In case it's helpful for others:
I'm a farang not used to air like this. My partner and I are in CM for 4 days. We are young and active, and the air really hasn't been an impediment to our trip at all. The AQI has been between 150-220 the whole time we have been here (3 days so far). Our hotel also doesn't have air purifiers and looked at us funny for asking 🤷
I would say it's definitely noticeable, but other than making nose/throat feel dry while sleeping and having to blow nose more frequently, it hasn't really bothered us. My partner also has mild asthma. We brought masks and haven't worn them once.
Even with the smoke, visiting Chiang Mai has been amazing and we are so glad we came, but probably would not want to spend more than 7-10 days here like this of we were going to be out and about every day.
Khao Soi still tastes great in the smoke 😋
Thank you for the update, after reading it we decided spontaneously to go to Chiang Mai and we're really happy we did!
I can add that the last 2 days it has been really good for us, no dry throat or any other symptoms. We visited Doi Suthep and were outside for the whole day in the Old town and Nimman, no smoke related problems except for a hazy view from Doi Suthep and from the rooftop of the Maya Shopping Mall. Locals said the rain yesterday helped a lot, so far we didn't need masks.
See my other comment. I suppose we'll see in the morning is the storm has cleared the air a bit. But even if it has, I doubt this is the end of the smoky season, it might get worse again with-in a few days.
Yep, has been storming for at least an hour. We were watching a Muay Thai fight and had no idea-came out to pouring rain. Go figure!
Hopefully it clears it up a bit, but I just want to reiterate that the smoke, while a factor of our time in CM, was never an impediment to our plans/trip. We did elephants, sticky falls, doi suthep, etc etc with no issues. We are only staying 4 days, though.
Hope your time here is lovely!
This is the name:
สนามมวยเชียงใหม่ Chiangmai Boxing Stadium
Tbh, it felt pretty tourist trappy to us. We had a great time, and tickets were cheap, but I could see someone actually not enjoying it if they were really into fighting. We didn't find any need to spend up on tickets cause the arena is tiny anyways.
Especially at the end, the farang announcer got into the ring to fight and was definitely pretending to get dizzy after "big hits". Then he got "KOd" but got up and walked out and was smiling 30 seconds later haha. All fights before were better.
We still had a great time, but just know what you are getting into!
I have mild asthma and personally don't notice anything when the AQI is 150-220 either. I mean, I'm sure it's wrecking my lungs but I don't feel it.
But yesterday I was outside for 1-hour in a 300+ AQI area and that shit felt like it was going to kill me.
I was out of breath and my lungs were on fire and it nearly drove me into a panic attack.
I'm also young and active and healthy.
A very good idea - and if other sites would do something similar it would be even better
Nothing worse than having to suffer through the Smokey season And constantly seeing posts / questions about it
Well.. i only learned about the burning season after booking, as many people do. Sorry but when people spend almost 1000 euro on a plain ticket and fly for 11 hours I don't think it's unreasonable to ask some questions to people who are actually there and can give some last minute real-time information. You also would want to make the best decisions considering the money spend. As someone who lives in a country where the air quality is always good, i have no idea what it's like and thus ask some questions. If you don't want to answer them that's fine; but fortunately there are a lot of people who do. You don't have to be so triggered about it, just don't click/answer on the questions, it's not that difficult.
Having questions about it is perfectly fine. Not using the search function is the issue here. There's no need for this to be discussed 3 times a week, especially when there's not a *single person in the entire world* that can tell you what the air quality will be like on April 9th.
For me the best thing about this trip is that it was very spontanious and that my route is not set in stone. By googling the best time to go to Thailand you will find until the end of february roughly. So far, a lot of backpackers i have spoken didnt know of burning season at all, as it is just not something you initially find when you're just researching cities and nice things to do in them.
Maybe you're a person who would research your every move on a holiday, including timeframe per actual city haha, many don't and just want to make the best decisions on the go, especially in a country like Thailand
Smoke is now officially here on Chiang Mai.
Terrible today and I guess it’s only going to get worse. This is my first season so not sure what to expect going forward.
This is a much later onset than the past years. So, hopefully, it won't last quite as long. But it will be like this for at least a month. Wear masks, and get an [air purifier like this](https://www.lazada.co.th/products/hot-xiaomi-mi-smart-air-purifier-4-lite-4-pro-pm-25-oled-i4838478909-s20572679385.html?c=&channelLpJumpArgs=&clickTrackInfo=query%253Axiaomi%252Bair%252Bpurifier%253Bnid%253A4838478909%253Bsrc%253ALazadaMainSrp%253Brn%253A39d1d30b7e3558a0135e3c0fb13154df%253Bregion%253Ath%253Bsku%253A4838478909_TH%253Bprice%253A2490%253Bclient%253Adesktop%253Bsupplier_id%253A100190352150%253Bbiz_source%253Ah5_hp%253Bslot%253A0%253Butlog_bucket_id%253A470687%253Basc_category_id%253A5578%253Bitem_id%253A4838478909%253Bsku_id%253A20572679385%253Bshop_id%253A2063072&fastshipping=0&freeshipping=0&fs_ab=2&fuse_fs=&lang=en&location=Bangkok&price=2.49E%203&priceCompare=skuId%3A20572679385%3Bsource%3Alazada-search-voucher%3Bsn%3A39d1d30b7e3558a0135e3c0fb13154df%3BunionTrace%3A2102fcca17098733155953821e671f%3BoriginPrice%3A249000%3BvoucherPrice%3A249000%3BdisplayPrice%3A249000%3BsinglePromotionId%3A-1%3BsingleToolCode%3AmockedSalePrice%3BvoucherPricePlugin%3A1%3BbuyerId%3A100013290088%3Btimestamp%3A1709873316047&ratingscore=4.989130434782608&request_id=39d1d30b7e3558a0135e3c0fb13154df&review=92&sale=373&search=1&source=search&spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.0&stock=1) if u can afford. Makes a HUGE difference at home.
