Much of northern Thailand is covered in a thick layer of smog, caused by hundreds of fires in Thailand and Myanmar. The farmers set fire to their crop residues, a practice known as 'slash-and-burn'. The smoke has spread over the high and low north and the north of the central provinces.
In the province of Saraburi, an AQI (air quality index) of 128 was measured on Friday, which roughly translates as 'vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly and asthmatics must stay indoors'. According to the Pollution Control Department, an AQI higher than 100 is harmful to health.
The most dangerous place on Friday was Ma Hong Son on the Myanmar border. There, the AQI was 219, which roughly translates to a crisis that affects the entire population.
Dangerous concentrations were measured at the Chiang Mai City Hall (106), Lampang Meteorological Station (159) and Phrae station (134) on Friday in the middle of the day. Viewed from the steps of Doi Suthep, the city of Chiang Mai was barely visible Friday morning.
Residents in the North say the fires have never been as bad as this year. The speed was also surprising. On Wednesday, a brief shower of rain had cleared the sky, but then the fog came quickly. One resident described the situation as 'hell in the air' and another said she woke up with the taste of smoke in her mouth.
On the accompanying satellite mash-up from Nasa, each red dot represents a fire.
(Source: website Bangkok Post, March 16, 2013)
Same song every year. I once read that the number of people with lung complaints (including lung cancer) in Chiang Mai is one of the highest in the world. For me a reason not to stay too long, despite the fact that in my opinion this part is the most beautiful part of Thailand.
That's a shame Peter, how can you say that? You know that the northeastern part - I forget the name - is the most beautiful part of Thailand because anyone who doesn't think so has never been to Thailand and anyone who has actually never been there knows nothing about Thailand! 😉
Shame on Sir Charles, how can you say that!
You know that the south of Thailand is the most beautiful part of Thailand! Because if you don't think so, you've never been to Thailand! And if you have actually never been there, then you know nothing about Thailand.
Will gladly accept that from you Robbie, I've been there. But made more of a 😉 to the Isan where many girlfriends / wives come from and then the Isan is soon the norm that it is the most beautiful part of Thailand.
Gentlemen, gentlemen, no jokes on such a serious subject. I'm in the middle of it. Since primary school I have imposed a smoking ban on myself in order to at least die with clean lungs. Now they are tarred black by peasants who make fires.
The problem reminds me of the infamous smog periods in London in the 50s. England managed to solve this with drastic measures. Rules are made here but not enforced. The medical world should revolt, as in England when it became known that The Great Smog - from 5 to 9 December 1952 - cost the lives of more than 4000 people.
If nothing changes, it is only safe to live here during the rainy season.
Here you will find a good explanation of the smog problems, from 2007
http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/Reader2007/reader3531.htm
@ Tino Kuis I just took a look at it. Unreadable, that slide-positive text or in laymen's terms: white letters on a black background. Do you have a (typographically) better tip?
Dick,
Save the document's text into a Word document and save it. Then select the text and click the Clear Format button and you will get a “normal” text, i.e. white background and black letters.
Button Formatting Clear means – Remove all formatting from the selection so that only plain text remains.
Thanks for the tip.
Moderator: Your comment is off topic.