Thailand Air Quality and Pollution Alerts

[Dannie Boy]

Glad to hear that some people have different priorities in life!!

[Ratsima]

[buksida]

Smog drives away Thailand’s tourists as Laos, Myanmar farmers grow cash crops for China
For weeks now, a thick smog carrying harmful particles that routinely reach beyond the hazardous limit has greeted arrivals at Chiang Mai airport, with images of the wheeze-inducing smoke shared across social media.

The pollution has stubbornly stayed, but the tourists have not, with bookings for what was Thailand’s second-most visited city before the pandemic having fallen off a cliff. On Friday, Chiang Mai’s governor asked people to stay home as wildfires ripped through hillsides near the city, sending air quality plummeting once more.

“The smog is everywhere,” said Gade Grey, owner of Elliebum Boutique Hotel in the northern city, whose temples, old ruins, art, markets and slow-paced charm drew an estimated 4 million overseas visitors in 2019 – many of them from China.

“Customers have been calling to cancel their stays. It gets worse each year.”

The hotel cancellations are a bitter, cruel blow to northern Thailand’s Covid-battered economy, which has been recovering at a slower pace due to China’s delayed reopening to the world.

Thailand blames neighbouring Myanmar and Laos for the smog, as their poor farming communities use slash-and-burn farming to prepare land for growing season.

But critics say it is just as much a home-grown problem, as local farmers also burn their fields to grow maize, while successive Thai governments have failed to enact tough laws on air quality.

More than 2 million people have been hospitalised with breathing problems this year, according to the authorities, and particulate-matter levels – known as PM 2.5 – are often among the worst in the world at this time of year.

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-e ... rops-china

[Ratsima]

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Home grown, indeed. This at a wat not far from my home in Korat. The entire grounds of the wat had fires like this. The monk was furiously sucking on a cigarette as he supervised the burn.

[buksida]

Right, Thailand is always very quick to blame others before looking in the mirror. The larger agri-corporations pay the government to allow them to burn and the smaller local farmers don't care because it is not policed.

[Nereus]

Smog drives away Thailand’s tourists as Laos, Myanmar farmers grow cash crops for China

Good to poke a stick at Myanmar, but the prevailng winds during the dry season are from the North East.
Most of the pollution that is not locally produced comes from Cambodia, Laos and even Vietnam.

[Motyduke]

Air Quality is bad again in Hua Hin. Over 160.
Some fires in Pranburi hills again. It seems that it is really worse than years before and last really longer. Many focus on Chiang Mai and north but it is almost all the country who has bad air. On tv, a thai cardiologist say that living in this kind of air remove 4 years of life expectancy.

I start to be really concerned ( sore throat, red eye and coughing) and think to move from here. Don't know yet but feel i cannot stay without doing nothing, if it last.

[Ratsima]

chaammtn2.jpg (36.13 KiB) Viewed 21676 times

Looking north from Thew Talay World in Cha Am (near the Shell station).

On a clear day one could easily see Khao Yai and the cement plant that sits at its southern tip. The obscured buildings (Lumpini Condo and Grand Pacific) are only a few kilometers away.

[STEVE G]

This article goes a small way towards explaing the links between the government and business tycoons in Thailand and why nothing gets done about air quality:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/1 ... luted-city

[Ratsima]

Oh, no! You mean it’s all about the ?

[hhinner]

Not even an election issue. But what political party wants to risk upsetting its donors?

[bigston]

One of the drawcards to buying the land plot where we are, was "the views "
Last year Jan - April,many glorious sunsets over the mountain ranges to the west and quite often crisp clear views of one of the big peaks down at Sam Roi Yot, not that far away
This year, ive seen the outline of the mountains a few times, and Sam Roi Yot clear and clean Nought Times
today i can just barely see the outline.
what a difference a year makes
Currently AQI 177. PM 2.5 112 with a stiff Southerly / SE Breeze
YUK...

[caller]

We drove from Khon Kaen to Bkk earlier. A long drive and from one end to the other, the air quality was visibly shocking. I checked 'your location' readings throughout and ozone was usually the worst offender, followed by PM2.5, which ranged from 150 upto 164. It was a truly depressing experience. Special mention to Wang Noi for the highest PM2.5 reading.

[STEVE G]

Yes, I've spent the best part of twenty years planning a retirement in Thailand but I'm beginning to wonder how much I want to breathe that junk.

[Motyduke]

Yes, I've spent the best part of twenty years planning a retirement in Thailand but I'm beginning to wonder how much I want to breathe that junk.

Yes, when it was some weeks in the year, it was acceptable....But this year HH has bad air stuation ince the beginning of january, and i still not see no improving at all. i have canceled many bicycle training in the last months, cannot enjoy outdoor actvities and even don't want to relax at the beach. For me, the next months will be crucial to decide to stay here or to move somewhere else.