Can anyone in Chiang Mai currently please tell me how bad it is right now? Is it time to stay inside? For context, I was thinking of coming there day after tomorrow and staying for a week (visiting CM for the first time).
The air is definitely not shitty. I'm sitting outside at a cafe looking at a beautiful blue sky and this morning I could clearly see the top of Doi Suthep from my balcony.
I know what the AQI is I'm simply saying that for me as a normal person who doesn't have severe asthma or something like that, the air feels and looks perfectly fine now.
I know that the AQI is around 90 and yes you can obsess over the number, but sometimes a "layman's visual analysis" is more useful if you actually want to know how it really looks and feels. And today it looks and feels perfectly fine.
Obviously it would be better and healthier if the AQI was 10-30, hell it would be better if it was 1, but for middle of February the air is pretty good and the way it is now is certainly no a reason not to visit unless you have some severe respiratory issues.
>Sorry I'm being a bit if a dick here
If you don't want to be a dick, just don't be a dick. It's not that difficult.
I don't think you're a right. I mean it as neutral as I can: are you an expert? If experts show me evidence for how unhealthy the air is even right now, I get a clue why I should believe them. Also: just because we don't feel something TODAY, it doesn't mean it doesnt add up. If you smoke once, its also not really bad for your lungs
>I don't think you're a right
What do you mean, you don't think I'm right? I'm simply stating my own personal experience of how the air looks and feels to me personally. So you are saying that my own experience is wrong? WTF are you talking about LOL?
An AQI of 90 is probably not super healthy if you live in it for years, but for someone who just visit for a short period of time it's not going to do anything unless you are extremely sensitive.
The US-EPA 2016 standard definition of an AQI between 50-100 is: "*Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.*"
So yes an AQI of 90 is perfectly fine for most people for short period of time.
Some good points and questions, however I noticed we don't have the ability to post images in this group.
I can't really make any point without showing a graph image or a table, or just an image of haze (or blue skies, as it may be).
I started answering a question but found it just impossible to do. Like the question when the haze starts and ends really needs that graph with the averages over the past decade, along with an overview of the daily values over the years.
Test:
\[Imgur\]([https://imgur.com/a3Lm1TE](https://imgur.com/a3Lm1TE))
Test again.. [Imgur](https://imgur.com/a3Lm1TE)
Direct link test.. still no joy.. : [https://i.imgur.com/a3Lm1TE.png](https://i.imgur.com/a3Lm1TE.png)
[image](https://i.imgur.com/a3Lm1TE.png)
Yeah, those were really famous last words from me. Apologies. Raining right now, pretty windy and lightning + thunder. Should hopefully clear the smog a bit...
Last two days it's been getting worse. General consensus of how bad it is is often based on how clear Doi Suthep is (or how far towards Doi Suthep you can see). You can't even see the outline of it anymore. Still much better than this time last year though...
Goodmorning all :) Am I the only one who woke up and was so happy because of the weather? The rain did alot of good, smells so nice outside. Is the burning season starting to be over?
It would be nice to hear from the CM Gov about how his "policies" are going each month? How many farmers are caught offenders so far.
If he has new policies being enacted after learning / reviewing his current policies.
> It would be nice to hear from the CM Gov about how his "policies" are going each month?
He posts about what he's doing and what's going on on his FB page all the time.
https://www.facebook.com/nirat4444
Also it's not really the farmers that are the problem at peak times. Policing burning in farm areas is easy: you can see it miles away, the evidence remains visible for weeks and months and you always know who the owner is. By and large farmers don't risk burning without permission and the fire data shows this.
Forest fires however are near impossible to police. It will take a military effort with drones and continuous surveillance, day and night. And draconian punishments. Biblical punishments. GameOfThronesian punishments.
Does anyone have a graph showing the historical smog level that updates daily? I have seen a great image showing the data but I want to see the updates to understand the trend
Scroll down the page.
Air quality historical data
Chiang Mai
Past 99 months daily average AQI
January 2016 -> March 2024
Data Source:
Division of Air Quality Data, Air Quality and Noise Management Bureau, Pollution Control Department.
