Statement of the Week: "Thailand is going to lose tourists due to the poor air quality in the dry season!"
Thailand is shooting itself in the foot by failing to act adequately against an annually recurring problem. The persistent poor air quality in the dry season is a problem that the Thai government is not taking sufficient action against.
In support of this statement, there is first the undeniable health risk associated with air pollution. More and more tourists are becoming aware of the health risks of inhaling polluted air (particulate matter), which can lead to respiratory problems and aggravate existing conditions. Health is becoming increasingly important in travel decisions and this may make Thailand less attractive as a destination.
The increasing transparency in the digital age then plays a role. The dissemination of information is faster and wider than ever. Images and news about smog and poor air quality can influence the perception of Thailand as a holiday destination. The reputational damage can be significant, especially if this situation continues year after year without effective government action.
Finally, the growing trend towards environmentally conscious travel should not be overlooked. Today's travelers want to support destinations that are committed to sustainability and environmental protection. Thailand's persistent air pollution can be seen as a sign that the government is not doing enough to protect the environment, leading environmentally conscious tourists to look elsewhere for holiday destinations.
That is why the Statement of the Week: "Thailand is on the verge of losing tourists due to the persistent poor air quality in the dry season, a problem that the Thai government is not addressing sufficiently."
Comment whether or not you agree with the statement and why.
About this blogger
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Known as Khun Peter (62), lives alternately in Apeldoorn and Pattaya. In a relationship with Kanchana for 14 years. Not yet retired, have my own company, something with insurance. Crazy about animals, especially dogs and music.
Enough hobbies, but unfortunately little time: writing for Thailandblog, fitness, health and nutrition, shooting sports, chatting with friends and some other oddities.
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I left Thailand on March 14th this year and then the air pollution in Chiangmai was so terrible that it was the first time I started having trouble breathing. I then resolved to NEVER stay in Thailand again during the months of March, April and May. Friends who stayed behind in Chiangmai at that time emailed me that it was hell.
I still live here all year round in the Chiangmai area, there was and is more than enough smoke, but I can't speak of a hell.
Take it from me wherever you stay there is always something to complain about.
Jan Beute.
Agree, rather stay in a healthier environment
Disagree, just got back, and would go again in a heartbeat.
yes Monica,
I can understand very well that you want to go back, and you must have holidayed in the south or one of the many islands!
But it doesn't matter that you disagree with the statement.
Last year, the air quality in Chiangmai was even worse than Beijing and New York, while those cities have about 20 times more inhabitants.
You'll just have bronchitis or be (slightly) asthmatic, you won't last a day in those areas.
So those holidaymakers will lose weight anyway. Thailand will certainly notice this in the coming years.
Partly agree. There will undoubtedly be tourists who will not come next time because of the air pollution. But Thailand remains a very popular holiday destination, there are still crowds of Chinese and Indians waiting at the gate. And they are also used to some pollution in their own country.
So, losing tourists: yes. Decline in tourism: no. And apart from the economic advantage, the latter may also be a disadvantage, because that will certainly not encourage the Thai authorities to take rigorous measures.
1000% agree!
Prefer a healthier environment … so South Thailand :-)
True, in February it was only March and April was really incredible. When I retire in a few years, I will definitely spend those months somewhere on the coast, regardless of what my wife thinks.
Do you have to go to an island, on the mainland Thailand is not much better than the north.
Once, but I've been in Bangkok for 6 months now, and three times 3 weeks earlier. But don't forget that foul air before that. And the environment is more than dirty air, also an awful lot of noise and old buses with outdated environmentally unfriendly diesel engines with black smoke from the exhaust spoil the environment.
At sometime. Wanted to go to Chiang Mai on April 20, the air pollution was so bad and the reports disturbing that we canceled our accommodation and flights 1 week before departure to Chiang Mai. By the way, without refund, but that's not the point. Chiang Mai would be our start for 3 weeks of Thailand. .
