3 replies to this topic

[DOLLY]

"Chiang Mai, the jewel of northern Thailand, is shrouded in a blanket of cancerous smoke. Famous tourist landmarks like Doi Suthep lie hidden, smothered by smog and invisible to the eye. Chiang Mai is choking, as is most of northern Thailand. Grey smoke billows from thousands of deliberately lit fires, both large and small. Mountains, temples and city tower blocks dim into a dull grey background. An ineffectual sun tries to shine through the dusty haze. . .

Dr Chaicharn Pothirat, the head of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Allergy at the Department of Medicine at Chiang Mai University, says once the air quality in Chiang Mai drops, peoples' health risks increase.
"The number of people seeking emergency help for asthma, allergies and COPD [Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease] is much higher now the air is so polluted and today the PM10 levels are so high they are dangerous." . .

Numerous international and local scientific papers have identified cancer as the most common cause of death in Thailand and lung cancer as the second. A paper put out by the National Cancer Institute identifies lung cancer as the top cancer killer of Chiang Mai men and the second in women. . .

The Pollution Control Board, Regional Area Air Quality Data webpage shows Chiang Mai's PM10 levels are dangerously high at 268.4, Mae Sai 328 and Mae Hong Son a staggering 437.8. To put the severity of northern Thailand's current high figures in context, international standards consider anything more than 50 a serious threat."

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/investigat...o-silver-lining

[ROCKY]

I've experienced the smog in Chiang Mai as a visitor and it's terrible. As a relative newcomer to Pattaya, however, I have had some real problems more recentluy with the air quality here at the beach, of all places. My sense is that the air here in Pattaya is nowhere near as foul as Chiang Mai, but that doesn't mean it's healthy either. Something in the air here seems to irritate my eyes, which feel puffy, and I have been bothered by a hacking cough which the doctor says is probably caused by post-nasal drip.

Does anyone know if the quality of air is monitored here in Pattaya the same way as it seems to be in Chiang Mai ?

If so, is there a place on the internet or elsewhere that you can follow the reports ?

[TheYenta]

There is a government website called the Pollution Control Department, with limited English parts. There is a page that appears to list pollution levels in various regions, including Chonburi, linked below. Thailand has 53 air monitoring stations nationally, with three in Chonburi, the closest at Laem Chabang.

What's curious about this government chart is that it shows Chiang Mai as having a PM 10 level reading of 75 for March 21, the day that the news article above lists the PM 10 level as almost four times worse at 268. The government website also shows Mae Hong Son's pollution level for PM 10 on March 21 at 157, when the article says it was "a staggering 437."

Chonburi is listed at as having very low level of of PM 10 at 17.5.

I may be reading the government charts wrong but the situation of dangerous pollution levels in the North, as reported in the newspapers, seems far worse than the government website indicates. Creative statistics ?

http://www.pcd.go.th/AirQuality/Regional/default.cfm

See also: http://www.aqnis.pcd.go.th/maineng.php

[Finian]

That website would be far more interesting if it was more bi-lingual with Thai and English. Did you notice that all of the data on water pollution, ( as in "what's that floating in the surf ?") is only in Thai - no English. It's their perfect right to use only Thai but you don't suppose they're trying to hide something from us visitors, do you ?