For years, and I have only been here for a handful of them, the Thai government has promised that they will do something to fix the horrible air pollution problem that happens in Chiang Mai during the "burning season." These have all been idle promises in the past and now we find ourselves with the worst it has ever been scenario. While in the past 5 years the pollution has been really bad on just a few weeks, we now find ourselves in a multiple-month situation of dangerously bad air pollution.
I'm not going to say that I know what these numbers mean, but it is never a good thing when the app with data provided by Thailand's own government shows a picture of someone wearing a gas mask with the word "hazardous" next to it. That's never what you want to have as part of your day to day life.
When last week it hit nearly 350 I was thinking "well this isn't good" and then a few days later it just got worse. But wait! There's more!
When we start approaching 400 or more, this puts this relatively small city of Chiang Mai above cities with more than 10 times the population of Chiang Mai. This is not due to overpopulation, it is because there are no controls that the government has promised actually being implemented. This, combined with the fact that we have had almost zero rain in the past month has lead to a gloom over the city that never goes away.
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This is a photo taken during the day, people. This has not been photoshopped and it is just what it looks like every single day of the week. It almost feels as though we are living in a post apocalyptic wasteland and the gloom is really depressing.
Every year the government and the elected officials make promises that they are going to do something about this, but other than installing these aerial water shower things that are meant to reduce pollution in popular tourist areas, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of anything that is going on at all.
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So when you go to these specific hot spots you are just basically walking in a mist that, as they claim, will reduce the pollution levels in that particular area. Does it do that though? I have a difficult time believing that it has any sort of significant effect on the problem.
I fear that doing nothing meaningful will continue to be the norm here, as it has been the entire time that I have lived here. These days, the shops that want to attract customers are advertising that they have air filtration systems and the way that the smaller shops shuffle you in the door quickly to avoid letting any bad air in is a bit concerning. I don't have any filtration in my house other than my air con units, and these very basic filters are caked with crap that I need to clean out every couple of days.
Lord only knows what sort of long-term effect this is going to have on the people here but it honestly wouldn't surprise me if there are a generation of damaged children that are going to be the result. Of course this will only affect the poor, so who gives a crap, right?
If I remain in Thailand it will likely not be here. I didn't decide to not smoke cigarettes only to have the equivalent of it be kind of forced upon me by the area that I live in. It's a real pity because otherwise, Chiang Mai is a really awesome place to live. Every year when April comes along and the winds move the pollution who knows where, everyone kind of forgets that it ever happened. This is a real shame and now that 2023 is the worst on record, maybe some politician somewhere will actually do something about it? My bet is that they will do something completely unrelated to the issue at hand like ban plastic straws.
Ha! That does seem to be the way of the world unfortunately. There is a coffee shop on the ground floor of my building that gives you a paper straw with your coffee, which is individually wrapped in plastic. Awesome.
There are tons of shops like that there as well. In Chiang Mai they briefly banned plastic bags only to have shops start using them again like a week later. Nobody ever addressed the fact that you could still buy they plastic bags if you wanted, they just were not longer going to be given out for free. Seems a little convenient for the companies, doesn't it?
It's sad to hear as air is one of the important aspects that we need. Hopefully Government officials would really give some solution for it. It won't damage our body now but it will as time goes by.
yes, the government will probably just try to bury the fact that there are chronic respiratory injuries in 20 years. Either that or they will do what they always do and blame in on Myanmar
So sad. The effect is gradual, some people didn't realize it until they got sick.
Bad down here on Samui too. As usual, useless govt. is all talk and no action and Xiaomi are making millions selling air purifiers. Absolute joke.
Stay safe :-)
oh no, if it's that way in Samui it may as well be everywhere. This is tragic.
⋆ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ғᴏʀ sᴏᴜᴛʜᴇᴀsᴛ ᴀsɪᴀɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴏɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ
⋆ sᴜʙsᴄʀɪʙᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ
⋆ ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ ᴠᴏᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʀᴀɪʟ
⋆ ᴅᴇʟᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʟɪɴᴋs 25 ʜᴘ⇾50 ʜᴘ⇾100 ʜᴘ⇾500 ʜᴘ⇾1,000 ʜᴘ