We would stay in Chiang Mai for 5 days. Undoubtedly other tourists, just like us, will make different choices and stay away with all the consequences for tourism. In this case for the Chiang Mai region. Finally we started in Kanchanaburi, another destination but also a great experience as a start of the holiday.
Hopefully the situation will be a lot better next year during that period!
Kiefun or dust can indeed be a disaster for people who are sensitive to it. Doesn't apply to everyone, fortunately.
It says here that the government is not taking enough action against it. Soldiers are trained at a military academy. Sons and daughters of all who were also military. In the training there is no eye for matters that one has to deal with as a politician.
Whether this will affect tourism remains to be seen.
For the time being, Thailand is still the land of sun. sand sea and sex. Three strong trumps.
It looks like the next government will again consist of military personnel, so not much will change for the time being.
The wealthy will resist any change and they are certainly not interested in kiefun.
Unfortunately, Thailand alone cannot change much there. The particulate matter problems concern the whole of South East Asia!
So even if the farmers stopped burning their harvest residues and the forest fires were extinguished, the bad air from the other countries would still blow over.
Chiangmai had very high unhealthy pm 2.5 values in the months of March-April. Often up to 10 x the WHO standard of 35. Until a few weeks ago, Thailand used its own "health" standard of 50. Now 35 is also maintained. Thai people have already forgotten that there was air pollution. So used to this annually recurring phenomenon, and even worse: so used that the authorities then sound the alarm. Do the tourists stay away? My wife and I believe that there are significantly fewer farang to be spotted, even fewer young people. But the summer holidays/months have not started yet, so that picture may change. You do come across many Chinese people and sometimes a single Indian couple / family. Bangkok Post reported yesterday that compared to last year, more foreign tourists have already visited Thailand (11,5 million in 2022 against 9,5 million already in 2023). A comparison that is flawed because 2022 was still a corona year and all kinds of measures still applied. Today, the Bangkok Post reports again that the influx of Chinese tourism is growing. Perhaps European tourists will increasingly visit the still healthy areas of the world. But does that hurt Thailand? I do not think so! Together, China and India manage 1/3 of the world's population, many of whom generate middle incomes and like to look beyond their own borders. Previously you sometimes heard from Thai people that they preferred to deal with farang. Kinder, more decent, generous. But now that the Thais notice that the Chinese also like to spend money and often a lot, this grumbling will eventually come to an end. Well, the Thai forgets quickly, I said. In recent corona years it has cut into them firmly. They are very welcome that things are picking up steam again. But let's see if this statement wouldn't be better repeated at the end of the year.
I have lived here for over 15 years and this year I really suffered from the terrible air pollution for the first time. It's a shame the government isn't doing anything about this. Was happy when I arrived in the Netherlands for vacation.
For the residents of Chiang Mai and the surrounding area, I sincerely hope that the government and those responsible do something about it. For the residents I also hope that tourists do not stay away, but unfortunately I would advise them not to come there in February / March to April as long as nothing is done about it. The other months everyone is welcome. Of course you cannot stay away from the most beautiful city in Thailand.
Stay away during the month of May, because after April 30, the bourgeoisie and small businesses, because the weather is allowed, will set fire to accumulated household waste. Especially in the early morning and evening hours. There is a lot of hard plastic packaging material in between. Apart from again a lot of smoke development, it also stimulates.
That's right.
There is no organized garbage collection service in most villages, this has been written about before. You must burn your garbage.
The solution is clear: invest in waste processing plants and in vegetable and garden waste processing so that incineration is no longer necessary. Stop money wasting prestige projects such as the purchase of submarines.
No one will deny that air pollution, especially in the north of Thailand, is a problem except for some Thai officials.
But will that cost tourists? Yes, a few, but not much, as long as the embassy doesn't warn against going north.
Tourists are focused on fun, on having a good time and seem hardly sensitive to visa costs, pickpockets, scammers, fights, a few demonstrations or a non- or less democratic government.
This also applies to air, water and soil pollution. If you already have breathing problems, you should pay attention to this when choosing a holiday destination, if you can't stand the sun or heat, then so too.