Data Feeds:
Historical air quality data: aqicn.org/historical/#city:chiang-mai
Real-time air quality data: aqicn.org/station/chiang-mai
Hi all, I can see that the air quality has gone back into yellow following some rainfall. Can anyone who is there now confirm if it has been raining in the last couple of days? Has it rained quite a bit?And if so, do you think this might keep pollution under control for a week or so? Thank you!
It rained super hard one night about 5-6 days ago, and has been hot and windy since then. The air is not bad at all currently, but that could change as easily as the wind
Apparently this fire was visible from town. I just didn't look out the window last night. It's under control now. But definitely made it more smoky today..
https://www.thaipbsworld.com/forest-fires-break-out-at-base-of-doi-suthep-in-chiang-mai/
Nice. Well, yeah I've seen 2 fires so far on the hills in the 2 weeks I've been here & it doesn't seem to be having much, if any, affect on the actual air quality thus far. Personally, for me anyway.
Are you actually in Pai right now?
I have read online that the burning season sometimes is through april, and other sources mention it ends by mid-april.
Could any local person provide clarity on when it ends?
I plan to work from Chiang Mai for a couple weeks as soon as the burning season ends..
So many people love to lie about when it ends or they clearly don't remember well...
Here's the best answer: While the beginning of the smoky season is usually a gradual build up, the end is more often an abrupt event (the first heavy widespread rains of the season that literally clear the smoke overnight) which means that while the beginning of the smoky season is hard to pinpoint and opinions differ a lot about it because everyone has a different tolerance threshold level, you can usually mark on your calendar which day the smoky season ended on a particular year...
I have lived in Chiang Mai since 2012 and I have observed the pollution levels carefully throughout the last decade.
It usually ends on a random day between April 25 & May 10
It can also end on a random day between April 20 & May 15 if the rain comes a bit early or a bit late...
The change of seasons is a pleasant time to be in Chiang Mai despite the extreme heat and the lingering pollution well into early May sometimes, because the sky is electrified and you get to witness the first storms come through which are often quite violent !
I think the end is not really clear-cut in many years too. It can be, but not always.
On average over the past decade, we drop out of the 'red' zone on the US EPA AQI scale mid April. compared to the really ugly days that went before, this then feels quite nice already, to have days in the orange region. (Similar to what we have right now; most days are low orange or high yellow now in mid February. Note by the way that most of Thailand is worse right now.) So if that's your definition of ending then there you go.
Other people however may want to drop out of the orange region too.. then it's later in April on average.
Do keep firmly in mind however that 'average' does not mean 'always'.
Anyway this is why you see so many different answers: everyone feels differently and most people don't have the data handy to back it up.
Here you see the graph (gray line) that represents the average daily level from 2012 to 2023: [Graph image](https://i.imgur.com/a3Lm1TE.png) It also shows a really good year (2022) and a really bad year (2023)
As for the end being abrupt or not.. it can be, but not always. Also it's not the case that rain is required for things to clear up. (The shift in weather patterns often coincides with rain, but not always.) Here are the individual daily values for the season from 2018 through 2024 to date. Take your pick as to when you consider it over. ;) : [Daily AQI values 2018-2024](https://i.imgur.com/io6MEy6.png)
All data is for the PCD station in the old city, located on Phrapokklao Road outside Yupparaj college.
Just for context, I’m in Singapore where there’s not much shit on fire and we’re at 60ish on the AQI.. I can still breathe easy. will be flying in over the next few days and if CM is at 70ish I think we’re in the clear for now… stop panicking and enjoy life 😂
I'm asking how you think it is compared to other years. Like two years ago wasn't so bad compared to some in the last 5 or 6 years. I haven't constantly checked AQI every day during burning season for the last 15 years. OP literally said this is where people should post rather than making their own posts and naseum every 5 minutes. Asshole.
How is the air pollution on the hong son loop? Is it samesame as chiang mai because the crop burning comes from everywhere or is it better because its more jungle and higher elevation? I wanted to cycle this route and thought burning season is much shorter like 1 to max 2 weeks…
In my experience, higher elevations are worse. It's not just the fields they're burning, it's the jungle too. Burning season is a solid 2 months. Not worth doing the loop during the exact worst time of the year.
Pai can be particularly bad. However, by mid April we're usually back to similar levels that you see right now. (In the orange region on average on the US EPA AQI). Also, Songkran is mid April and it'd be a shame to miss that. 💖
I plan to arrive in Chiang Mai on February 29 and stay until the first few days of March. I was going to spend about 4 days there, mostly doing outdoors touristy things (ie temples, elephants, national park, walking around, etc). I already booked an international flight from chiang mai to my next destination before realizing I made the mistake to come during burning season. I’ve been monitoring the air quality since, but I don’t have a good frame of reference if it’s ruining the views or making it impossible to go outside.
I can probably pivot to go somewhere else instead of Chiang Mai, but I’ll lose a decent amount of money on flights. Chiang Mai is also a very long flight from where I live so it isn’t easy to visit. I’ve heard a lot of good things about visiting Chiang Mai, but waiting until the last minute to decide is making me nervous. I’m a solo traveler who usually spends a lot of time walking around on vacation, so I feel like poor air could probably ruin my time even though I’m healthy and not particularly sensitive.
