I have been traveling through rural Lampang /Lamphun/Chiangmai regions for the last few weeks. All of the harvested rice fields that i have seen were unburned . What i have seen is a lot of roadside brush fires , I'm guessing from carelessly disgarded cigarettes. In one day i observed hundreds of kilometers of scorched roadside vegetation. Just an observation.
yes we heard from previous one of your videos and we decide that in those months between February to April go down south or came to Europe to visit my daughther in Berlin.
AQI in Chiang Mai right now is 86. Not too bad and not worse than many Western cities. But of course, it will get worse. I'll be leaving 3 months of the year when I retire here.
Come visit the deep south: Songkhla, Hat Yai, Pattani and Yala. It is beautiful here this time of the year. Rainy season is coming to its end and temperatures are temperate compared to the other parts of Thailand. Disclaimer: we do have bombs/IEDs and other violence here, so your travel insurance will be void when you travel here. But it is not as dangerous as people say alhamdulilah. Also: during the month of March, most shops and restaurants will be closed for a month because of our holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Much of this air pollution is from rice farmers burning their rice straw after a harvest (maybe harvested sugar cane too) when the straw is dry - aka the hot season. Three rice harvests per year can be done in certain parts of Thailand. The ashes return nutrients to the soil. Rice farmers are generally poor so government edicts that make their lives more difficult are often ignored. Should the government collect the straw for free and compost it returning the compost back to the farmers for free? Thai Jasmine rice is a major export earner for Thailand but tourism brings in money too. Priority in Thailand should be for the Thai people obviously.
It's interesting to see a government with strong support bases in the north and northeast struggle-or refuse-to address an issue that heavily affects the health and well-being of their supporters. I can't help but wonder what Rama IX would do if he were still around today.
@ I think there needs to be a grassroots impetus to initiate this. Practices/habits that have been done by Thai farmers for 100's of years can be very hard to change that mindset.
The best time is Nov-Jan Type weather in bkk during may or whatever month you like into google and you will get a month by month breakdown of the temperature and rainfall for each month. North is bad for smoke as he said. But down south PAST bkk is still lovely, krabi, and lots of islands.
Is the horrible air in Bangkok due to the smokey season, or is it just pollution from all the traffic, etc? I thought the smokey season didn't start until middle-end February
Hi Tony. I am travelling to Thailand in early April. Will get to Chiang Mai by the 8th of April. Do you think it will still be smoky? I went in April 2019 and did not feel anything.
@@Heathrow75 I just came back from Chiang Mai first time and mornings I see from my hotel far the mountains and the sky was not very clear,just started was not bad but you never know the next can be bad. The closest you are to March can be bad, but remenber each person react differently to the air smoke. Also Thai stay there do not leave like us as expat. I met Toni and he was ready to leave in a week to Huan Hin south.
Yes it is true that neighbors are just as bad but, Thailand needs to clean their own home before complaining about neighbors. As for health, if you were told regardless of how healthy you "think" you are, breathing this air seriously increases your chance of Lung Cancer & various respiratory diseases would you still live in South East Asia year round? As you say there is no real true escaping it regardless of purifiers. So what will you do? Good Luck & thanks for another thought provoking video. We previously lived there & while we now visit our home 3 months a year we are always considering a return to full time living. But this air problem 🤔
We normally stay inside during the smoky season and run our air purifiers. If we need to be outside for a long time in the past, we have used a PM 2.5 mask. We also tried to take our yearly vacations during the worst months being March and April which we are planning to do again this year.
I need this information. Thank you for being a reliable resource.
Glad it was helpful! 😊🙏🏻🇹🇭
I have been traveling through rural Lampang /Lamphun/Chiangmai regions for the last few weeks. All of the harvested rice fields that i have seen were unburned . What i have seen is a lot of roadside brush fires , I'm guessing from carelessly disgarded cigarettes. In one day i observed hundreds of kilometers of scorched roadside vegetation.