I live in Chiang Mai. It was always problematic in March/April/May but this year really bad. But…. it is always said that Chiangmai has the worst air pollution. I compared it daily with situation in Chiangrai this year. And what turned out? Air pollution there is almost always worse. So often-heard statement that Chiangmai would be the most air-polluted city is false at least in 2023
The government will indeed have to act, otherwise things will get completely out of hand. Immediately tackle farmers who burn down their land with fines. And no more accepting excuses, that it is because of the neighbor, etc. Your country is on fire, so fine and you arrange it yourself with your neighbor.
In any case, I advise my friends and acquaintances to keep a close eye on the situation, especially from mid-February to mid-April, and to think twice before going north.
I had a friend who was going to visit me in March 2019 cancel his trip to the north.
I live in Chiang Mai but am thinking about staying elsewhere in Thailand at that time.
Everyone comes by plane and I don't hear anyone about that, the biggest problem is that there are too many people in the world.
Those who can still go on holiday always have the option to go to another part of Thailand, but the people who have their loved one living in the bad part don't say so soon I'm going to another part and you can sniff everything yourself, best selfish Jack.
The government should help these people, that's right, but come up with an alternative??
Look what happens when Tatasteel leaves the Netherlands, thousands of people on the street.
It's easy for us to talk with an income of a few thousand euros per month and if we don't do anything we also get money from some pot or other.
If the government comes up with a solution, the products will go up and everything will become more expensive and, just like in Europe, inflation will remain higher than income.
In the Netherlands they can't figure it out let alone us on TB.
I wish everyone the best and hope for a good solution
Moderator: The statement is about Thailand not about the Netherlands.
Like Andre above, I note that we in the prosperous Netherlands cannot manage to solve the problem because there is too little support among the average citizen to do something about it themselves and a government therefore does not dare to install wood-burning stoves. to prohibit.
How can we expect a Thai government to force poor citizens to invest in solving these kinds of problems.
It will undoubtedly also cost a number of tourists, but it is also not easy to solve so I don't think they are shooting themselves in the foot with this.
I do think that Thailand has to make choices, and it is precisely the tourists who have more to spend that are probably more bothered by the air pollution, but the same group of tourists is also not waiting for hordes of Russians and Chinese in all tourist places, so it seems At the moment, Thailand mainly wants as many tourists as possible, and does not really focus on the type of tourists.
North West Thailand seems to suffer a lot from the burning of low vegetation in forests, often in neighboring Laos near the border, which gives an awful lot of smoke and air pollution, also when the harvest season of sugar cane is there, people burn, although this is prohibited. sugar cane fields before harvesting, you don't want to know how much smoke and "black rain" that produces, as far as Bangkok is concerned, a large part of the buses and fleet is wrecked and emit clouds of smoke, that does not make you happy, ever in the BangKapi district a large road, 5 lanes there and 5 lanes back, stuck with cars, you could see the blue smoke, we had to flee Mall bang kapi because outside we almost killed, there is still a lot for the environment to win in Thailand
Satellite images indicate that there are an average of 9000 fires in northern Myanmar, 6000 in Laos and 3000 in Thailand.
So if there were no fires at all in Thailand, that would only mean an average 17% reduction in pollution, all depending on, among other things, the wind direction.
Then there would have been a very high pollution this year anyway.
The Thai government therefore has very limited influence on the level of the figures, which does not mean that they should do nothing about it.
It doesn't bother me that much, but I still experience it as unpleasant, which is why I'm considering temporarily staying elsewhere in Thailand in places where the pollution is less.
Mattheus, I agree with you that it is not exclusively a Thai problem, but your logic is wrong.
That would only be the case if every fire causes the same amount of pollution in Thailand, which is very unlikely.
Just as I don't know whether each seat of fire produces the same amount of pollution as the others, you don't know the reverse either.
I assume that on average the pollution will be the same.
Why would the fires in Thailand be much bigger than those in Myanmar and Laos?
My main concern is that all misery is blamed on the Thai government, which is absolutely not the case.
