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Northern Thailand is again struggling with smog

By Editorial
Posted in News from Thailand
Tags: , , , ,
March 16 2016

Just like in previous years, the North of Thailand has to deal with smog again. In four provinces, the concentration of particulate matter has risen far above the safety level for humans and animals. In short, a danger to the health of the residents. That says the Air Quality and Noise Management Bureau.

Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai has the highest concentration of particulate matter recorded at 148 u/cg (micrograms per cubic meter), followed by Muang in Phayao (139), both well above the 120 u/cg limit where it becomes dangerous. The other provinces are Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son.

Particulate matter is very bad for health and contributes to the development of heart and lung diseases, acute and chronic bronchitis and asthma. It is one of the reasons why people die prematurely.

The city of Chiang Mai has been plagued by smog for the fourth consecutive year. The cause is forest fires (farmers set fire to forests to get more agricultural land) and harvest residues set on fire. The drought exacerbates the problem because the ground is very dry and therefore easily catches fire.

Number of times read: 179

11 responses to “Northern Thailand has to contend with smog again”

  1. Fact tester says up
    16 March 2016 at 10: 24

    What alarming news. Pattaya and Bangkok have had far too high a particulate matter content in the air for years. Now also the north of Thailand, like every year again. Where is it still safe to live in this country? Or in which country?

  2. Nico says up
    16 March 2016 at 10: 58

    Sheer unwillingness to get things done. When you land in Chiang Mai by plane, you can easily see many hot spots. No one really goes after that. 60 years ago, roadsides and fields were also burnt down and waste was burned in the Netherlands. This has been almost completely suppressed by enforcement of prohibitions. Small-scale fires by hiltribes who still live somewhat in harmony with nature will not pose the greatest problem. Large-scale fires by farmers should be reduced by enforcing prohibitions, but also by providing information about the possibilities and benefits of composting. Year-round pollution from songthaws, tuk-tuks and older cars is probably just due to corruption. Annual checks of the exhaust are bought off. I was recently in a songthaw with a 5000 baht fine for smoking in the vehicle. Black smoke billowed out of the exhaust that made it look like all the passengers were smoking 2 or 3 heavy tobacco at the same time. I'm afraid it will take decades for Thailand to really improve. You can see that things can be different in terms of traffic, for example in Kuala Lumpur where all traffic is clean.

  3. Renee Martin says up
    16 March 2016 at 11: 58

    In recent years, therefore, also suffered from smog. How long did that period last and was the high particulate matter concentration already over for Songran? Kindly your response.

  4. John Chiang Rai says up
    16 March 2016 at 12: 43

    Even if you live in a village, it is a daily practice of the Thai to burn their excess waste, so it is certainly not just the large plantation owners who cause this problem alone. No one will deny that these large plantation owners are the greatest danger for this air pollution, but also burning waste from private households on the villages indicates that many people do not see this problem at all. This burning of waste has been done for years, and when you point out the potentially harmful consequences to people, they look with a face as if they see water burning.
    Most do not understand it at all, so that only the government has advanced with this problem, with good information and actual control. Every year in our village I see the doctor's waiting rooms full of people, who have problems with stubborn inflammations mainly due to the annual air pollution, and are also treated every year by the same doctor with a course of antibiotics, of which the problems have been discussed in detail, including by Thailandblog NL.

  5. henny says up
    16 March 2016 at 14: 44

    Why don't they have a ban on those big buses in Pattaya, I was having a good time at the bon cafe on the Naklua Road and those dirty buses drive back and forth with a black smoke screen, really so dirty and unhealthy, I also got into a conversation with a doctor from the USA who told me, don't come here too much if you want to stay healthy, in other words?

    • John Cian rai says up
      18 March 2016 at 08: 12

      Dear Henry,
      If you sit on a terrace in Pattaya, and see, and especially smell, what passes by, the problem certainly becomes even clearer. The problem of diesel vessels, which are often old and poorly maintained, can be found all over Thailand, and is usually the result of a poorly functioning control system, and the lack of awareness among the population, of the health risk. The coverage of the VW scandal from America, which was current in the news media all over the world, has also played almost no role in the Thai news. If they namely the air pollution caused by diesel
      compare vessels with America and Europe, then any negative coverage in Thailand would become a joke. It is therefore impossible to enforce the same strict legislation from today to tomorrow, as we know it from America and Europe, because a large part of Thailand would then be paralyzed in terms of traffic. But apart from that, that doctor from the USA was definitely right.

  6. l.low size says up
    16 March 2016 at 16: 10

    According to Johannes Lelieveld of the international Max Planck Institute in Mainz, more than 3 million people die every year as a result of air pollution. Very small fine dust particles smaller than 2,5 micrometers penetrate deep into the lungs and even reach the bloodstream and can lead to heart attacks. Remarkably enough, it was not industry and traffic that were the main culprit, but the many households in China and India, among others, that still used fossil fuels for cooking and heating.
    In China, 2010 million people died in 1,36 due to air pollution.
    If it does not rain or blow strongly in the north of Thailand, the smog will linger for a long time. If drastic measures are not taken in South and Southeast Asia, increasing air pollution is to be expected.

  7. T says up
    16 March 2016 at 16: 33

    And again nature is the victim, just like in Indonesia already happened en masse, as far as I am concerned, they can act so hard against this with lifelong prison sentences, because it is the whole world that is slowly getting its lungs ripped out with these lit forest fires worldwide.

  8. Peter says up
    16 March 2016 at 16: 39

    This problem has been going on for years in the north of Thailand. There is indeed a lot of smog at this time of year. I regularly commute from Chiang Mai to Lampang and on the way it is clear to see what is going on, everywhere you see hot spots. The local government is campaigning against the burning of household waste and the deliberate burning of forests. In the vicinity of Lampang there are even large signs along the road that make clear the dangers to health by means of drawings. But that's it, no action is taken by the police or other law enforcement officers. I have already had conversations with several local Thai about this and they are well aware of the health hazards. Apparently it is not a priority for the police to track down and deal with the perpetrators. No "public mind" say the Thai.

  9. gus says up
    17 March 2016 at 04: 54

    Like everywhere, a reward incentive helps. Let the government reward every landowner financially if he can show a compost pit that he is using.
    The major advantages of composting are stopping the incineration of residual organic waste and processing it into useful, nutritious soil improver. Thailand lacks that. Look at the jungles, poor soil with a top layer of 30 cm compost made by the forest itself. Thanks to the absence of sunlight on the soil, the fallen leaves remain moist and can then compost. So plant remains in the pit, add some water and largely cover with planks or bamboo and possibly foil. To prevent rotting, a metal or plastic pipe must be placed vertically in the pit, 20 cm from the bottom and 1,5 m above the pit. This ensures a natural draft during the day, so that sufficient oxygen is supplied.
    There may be those who want to try this system, after 1-2 months at 30-40 C. the compost can do all its useful work in or on the garden.

    • joy says up
      17 March 2016 at 09: 10

      Dear Gus,

      Good tip. I'm just a little concerned about the attraction of the compost heap to vermin and snakes, scorpions, etc.
      I also wonder why the Thai do not do this and choose to burn it.

      Regards Joy


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