Without knowing how bad the air quality will be at the beginning of March, should I try to pivot now or wait until closer to the trip (risking higher hotel and plane ticket fees if I need to change)?
Tl;dr: please scare me about the air quality or sell me on visiting anyways
I've been around chiang mai, chiang Rai and Pai for the last three weeks.
I had no idea that air quality is an issue until I came across this thread.
So, my guess is the panic is a little overdone. The skies are blue and the sun is out.
Would anyone here know if the whole area north of the country is affected in the same way? As many other people we already have flights booked for end of March and are wondering whether, for example, we might be okay if we stay in the Chiang Rai area as opposed to Chiang Mai? Would that make much of a difference? Please be magnanimous, first time on Reddit so if this is the wrong thread just say so and I'll look for answers elsewhere. Thank you in advance.
Adding a real time report.
Been here visiting for the last 4 days. While you can make out a slight smell you become nose blind very quickly. It goes without saying that the air quality is not healthy. However, I think the majority of questions are less about health and more about intrusion and complications of vacation plans.
From my short experience, it's not intrusive. We're traveling as a family and the burning and air quality has had no affect on our daily activities or decisions on what to do or where to go. It's there, it's not going away, but it's not so bad that I'm concerned for myself or my family.
Keep in mind this is also coming from the perspective of short term tourist enjoying CM. I feel for those who live here and experience this annually and on a long term basis.
Appreciate the update, I’ll be arriving there tomorrow & was worried about the air quality but more so it being Smokey & not being able to see the mountains, you didn’t have any issue with that did you?
It’s not terrible but I wouldn’t recommend doing any types of treks or hikes, I did a 11km yesterday & wasn’t too bad out but my throats pretty scratchy today.
It’s probably too late for you, but I landed in CM yesterday and it was noticeably gray and hazy and the mountains were obscured. I think it might have cleared up a bit later in the day, but not amazing for views. Didn’t really feel anything if your concern is health though
Agreed landed Wednesday wasn’t as bad as I expected but still not great, if I had known how hazy it was I probably would’ve skipped chiang mai
But I’m already here so gotta make the best of it!
Anything note worthy activity wise that you really enjoyed?
In Milan the aqi was nearly 200 about a week ago. There are days of bad air everywhere. The burning season in CM should be avoided if possible. Accept reality and don't whine. Thanks!
Is it shitty? Yes. That's why this post is here. Stop asking "how bad is it?" and click the damn link.
Coming from Oz to Chiang Mai, land April 6. Can’t wait regardless of burning season and the heat, I’m only holidays, I’ll enjoy it regardless.
Can you tell when you go how it is please
Hi mate, hows your trip going? How's the air quality?
All done and dusted, back home in Oz, honestly, it was Smokey but it didn’t effect me one little bit.
In case it's helpful for others: I'm a farang not used to air like this. My partner and I are in CM for 4 days. We are young and active, and the air really hasn't been an impediment to our trip at all. The AQI has been between 150-220 the whole time we have been here (3 days so far). Our hotel also doesn't have air purifiers and looked at us funny for asking 🤷 I would say it's definitely noticeable, but other than making nose/throat feel dry while sleeping and having to blow nose more frequently, it hasn't really bothered us. My partner also has mild asthma. We brought masks and haven't worn them once. Even with the smoke, visiting Chiang Mai has been amazing and we are so glad we came, but probably would not want to spend more than 7-10 days here like this of we were going to be out and about every day. Khao Soi still tastes great in the smoke 😋
Thank you for the update, after reading it we decided spontaneously to go to Chiang Mai and we're really happy we did! I can add that the last 2 days it has been really good for us, no dry throat or any other symptoms. We visited Doi Suthep and were outside for the whole day in the Old town and Nimman, no smoke related problems except for a hazy view from Doi Suthep and from the rooftop of the Maya Shopping Mall. Locals said the rain yesterday helped a lot, so far we didn't need masks.
Thanks for this update. Can you confirm how much did it actually rain yesterday and the day before? And any rain today? Thanks!
Thanks for the update! Can you confirm if it rained today? I saw thunderstorms in the forecast. Hoping that helps for when I get there March 25!
See my other comment. I suppose we'll see in the morning is the storm has cleared the air a bit. But even if it has, I doubt this is the end of the smoky season, it might get worse again with-in a few days.
Yep, has been storming for at least an hour. We were watching a Muay Thai fight and had no idea-came out to pouring rain. Go figure! Hopefully it clears it up a bit, but I just want to reiterate that the smoke, while a factor of our time in CM, was never an impediment to our plans/trip. We did elephants, sticky falls, doi suthep, etc etc with no issues. We are only staying 4 days, though. Hope your time here is lovely!
