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Which districts in CM suffer the least/most from burning?


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Posted

Generally, the further south you go, the less smoke.    On this map, Tak would be the best bet, but by the end of March Tak is completely smoky as well.

Posted

No place is spared, but if I had to choose, I would say the closer you are to Burmese border, the worse it is. But it is only a marginal difference and the wind plays a major factor.

Posted

I think Canuckamuck and CMSteve are both pretty right, as in my experience places further to the north tend to be worse off. Way up in Mae Sai (not in jangwat CM), it can get pretty horrendous.


If your goal is to minimize exposure to the smoke while still being in CM, then a good bet might be to go up, as in way up Inthanon or Suthep. 

Posted
1 hour ago, Thailand said:

The best way to minimise the effects of the burning season in Chiangmai is not to be here, or apperently live in San Sai.

well the bit about Sansai is a load of <deleted> but indeed the best thing is to just leave for a month or 6 weeks.

Posted (edited)

At the height of last burning season we drove to Petchabun  and back ,thats travelling through Lampang ,Lamphun,Tak,Phitsanaluk,Pichet, Khampaeng Phet etc

The haze was constant every 1,400 km with road side and general burning clearly evident.  So if you want to escape best travel to the coast.

 

Edited by Sparkles
Posted

A profane flame disguised with hieroglyphics has been removed, if you have an alternative point of view then discuss but there is no need flame another member with a troll post, thank you.

Posted

It's all bad, no place is spared. As others have said, the smoke goes far south, as far as Nakhon Sawan in my experience. Best to leave end of February and return around Songkran. The air is very clean April to February.

Posted

Agreed all the above, it's pointless trying to find a less polluted district in burning season,  there's no such thing. At times, northern districts seem worse than southern districts but that can change in an instant based on wind direction.

Posted

Aye, I have watched mountains burning all around me with exhilaration and expectation of new growth when comes the rains.

Snake and scorpion free areas to harvest the new shoots. The fires are fast and not hot. The big trees are not damaged. There is a reason they traditionally do this....and generally allowed to. Controlled burning has now been recognized as ecologically sustainable. Half the complainers are undoubtedly smokers. Forget the fags and simply inhale...saves money. Come for the new harvests  :-)   or go for the clean air in Bangkok.  It is wood and grass smoke ...not vehicle exhaust and related burnt petrochemicals .  Silly buggers ride bicycles and walk in car exhaust and then only complain about what they can see ...Ken

Posted
16 hours ago, naboo said:

It's all bad, no place is spared. As others have said, the smoke goes far south, as far as Nakhon Sawan in my experience. Best to leave end of February and return around Songkran. The air is very clean April to February.

This year the air was dangerous until well into May.

Posted

Last week Prez Duerte gets the big news for his 'profane speech'.  Now some TV member offers a 'profane flame'.  What is the world coming to? 

Posted

Suffered through a decade of burning & left each year for 2 months. Finally last year left for good. No more allergy meds, no more inhalers, no more nasal sprays. I miss many aspects of CM but definitely not the air quality. I found it bad year round & intolerable in burning season

Posted
11 hours ago, Teak said:

Aye, I have watched mountains burning all around me with exhilaration and expectation of new growth when comes the rains.

Snake and scorpion free areas to harvest the new shoots. The fires are fast and not hot. The big trees are not damaged. There is a reason they traditionally do this....and generally allowed to. Controlled burning has now been recognized as ecologically sustainable.

 

Yes, sustainable under normal swidden practices where a patch of land allowed to go fallow for several years is brought back into production by burning.  But these days it is vast tracts of land that are burned annually to replant feed corn for the CP Group.  Drive north of Mae Chaem or east of Phrae (just two of many possible examples) and you won't even find the older "big trees" standing.

Posted

That's corn for making corn alcohol to mix with the petrol.   Called 'Gas ahol'.  Big bucks operating the alcohol factory, that would be some rich guy in Bangkok.

Posted (edited)
13 hours ago, NancyL said:

This year the air was dangerous until well into May.