Precisely because you do not know the size of the fires, it is assumed that they are equal on average.
That's my assumption too.
And that's why I say your logic doesn't make sense.
It is plausible that the fires in Thailand also cause a larger part of their total pollution to end up in Thailand, while those outside Thailand also cause a large part of their pollution outside Thailand, so a smaller part ends up in Thailand.
So there is no reason to assume that only 17 percent is caused by Thailand, probably quite a bit more, although it is not easy to determine exactly how much.
And the fact that other countries do nothing about it is of course no excuse to say that the misery is mainly caused by others.
But I agree with you that even if Thailand itself could stop all pollution, it would still be a serious problem.
Thailand is about the size of France but has a different shape. From Lille to Marseille is 1.000 km, from Chiang Mai to Hat Yai 1.600 km and to the deep south even more km. There are areas where there is no nuisance; i have stayed and lived in the Nongkhai region for 30 years and there was hardly any air pollution and smoke from roadside fires.
So forgetting all of Thailand because of the smog, as Adriaan writes, is a bridge too far for me. There are certainly areas where the nuisance is considerably less, or has disappeared, and you can also travel at a different time of the year. Unfortunately, you cannot prevent the smog in overcrowded mega-cities, so Bangkok will remain a problem child, as Arno notes.
It is up to the central and provincial government to tackle this nuisance, but I sense little enthusiasm so far. If the tourists stay away in those areas, it is up to the catering industry to ring the bell, and elsewhere in Thailand you can draw people's attention with targeted action that it is a good place to be.
It's getting worse and worse. Areas where there was hardly any smog in the past, such as Pattaya and Hua Hin, also had to deal with poor air quality this year. From my condo on the 8th floor I have often seen a yellowish gray blanket over Pattaya.
Certainly it will get worse, it will also depend on directions of air currents where the nuisance all originates.
I was in Phang Nga Bay in the first half of March this year, and the air was clearly not clean there either, so the view was much less impressive.
In Hua Hin we have had an AQI of over 150 for weeks in a row. I have been living in Hua Hin for almost 13 years now, but that has never happened before. I have therefore repeatedly canceled my daily bicycle tour.
To put things in perspective. Currently, the aqi in the region around the Hoogovens is 31 in Beverwijk and 44 in IJmuiden and 37 in Haarlem (there is now a northerly wind), the aqi of over 150, let alone the aqis of well over 200 that we have had in the north of the Netherlands for 2 months. Thailand are really angry and angry.
Dear Hans, We have a house in Chiang Rai, and because I have had bad air there every year as long as I have been there, I wanted to avoid this in Jan.2019 with a stay in Pattaya North.
To my horror, during our stay every afternoon the sun went behind a thick smog, so that I unfortunately had to conclude that the air quality was not much better here either.
Anyway, you also have farang, who, despite the fact that all available apps indicate Very Unhealthy, think everything is not too bad.
We stay away from our house in Chiang Rai for the first few months of the year, and like to spend that time in Europe.
Is that right Erik, I regularly stay in the Udon Thani region, a 20 km southeast of this city, a 40 to 50 km from Nongkai, been there for a number of years in March, April, May, very hot, 40 degrees and more, but totally no smog like in the Chiang Mai region, so if you want to go to Thailand at that time of year, just make different choices, Thailand is big enough
Well that story is no longer true, has been less in Nongkhai for years,, don't know if you are a morning person or evening person, then you see what is actually going on here in Nongkhai.
This year it was so bad that you couldn't even see the other side of the Mekhong River, keep worrying here in the North East and North,
Peter, then you experience different things now than I did in 30 years. But that nuisance, is it months-long or occasional and is it from burning or the usual morning fog over the river?
Talk about the afternoon, the morning fog has nothing to do with it, rice is also grown in nongkhai, and cultivation. remains also burn, but I suspect that you have lived in the city, far from the villages, you should come. Watching in the cold season, what is then set on fire is not a lie either.
Don't want to look at it too negatively, but it is going drastically in the wrong direction, governing is looking ahead, but here it is going backwards.