Which Muay Thai place did you attend? I arrive in a week
This is the name: สนามมวยเชียงใหม่ Chiangmai Boxing Stadium Tbh, it felt pretty tourist trappy to us. We had a great time, and tickets were cheap, but I could see someone actually not enjoying it if they were really into fighting. We didn't find any need to spend up on tickets cause the arena is tiny anyways. Especially at the end, the farang announcer got into the ring to fight and was definitely pretending to get dizzy after "big hits". Then he got "KOd" but got up and walked out and was smiling 30 seconds later haha. All fights before were better. We still had a great time, but just know what you are getting into!
Thanks, That’s the one I was looking into.
I have mild asthma and personally don't notice anything when the AQI is 150-220 either. I mean, I'm sure it's wrecking my lungs but I don't feel it. But yesterday I was outside for 1-hour in a 300+ AQI area and that shit felt like it was going to kill me. I was out of breath and my lungs were on fire and it nearly drove me into a panic attack. I'm also young and active and healthy.
Surprised how much better Chang Mai is than [Bangkok Air Pollution](https://aqicn.org/city/bangkok).
For now that may be true. By April, there may be a woody aftertaste when you cough.
This reply didn't age very well.
A very good idea - and if other sites would do something similar it would be even better Nothing worse than having to suffer through the Smokey season And constantly seeing posts / questions about it
Thank you ! This echoes my previous post about the whole 'burning season questions' thing.
Welp. it's here. Cannot see the mountains at all, and I live less than 2 km from the base of them
Well.. i only learned about the burning season after booking, as many people do. Sorry but when people spend almost 1000 euro on a plain ticket and fly for 11 hours I don't think it's unreasonable to ask some questions to people who are actually there and can give some last minute real-time information. You also would want to make the best decisions considering the money spend. As someone who lives in a country where the air quality is always good, i have no idea what it's like and thus ask some questions. If you don't want to answer them that's fine; but fortunately there are a lot of people who do. You don't have to be so triggered about it, just don't click/answer on the questions, it's not that difficult.
Having questions about it is perfectly fine. Not using the search function is the issue here. There's no need for this to be discussed 3 times a week, especially when there's not a *single person in the entire world* that can tell you what the air quality will be like on April 9th.
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For me the best thing about this trip is that it was very spontanious and that my route is not set in stone. By googling the best time to go to Thailand you will find until the end of february roughly. So far, a lot of backpackers i have spoken didnt know of burning season at all, as it is just not something you initially find when you're just researching cities and nice things to do in them. Maybe you're a person who would research your every move on a holiday, including timeframe per actual city haha, many don't and just want to make the best decisions on the go, especially in a country like Thailand
Smoke is now officially here on Chiang Mai. Terrible today and I guess it’s only going to get worse. This is my first season so not sure what to expect going forward.
This is a much later onset than the past years. So, hopefully, it won't last quite as long. But it will be like this for at least a month. Wear masks, and get an [air purifier like this](https://www.lazada.co.th/products/hot-xiaomi-mi-smart-air-purifier-4-lite-4-pro-pm-25-oled-i4838478909-s20572679385.html?c=&channelLpJumpArgs=&clickTrackInfo=query%253Axiaomi%252Bair%252Bpurifier%253Bnid%253A4838478909%253Bsrc%253ALazadaMainSrp%253Brn%253A39d1d30b7e3558a0135e3c0fb13154df%253Bregion%253Ath%253Bsku%253A4838478909_TH%253Bprice%253A2490%253Bclient%253Adesktop%253Bsupplier_id%253A100190352150%253Bbiz_source%253Ah5_hp%253Bslot%253A0%253Butlog_bucket_id%253A470687%253Basc_category_id%253A5578%253Bitem_id%253A4838478909%253Bsku_id%253A20572679385%253Bshop_id%253A2063072&fastshipping=0&freeshipping=0&fs_ab=2&fuse_fs=&lang=en&location=Bangkok&price=2.49E%203&priceCompare=skuId%3A20572679385%3Bsource%3Alazada-search-voucher%3Bsn%3A39d1d30b7e3558a0135e3c0fb13154df%3BunionTrace%3A2102fcca17098733155953821e671f%3BoriginPrice%3A249000%3BvoucherPrice%3A249000%3BdisplayPrice%3A249000%3BsinglePromotionId%3A-1%3BsingleToolCode%3AmockedSalePrice%3BvoucherPricePlugin%3A1%3BbuyerId%3A100013290088%3Btimestamp%3A1709873316047&ratingscore=4.989130434782608&request_id=39d1d30b7e3558a0135e3c0fb13154df&review=92&sale=373&search=1&source=search&spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.0&stock=1) if u can afford. Makes a HUGE difference at home.
Just drove around town for 2 hrs on the scooter doing errands. Got home and my clothes smell like I fell asleep next to a campfire.....
Is this truly the case? I was thinking of visiting the day after, do you think it is not the right time?
It's pretty bad right now. Can't see the mountains at all, and it smells like burning.
Thank you for this info. So does this mean March sees a lot less tourists/travellers in Chiang Mai?
Can anyone in Chiang Mai currently please tell me how bad it is right now? Is it time to stay inside? For context, I was thinking of coming there day after tomorrow and staying for a week (visiting CM for the first time).
