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Most
people like to visit Thailand in the dry season
for fear of their holiday being spoiled by rain.
However, there is a good reason to steer clear
of the north, particularly Chiang Mai, during
the dry season due to the terrible air quality.
The
dry season is when many hilltribes have traditionally
cleared patches of forest for cultivation, but
this is now exaccerbated by burning initiated
by lowland communities and some agricultural buring.
Additionally, many more, similar fires are burning
in the surrounding countries, particularly in
Laos and Myanmar as can be seen from the satelitte
photograph in Tony Ball's blog.
The
effect is to create an atmosphere that not only
means that views are seriously impared, indeed
in such conditions there is no view at all from
the much-visited temple on Doi Suthep, but an
atmosphere which can have serious effects upon
health. For those with respiratory problems such
as asthma it would be wise to completely stay
away from Chiang Mai at this time of year (December
to May) considering the dust particle index shown
in the graph below, taken from the Thai government's
Pollution Control Department's website: http://www.pcd.go.th
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In
fact, currently (14th March 2007) the pollution
is so severe that at Huai Thung Thao public park
in Mae Rim district joggers were reported to suffer
from respiratory difficulties from the smoke.
Even more alarmingly around 400 children and staff
at Wiang Ping Children's Home have been suffering
from eye irritation and coughing for several days.
The map below shows air quality throughout Thailand,
also from the Pollution Department's website:
http://www.pcd.go.th
For
those that find it difficult to read the text,
the yellow colour indicated in the north of Thailand
rates as air that is "Unhealthy". This
is the Thai government's own appraisal of the
situation.
This
poisonous smog is largely not the result of traffic
and industrial pollution as in Bangkok, but from
small fires such as the one pictures below.
Many
of these fires are illegally started, although
the authorities do little or nothing to stop them,
and in some cases these fires are actually lit
by the authorities themselves; in effect the local
officials are presiding over an air pollution
crisis that will undoubtably result in the premature
death of many Chiang Mai citizens through long-term
respiratory illness.
The
scale of the problem has become such that visibility
is down to less than a kilometre in Mae Hong Son
where flights in and out of the province have
been delayed due to the risk that this smog poses
both in terms of visibility and particle damage
to engines: Flight
Delays due to pollution.
Perhaps
it would be wiser to visit Chiang Mai in the rainy
season, a case which is well-presented here -
Rainy
Season vs Hot & Dry Season - or to stay
away from Chiang Mai altogether - if tourist revenue
was to significantly decrease, it is possible
that local authorities would cease to shuffle
papers in air-conditioned offices and take some
action to improve this situation.
The
current attitude taken by the local government
is summed up by the photo below, which pays lip
service to protecting the forest whilst a fire
burns close by. The translation is; burn the forest
- burn the nation.
"Burn
the forest - Burn the nation."
Photo
by Tony
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