Our house is in the Tambon Nong Koom Ko and that is definitely not the city. In the middle of the rice fields on the bypass from bridge to highway and never had any problems. So it will vary locally.
With us, the remnants of the rice harvest were shredded and driven underground with the plow. The remains of the winnowing machine also went underground as fertilizer. Nothing was burned.
But the fine dust is also in the air with you, with me in Phonphisai along the Mekhong River it is really not normal sometimes, it probably blows over from Laos, this fine dust blows into Thailand, the air pollution in Nongkhai, where there is no rice fear, will also set on fire, good idea of the rice farmers to plow these remains, so it is possible, why is this not mandatory, problem solved,, if you want to make the effort look at the air pollution. In nongkhai check out those numbers on Google. Don't lie about it.
It is what it is, we can. don't change it, you'll be fine in Nonglhai.
Peter, in Nongkhai, according to the internet, between 25 and 50, so green and yellow. At least this month.
I've been living in NL for five years now, so I have to make do with polder particulate matter. I don't get any complaints from my family in Thailand and I can't remember any complaints from 30 years of Thailand either. Have I been lucky? Could just be.
It is an international problem and solve it if neighboring countries do not want to participate…. Remember that Singapore and southern Malaysia had to gasp for fresh air due to forest fires in Borneo and the nuisance in northern Thailand comes largely from neighboring countries. Start educating your neighbors too… Myanmar is in civil war and then start talking about air pollution…
Partly agree…
Environment is definitely becoming a stress more important item.
But we humans are also such that a destination is also considered
To eg sun, sea, beach culture etc
Then mi certain provinces are not visited due to poor air quality.
Other parts do.
Is that right Erik, I regularly stay in the Udon Thani region, 20 km south east of that city, so not very far from Nongkai, I have been there for a number of years in the months of March, April and May, very warm but no smog and air pollution, so for visitors, Thailand is big enough and more like Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai if you want to go to Thailand at that time of year.
Gr. Arno
Arno, we live 40 km below udon thani and my wife had to go to the hospital 3 years ago with breathing problems.
It may be due to the wind direction and the number of rice / sugar cane fields that are set on fire at the same time.
Dear Arno,
I live in a dorje just south of the city of Udonthani and my in-laws have a knack for burning off all the short stubble off the rice. The result of a wrong wind is that the whole house is in smoke in addition to the black soot on the floor. In Kumpawapee, a little further south but still Udonthani, the never-ending smoke comes from the burning of the sugarcane. Allowed according to my wife.
In recent years, in the months of March, April and May, he resides in the Udon Thani region, not so far from NongKai that Erik writes about.
That is North East Thailand and not at all affected by smog and pollution like Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, but very warm!
For enthusiasts, Thailand is more like the North West, plenty to see in the months of March, April and May
Gr. Arno
Doesn't matter, Chinese, Indians and Russians are coming again in large numbers, they don't care at all, so they compensate those Europeans who do stay away to a sufficient extent.
As long as there is a government that does not look beyond Thailand and is further world-unfamiliar, nothing will change there.
g Rob
real time air quality in thailand.
https://aqicn.org/map/thailand/
disagree with the statement that air quality will lead to fewer tourists.
western tourists maybe but they are in the total number of tourists in thailand
not so important. chinese and indian. tourists keep coming.
they themselves live in areas with lower air quality
As long as the random tourist in Thailand does not think of "dirty" but of "exotic, good food, beach, enjoyment, ..." they will keep coming. The frequent Thailand visitor who you also know how the exchange rate is doing (also something that a random tourist doesn't really know), will probably stay away, come in a different season or visit a different region. But as long as the general image of Thailand is positive, the planes will not be less full.
One day, will certainly cost tourists. At least in the period of burning.
And since Thailand is stuck between all kinds of other countries with the same attitude, Thailand is not improving.
Sometimes groups (farangs) have been busy showing people that a combustion can also be "clean". So probably not implemented.
You burn cane sugar, because it softens and is easier to cut and you have lost the leaves. So the renovators have no money to buy machines. So it would make sense for the government to invest in it.