 

You are correct Nancy, and normally I leave for at least a few weeks in March or the begining of April, but this year my cousin from Seattle was visiting CM at the end of April. I remember the dates and the haze was even worse after Songkran than it was in March.

Edited by kanook
shorten reply
Posted
13 hours ago, Johpa said:

 

Yes, sustainable under normal swidden practices where a patch of land allowed to go fallow for several years is brought back into production by burning.  But these days it is vast tracts of land that are burned annually to replant feed corn for the CP Group.  Drive north of Mae Chaem or east of Phrae (just two of many possible examples) and you won't even find the older "big trees" standing.

 Hi J.   You know my area....it has not changed in 30 years, well, except for the valuable timber which is now hand sawn and gone. Each year the mountains are lit ablaze and then refreshed come the rains. This is not in the purest sense  swidden agriculture, but, swidden style foraging practices. Fast burning forest fires seldom lasting more than 2 or 3 days....then out. This is a mountainous  micro climate and not part or even possibly a part of the modern agro business. Apparently, this is why I return to this singular location. Even when the smoke blows over the ridge from the next valley, I know the Lisu families who are burning off corn stubble to prepare for the next planting. Families I have known and watched their children grow into adults. The system is less labour intensive and sustainable over decades When comparing these people with some fat phuck wheezing on his condo patio sucking a cigarette in CM collecting his monthly pension dole..my compassion leans to the farmer. However, I take your point of intense agricultural profit driven practices.

If after all these years you are in the same location. I may motor up with a wee bottle sometime this winter, just enough to share and warm myself up on the way back.   best regards...Ken 

 

Posted

"When comparing these people with some fat phuck wheezing on his condo patio sucking a cigarette in CM collecting his monthly pension dole.."

 

OK, we understand how your mind works.  Run along now. 

Posted
On 2016-09-08 at 8:00 PM, amexpat said:

Ah, Teak, you have so, so, much to learn.  Maybe start with PM<10. 

 

Hmmm....as a Teak Wallah who regularly inhales parts per million far greater than 10 microns in teak dust on a daily basis , but, has never smoked or lived longer then a few months in a car exhaust congested city, my health is generally quite exceptional.  But, you do have a point. I can generally 'blow out the larger micron sized pieces while smoke/exhaust inhalers have a greater tendency to absorb the finer particulates. It does still make me wonder why anyone who is concerned about fine particulates would chose to live in any urban area ? Not seeing the contaminant you breathe does not make it better, it just lets you pretend the air is clean. At least when there is smoke in the air you are aware.   ....Ken

Posted

Why do they burn the fields? Is it just the easiest laziest way?
I imagine that cutting, then ploughing the organic matter back into the soil would be more beneficial and better for the environment?

 

Out of interest I compared some crop yields per hectare for root vegetables like potatoes, to western farming crop yields per hectare and some are in the range in of 10-28%, looks like they are doing something wrong.
Corn and cereals aren't just as bad but pretty poor.

Cereal production in UK: 7.7 metric tones / hectare

Cereal production in USA: 7.63 metric tones / hectare

Cereal production in Thailand: 3.1 metric tones / hectare

If Israel can become world leaders in supplying some vegetables from a desert where they measure water in cubic centimeters, how can the locals be so inept at this with a plentiful water supply and lots of sunshine and heat?

Posted
5 minutes ago, Steiner said:

Why do they burn the fields? Is it just the easiest laziest way?
I imagine that cutting, then ploughing the organic matter back into the soil would be more beneficial and better for the environment?

 

Out of interest I compared some crop yields per hectare for root vegetables like potatoes, to western farming crop yields per hectare and some are in the range in of 10-28%, looks like they are doing something wrong.
Corn and cereals aren't just as bad but pretty poor.

Cereal production in UK: 7.7 metric tones / hectare

Cereal production in USA: 7.63 metric tones / hectare

Cereal production in Thailand: 3.1 metric tones / hectare

If Israel can become world leaders in supplying some vegetables from a desert where they measure water in cubic centimeters, how can the locals be so inept at this with a plentiful water supply and lots of sunshine and heat?

Using logic is not advisable here,will only lead to ongoing frustration

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