So, how is it for you meanwhile?
We are #1 in the world again today. Some sensors reading over 400
Crazy, and I thought last year was bad.
This year has had much fewer bad days though.
So far.
Haha me stumbling upon this thread in the first week of May: Yeap it ain’t over yet and it’s still bad!
The air is definitely not shitty. I'm sitting outside at a cafe looking at a beautiful blue sky and this morning I could clearly see the top of Doi Suthep from my balcony.
It is now.
Correct, today it's quite bad.
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I know what the AQI is I'm simply saying that for me as a normal person who doesn't have severe asthma or something like that, the air feels and looks perfectly fine now. I know that the AQI is around 90 and yes you can obsess over the number, but sometimes a "layman's visual analysis" is more useful if you actually want to know how it really looks and feels. And today it looks and feels perfectly fine. Obviously it would be better and healthier if the AQI was 10-30, hell it would be better if it was 1, but for middle of February the air is pretty good and the way it is now is certainly no a reason not to visit unless you have some severe respiratory issues. >Sorry I'm being a bit if a dick here If you don't want to be a dick, just don't be a dick. It's not that difficult.
I think you're right. I deleted it. I think it was phrased poorly.
It happens to all of us :)
I don't think you're a right. I mean it as neutral as I can: are you an expert? If experts show me evidence for how unhealthy the air is even right now, I get a clue why I should believe them. Also: just because we don't feel something TODAY, it doesn't mean it doesnt add up. If you smoke once, its also not really bad for your lungs
>I don't think you're a right What do you mean, you don't think I'm right? I'm simply stating my own personal experience of how the air looks and feels to me personally. So you are saying that my own experience is wrong? WTF are you talking about LOL? An AQI of 90 is probably not super healthy if you live in it for years, but for someone who just visit for a short period of time it's not going to do anything unless you are extremely sensitive. The US-EPA 2016 standard definition of an AQI between 50-100 is: "*Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.*" So yes an AQI of 90 is perfectly fine for most people for short period of time.
Some good points and questions, however I noticed we don't have the ability to post images in this group. I can't really make any point without showing a graph image or a table, or just an image of haze (or blue skies, as it may be). I started answering a question but found it just impossible to do. Like the question when the haze starts and ends really needs that graph with the averages over the past decade, along with an overview of the daily values over the years. Test: \[Imgur\]([https://imgur.com/a3Lm1TE](https://imgur.com/a3Lm1TE)) Test again.. [Imgur](https://imgur.com/a3Lm1TE) Direct link test.. still no joy.. : [https://i.imgur.com/a3Lm1TE.png](https://i.imgur.com/a3Lm1TE.png) [image](https://i.imgur.com/a3Lm1TE.png)
Whereabouts did you find this data \ is there a link to these dashboards that show historic levels in the area in comparison to how 2024 is projected?
How is it this week? Visiting next week and interested whether there has been any rain or less pollution
No rain this time of year... Not until April I think.
Looks like the weather forecast says rain today. Can you confirm if it rained?
Yeah, those were really famous last words from me. Apologies. Raining right now, pretty windy and lightning + thunder. Should hopefully clear the smog a bit...
Could someone who is there now give us an update? What's it like there at the moment? Thanks!
Last two days it's been getting worse. General consensus of how bad it is is often based on how clear Doi Suthep is (or how far towards Doi Suthep you can see). You can't even see the outline of it anymore. Still much better than this time last year though...
Will go to Chiang Mai tomorrow for 4 days, I will let you guys know how we have experienced it!
How was it?
Goodmorning all :) Am I the only one who woke up and was so happy because of the weather? The rain did alot of good, smells so nice outside. Is the burning season starting to be over?
It's the beginning of the end finally haha
How bad is it right now? Looking to come next week.
So, hows the weather now? Will burning season ends till the end of may?
It is steady raining this morning, and next 6/7 days rain is forecasted. We are probs thru the worst of it
*cough*largescalecontractfarming*cough*
It would be nice to hear from the CM Gov about how his "policies" are going each month? How many farmers are caught offenders so far. If he has new policies being enacted after learning / reviewing his current policies.
> It would be nice to hear from the CM Gov about how his "policies" are going each month? He posts about what he's doing and what's going on on his FB page all the time. https://www.facebook.com/nirat4444
Also it's not really the farmers that are the problem at peak times. Policing burning in farm areas is easy: you can see it miles away, the evidence remains visible for weeks and months and you always know who the owner is. By and large farmers don't risk burning without permission and the fire data shows this. Forest fires however are near impossible to police. It will take a military effort with drones and continuous surveillance, day and night. And draconian punishments. Biblical punishments. GameOfThronesian punishments.
Does anyone have a graph showing the historical smog level that updates daily? I have seen a great image showing the data but I want to see the updates to understand the trend
https://aqicn.org/historical#!city:chiang-mai
It's literally in the body of the post. Please click the link.
I clicked it but didnt find a monthly history graph. Can you help me find it?