Machines, which do the dirty work, logical right? There are very nice 2 wheel tractors with a cutting installation on it.
Government can therefore choose between taxing more hospitals and extra costs, deaths and lower income due to less tourism or investment. It is still better than 3 submarines without engines or 2 F35s (which are not coming now). King Bhumibol has also helped farmers in the past with 2 wheel tractors. Man with a vision, rip.
If you completely fill BK with tall buildings, you influence the "draught". the wind is not blowing hard (yet) and the wind is blocked again. It seems logical to me that high-rise buildings and locations are being looked at and will have to stop. Tension must be created.
People have been complaining for years, ie. the government looks away. The question is how long can they look away.
And actually they are going to look at it, but don't know how acc.
https://www.thaipbsworld.com/industry-ministry-seeks-help-to-curb-illegal-sugarcane-burning/
The south of Thailand is sometimes not beautiful anymore, witness:
https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/environment/smoke-from-indonesia-reaches-south-fires-continue-raging-in-north
Smoke from Indonesia, where the same method is used. No problem when I was there.
My wife had mentioned that it was also smoggy at times.
Diesel cars, yes there are very old ones with a plume of smoke, but also newer ones.
I understand that diesels are set smoke-free. That comes at the expense of power.
So diesels are disrupted, so that they have more power and a ... big fat black plume of smoke.
Of course, it stands great when pressing the accelerator pedal.
But is not maintained, well ahead than a quarterly action in BK
https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/environment/truck-smoke-targeted-over-pm2-5-pollution
But mainly only on trucks.
BK will also suffer from the pollution, less tourists. Don't think tourists say come we cut our way through BK wearing a mask.
Recently saw a house for sale in Thailand, super nice modern house, 2.5 million Baht. Crazy. You could bid even lower. Why?
Then I looked where the house was…Chiang Mai. I understood right away. Just clicked away with a sigh.
I think more and more tourists will choose to visit more southern areas. Moreover, the government in Thailand has not shown any initiative to switch to electric scooters or cars, for example, by offering a subsidy if you switch to electric driving.
Why would the average Thai buy an electric scooter that costs twice as much but has half the range of a four-stroke version?
Best regards,
Well, say one of our sons has an import company. He imports electric door openers. Good trade.
Buys 150 electric scooters as an experiment.
Lost them in a week. To traders and private individuals.
Now: outdoor lighting with such a solar panel, runs like clockwork. Illuminate your entire garden and save money on the electricity bill. Runs like a train and that for 550 Baht.
The Thai has to make a culture change and that doesn't go one two three, now it's still empty of can, bottle or bag of crisps, just tip over my shoulder on the floor, mai pen rai! What lies behind me has been and we don't look at it, burning sugar cane before harvesting is not allowed, but people do it anyway, nice to get rid of the waste leaves and snakes, etc. have been chased out of the reed field, and the burning of the sugar cane stems releases the sugar definitely not good quality. Although I often stay 20 km from the Kumphawapi sugar factory as the crow flies, I am lucky that it does not bother me. Although they burn the fields, not at the factory. A few years ago, in the Korat region, standing in the evening with astonishment, watching the glow of fire and smoke developments on the horizon of the sugar cane fields that were on fire, really frightening and not to mention the "black rain", hopefully the new government can do something mean in this.
Partly agree.
I usually stay near the water. Pattaya, Jomtien, Bang Saen or Koh Samui.
Visited Chiang Mai in April. First time ever in 20 years. Lasted for two days.
But that it will stop me from traveling to Thailand? No, because the country is too big for that anyway.
Enough alternatives!
Best regards,
I don't think that if tourists stay away just for this reason, Thailand will notice.
There are now plenty of tourists and most tourists come from the Brics countries and they are often used to a much worse air quality there.
And what those few Western tourists think, they wipe their … with in Thailand for those who are not yet aware of that.
We feel that the world still revolves around Europe and its ideas, but nobody in the rest of the world cares about what we find on our old lost continent…