Just an observation.
yes we heard from previous one of your videos and we decide that in those months between February to April go down south or came to Europe to visit my daughther in Berlin.
AQI in Chiang Mai right now is 86. Not too bad and not worse than many Western cities. But of course, it will get worse. I'll be leaving 3 months of the year when I retire here.
Come visit the deep south: Songkhla, Hat Yai, Pattani and Yala. It is beautiful here this time of the year. Rainy season is coming to its end and temperatures are temperate compared to the other parts of Thailand.
Disclaimer: we do have bombs/IEDs and other violence here, so your travel insurance will be void when you travel here. But it is not as dangerous as people say alhamdulilah.
Also: during the month of March, most shops and restaurants will be closed for a month because of our holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Much of this air pollution is from rice farmers burning their rice straw after a harvest (maybe harvested sugar cane too) when the straw is dry - aka the hot season. Three rice harvests per year can be done in certain parts of Thailand. The ashes return nutrients to the soil. Rice farmers are generally poor so government edicts that make their lives more difficult are often ignored. Should the government collect the straw for free and compost it returning the compost back to the farmers for free? Thai Jasmine rice is a major export earner for Thailand but tourism brings in money too. Priority in Thailand should be for the Thai people obviously.
It's interesting to see a government with strong support bases in the north and northeast struggle-or refuse-to address an issue that heavily affects the health and well-being of their supporters. I can't help but wonder what Rama IX would do if he were still around today.
Shame they can't use the rice straw as bio fuel?
@ I think there needs to be a grassroots impetus to initiate this. Practices/habits that have been done by Thai farmers for 100's of years can be very hard to change that mindset.
Ooook, Thanks for the heads up! I'm thinking May/June might be a better option to come on over?
The best time is Nov-Jan
Type weather in bkk during may or whatever month you like into google and you will get a month by month breakdown of the temperature and rainfall for each month. North is bad for smoke as he said. But down south PAST bkk is still lovely, krabi, and lots of islands.
Is the horrible air in Bangkok due to the smokey season, or is it just pollution from all the traffic, etc? I thought the smokey season didn't start until middle-end February
Both.
Hi Tony. I am travelling to Thailand in early April. Will get to Chiang Mai by the 8th of April. Do you think it will still be smoky?
I went in April 2019 and did not feel anything.
Yes, it will be hot and smokey. 😢
how well do your dogs tolerate the smokey season? Thanks for posting, you're always informative.
They seem fine with it. No issues at all.
Will you be going away for Smokey season Tony ? I am already booked and paid up for mid Feb visit, to costly to change now.
@@Heathrow75 I just came back from Chiang Mai first time and mornings I see from my hotel far the mountains and the sky was not very clear,just started was not bad but you never know the next can be bad. The closest you are to March can be bad, but remenber each person react differently to the air smoke. Also Thai stay there do not leave like us as expat. I met Toni and he was ready to leave in a week to Huan Hin south.
@ thanks for the info 🙏🏼
We are heading to Hua Hin next week.
Hope you enjoy your time in Thailand! 🇹🇭😊🙏🏻
Too expensive staying in Chamai considering the ramifications. Stay there before high season and go to a healthy, wholesome place
Yes it is true that neighbors are just as bad but, Thailand needs to clean their own home before complaining about neighbors. As for health, if you were told regardless of how healthy you "think" you are, breathing this air seriously increases your chance of Lung Cancer & various respiratory diseases would you still live in South East Asia year round? As you say there is no real true escaping it regardless of purifiers. So what will you do? Good Luck & thanks for another thought provoking video. We previously lived there & while we now visit our home 3 months a year we are always considering a return to full time living. But this air problem 🤔
We normally stay inside during the smoky season and run our air purifiers. If we need to be outside for a long time in the past, we have used a PM 2.5 mask. We also tried to take our yearly vacations during the worst months being March and April which we are planning to do again this year.
❤
that sounds horrible i could not live with that
Europe is the place to be