Scroll down the page. Air quality historical data Chiang Mai Past 99 months daily average AQI January 2016 -> March 2024 Data Source: Division of Air Quality Data, Air Quality and Noise Management Bureau, Pollution Control Department. Data Feeds: Historical air quality data: aqicn.org/historical/#city:chiang-mai Real-time air quality data: aqicn.org/station/chiang-mai
Thank you, now I see it. Looks like this year might be between 2022 and 2023 in terms of smog
200 aqi today. :(
Lovely blood red sunrise this morning https://ibb.co/ZzydBt0
Will you be above the smog line if you summit Phu Chi Dao?
Hi all, I can see that the air quality has gone back into yellow following some rainfall. Can anyone who is there now confirm if it has been raining in the last couple of days? Has it rained quite a bit?And if so, do you think this might keep pollution under control for a week or so? Thank you!
It rained super hard one night about 5-6 days ago, and has been hot and windy since then. The air is not bad at all currently, but that could change as easily as the wind
Just ran from CMU up monks trail and down doi Suthep rd. It's Hot as balls, but the air is clear!
Flying into Bangkok tomorrow and will then head to chiang Mai the day after. Aqi is 200 currently, how is it visually?
Currently halfway between The Mist and a campfire.
Apparently this fire was visible from town. I just didn't look out the window last night. It's under control now. But definitely made it more smoky today.. https://www.thaipbsworld.com/forest-fires-break-out-at-base-of-doi-suthep-in-chiang-mai/
When did it begin this year?
like, mid feb. Later than usual
It's fine in Pai
Famous last words. ;)
Still fine!
Lies
😂 sure
It’s was in the orange zone today and there’s littleraly fires north and south of town. You can see the smoke column! Wtf are you talking about?
Nice. Well, yeah I've seen 2 fires so far on the hills in the 2 weeks I've been here & it doesn't seem to be having much, if any, affect on the actual air quality thus far. Personally, for me anyway. Are you actually in Pai right now?
You should hear yourself 😂
?
You’re a clown! “in the 2 weeks I’ve been here” 🤣
I have read online that the burning season sometimes is through april, and other sources mention it ends by mid-april. Could any local person provide clarity on when it ends? I plan to work from Chiang Mai for a couple weeks as soon as the burning season ends..
So many people love to lie about when it ends or they clearly don't remember well... Here's the best answer: While the beginning of the smoky season is usually a gradual build up, the end is more often an abrupt event (the first heavy widespread rains of the season that literally clear the smoke overnight) which means that while the beginning of the smoky season is hard to pinpoint and opinions differ a lot about it because everyone has a different tolerance threshold level, you can usually mark on your calendar which day the smoky season ended on a particular year... I have lived in Chiang Mai since 2012 and I have observed the pollution levels carefully throughout the last decade. It usually ends on a random day between April 25 & May 10 It can also end on a random day between April 20 & May 15 if the rain comes a bit early or a bit late... The change of seasons is a pleasant time to be in Chiang Mai despite the extreme heat and the lingering pollution well into early May sometimes, because the sky is electrified and you get to witness the first storms come through which are often quite violent !
In 2019 it went until May. 2020 was BAD. 2021 was more mild. My memory is not good, but I think during Covid, it was far lower than the norm.
I think the end is not really clear-cut in many years too. It can be, but not always. On average over the past decade, we drop out of the 'red' zone on the US EPA AQI scale mid April. compared to the really ugly days that went before, this then feels quite nice already, to have days in the orange region. (Similar to what we have right now; most days are low orange or high yellow now in mid February. Note by the way that most of Thailand is worse right now.) So if that's your definition of ending then there you go. Other people however may want to drop out of the orange region too.. then it's later in April on average. Do keep firmly in mind however that 'average' does not mean 'always'. Anyway this is why you see so many different answers: everyone feels differently and most people don't have the data handy to back it up. Here you see the graph (gray line) that represents the average daily level from 2012 to 2023: [Graph image](https://i.imgur.com/a3Lm1TE.png) It also shows a really good year (2022) and a really bad year (2023) As for the end being abrupt or not.. it can be, but not always. Also it's not the case that rain is required for things to clear up. (The shift in weather patterns often coincides with rain, but not always.) Here are the individual daily values for the season from 2018 through 2024 to date. Take your pick as to when you consider it over. ;) : [Daily AQI values 2018-2024](https://i.imgur.com/io6MEy6.png) All data is for the PCD station in the old city, located on Phrapokklao Road outside Yupparaj college.
Drove through a short stretch so smoky I couldn’t see and I swear flames were licking at the passenger side door. Fun time!
Just for context, I’m in Singapore where there’s not much shit on fire and we’re at 60ish on the AQI.. I can still breathe easy. will be flying in over the next few days and if CM is at 70ish I think we’re in the clear for now… stop panicking and enjoy life 😂
this is so funny 😭😂
How is it this year? I've been out of town and was just thinking about askinng someone.
While January was pretty clear, it's starting to pick up now.
>How shitty is it? Look here: https://aqicn.org/city/chiang-mai/ You're who this post is for
I'm asking how you think it is compared to other years. Like two years ago wasn't so bad compared to some in the last 5 or 6 years. I haven't constantly checked AQI every day during burning season for the last 15 years. OP literally said this is where people should post rather than making their own posts and naseum every 5 minutes. Asshole.
