outside Bangkok, but it still lacks a metro system or equivalent form of public transport. Between 2010 and last year, the number of private cars, lorries and vans registered in the province grew by 53 per cent. Urban sprawl chews up greenery that would otherwise act as a filter.

Homeowners in this vast, mountainous terrain find it easier to burn their rubbish rather than truck it to a disposal facility hours away.

Locals set fire to the forests to ferret out wildlife and pick an exotic mushroom, which sprouts from the charred ground. These dark, spherical hed thob are sold by foragers from makeshift roadside kiosks for as much as 1,000 baht (S$39) a kg.

But the biggest culprit by far is open burning on corn farms, which have steadily expanded in tandem with demand for animal feed.

Full story here - Straitstimes

[Mapguy]

By the way, there IS a municipal effort (with a sophisticated app) being developed and tested. There are fixed routes, etc. so far there are only a few of the routes being tested and not very many songtao involved. Why songtao with such an awful diesel emissions problem ?! That's another issue!

[Mapguy]

Songtao! Whoa! JUST to talk about the type of vehicle and power system, here are two economically-viable achievable modes of transport without getting silly talking about pie-in-the sky ideas like trams, large buses, underground systems! Songtao could be electrically powered, or at least hybrids. Better yet one solution is already in place: the electric trolleys which have been used on the Chiang Mai University campus for years, or a close variant thereof (there are other smallish electric bus designs) that can handle the sois of an ancient city. And they need drivers so songtao drivers get jobs.

[elephant45]

How about riding a bicycle like I do everywhere in town for errands? CM is flat. Its so easy to get around the whole town except for the drunk drivers. I agree with these super heavy diesel crap busses trucks etc, I mean how do they pass inspection?

[luke000]

Trip report : Just back from a CM/CR Chiang kong trip .

Both CM and CR are quite clear of smog, but between CR & CK the smog was horrendous .

I didnt see any burnt fields, the fields had either been turned over by a mechanical digger or they have been left to turn brown. All the smoke has been reported to come from neighbouring countries.

I did see one mountain alight, but the police and fire engines were there in force trying to put it out .

The no burning policy seems to be being upheld and adhered to

[chiang mai]

It's always useful to have first hand reports like the one above so thanks for making the effort. But I think it also demonstrates how different people have very different experiences and perceptions based on where they are and what they see, none of which tally with what the fire maps tell us. Good to see however that the authorities are out there trying to combat burning, that's always a good sign and hopefully we'll see more of that. The imported pollution remains a big worry, at least now however I sense that people are beginning to acknowledge it's real rather than some homegrown excuse used to apportion blame elsewhere.

[vivid]

MHS getting smoked since 3AM (> 300 ug/m3 PM10)

CR very slight deterioration vs yesterday.

[Rinrada]

2 Nights on the mountain (again) behind the house...but hopefully thats it for this year....

Glad I watched that film all those years ago with John Wayne as Red Adair...Fun City CM...yes

Edited March 24, 2016 by Rinrada

[Rinrada]

More water....

[Sparkles]

It's always useful to have first hand reports like the one above so thanks for making the effort. But I think it also demonstrates how different people have very different experiences and perceptions based on where they are and what they see, none of which tally with what the fire maps tell us. Good to see however that the authorities are out there trying to combat burning, that's always a good sign and hopefully we'll see more of that. The imported pollution remains a big worry, at least now however I sense that people are beginning to acknowledge it's real rather than some homegrown excuse used to apportion blame elsewhere.

Good to see the local authorities on the job to attend fires but what happened to the heavy fines that were going to be issued.Not heard of one .Until they come down hard on thoise that start them it will be the same scenario next season. Just not acceptable in todays world although it seems Thais are oblivious to the harm it can cause.

[WhiteCadillac]

When do you estimate that the pollutions levels at Chiang Mais become acceptable?

I looked at the 8 days forecast and it still looks still quite bad.

Wondering when to return back to Chiang Mai.

[Tywais]

When do you estimate that the pollutions levels at Chiang Mais become acceptable?

Usually around Sohngkran.

[vivid]

Chiang Rai's levels are sustained over 24-hr 300 ug/m3 PM10 since yesterday.

Deterioration for other areas.

[blueyeshk]

When do you estimate that the pollutions levels at Chiang Mais become acceptable?

I looked at the 8 days forecast and it still looks still quite bad.

Wondering when to return back to Chiang Mai.

When they are done they are done- public holidays /celebration days give a break sometimes like sonkrahn just to restart in full force right after again. Only rain stops them from going out there and light everything in their path and by rain we talk not about a day or two but torrential rain over a couple of days and weeks. My guess and u can only do this is may/June