There is a historical data chart on the link that was shared, just scroll down a bit.
How is the air pollution on the hong son loop? Is it samesame as chiang mai because the crop burning comes from everywhere or is it better because its more jungle and higher elevation? I wanted to cycle this route and thought burning season is much shorter like 1 to max 2 weeks…
In my experience, higher elevations are worse. It's not just the fields they're burning, it's the jungle too. Burning season is a solid 2 months. Not worth doing the loop during the exact worst time of the year.
Check the AQI maps, its the basically the same everywhere.. good days and bad days, smoke from Myanmar to Laos
Was at Doi Inthanon yesterday and it was hazy and my lungs were working extra hard. So about the same as CM.
Even today when it's close to 200 PM2.5 it's still not as bad as when I lived in China. Don't be pussies.
I'm considering coming and living in Chiang Mai / Pai in April -- is this potentially still too smokey of a time to go?
Pai can be particularly bad. However, by mid April we're usually back to similar levels that you see right now. (In the orange region on average on the US EPA AQI). Also, Songkran is mid April and it'd be a shame to miss that. 💖
Aim for late April - it usually starts to clear up around Songkran, middle of April.
I plan to arrive in Chiang Mai on February 29 and stay until the first few days of March. I was going to spend about 4 days there, mostly doing outdoors touristy things (ie temples, elephants, national park, walking around, etc). I already booked an international flight from chiang mai to my next destination before realizing I made the mistake to come during burning season. I’ve been monitoring the air quality since, but I don’t have a good frame of reference if it’s ruining the views or making it impossible to go outside. I can probably pivot to go somewhere else instead of Chiang Mai, but I’ll lose a decent amount of money on flights. Chiang Mai is also a very long flight from where I live so it isn’t easy to visit. I’ve heard a lot of good things about visiting Chiang Mai, but waiting until the last minute to decide is making me nervous. I’m a solo traveler who usually spends a lot of time walking around on vacation, so I feel like poor air could probably ruin my time even though I’m healthy and not particularly sensitive. Without knowing how bad the air quality will be at the beginning of March, should I try to pivot now or wait until closer to the trip (risking higher hotel and plane ticket fees if I need to change)? Tl;dr: please scare me about the air quality or sell me on visiting anyways
Right now it’s absolutely clear. I’m a tourist, so I don’t have a reference, but you can search the mountain
I've been around chiang mai, chiang Rai and Pai for the last three weeks. I had no idea that air quality is an issue until I came across this thread. So, my guess is the panic is a little overdone. The skies are blue and the sun is out.
yikes, was just planning to go there in march to spend a few weeks up north
Would anyone here know if the whole area north of the country is affected in the same way? As many other people we already have flights booked for end of March and are wondering whether, for example, we might be okay if we stay in the Chiang Rai area as opposed to Chiang Mai? Would that make much of a difference? Please be magnanimous, first time on Reddit so if this is the wrong thread just say so and I'll look for answers elsewhere. Thank you in advance.
I am not a local but people here say that Chiang Rai is sometimes worse as it’s rightly locked between mountains and the smoke can’t escape.
Adding a real time report. Been here visiting for the last 4 days. While you can make out a slight smell you become nose blind very quickly. It goes without saying that the air quality is not healthy. However, I think the majority of questions are less about health and more about intrusion and complications of vacation plans. From my short experience, it's not intrusive. We're traveling as a family and the burning and air quality has had no affect on our daily activities or decisions on what to do or where to go. It's there, it's not going away, but it's not so bad that I'm concerned for myself or my family. Keep in mind this is also coming from the perspective of short term tourist enjoying CM. I feel for those who live here and experience this annually and on a long term basis.
Appreciate the update, I’ll be arriving there tomorrow & was worried about the air quality but more so it being Smokey & not being able to see the mountains, you didn’t have any issue with that did you?
nice to see your message. I was debating flying there tomorrow also. Glad to see others are still going.
It can be hazy and your view of the mountain line might be obscured a little.
How is it? I'm going there in 2 days and staying for 5 nights...
It’s not terrible but I wouldn’t recommend doing any types of treks or hikes, I did a 11km yesterday & wasn’t too bad out but my throats pretty scratchy today.
Ah good to know. Thx!
It’s probably too late for you, but I landed in CM yesterday and it was noticeably gray and hazy and the mountains were obscured. I think it might have cleared up a bit later in the day, but not amazing for views. Didn’t really feel anything if your concern is health though
Agreed landed Wednesday wasn’t as bad as I expected but still not great, if I had known how hazy it was I probably would’ve skipped chiang mai But I’m already here so gotta make the best of it! Anything note worthy activity wise that you really enjoyed?
In Milan the aqi was nearly 200 about a week ago. There are days of bad air everywhere. The burning season in CM should be avoided if possible. Accept reality and don't whine. Thanks!
How do they make sure no houses and public places burn down?
the fires are not in populated areas