Advice: Chiang Mai pollution

jimtron

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jimtron
Joined
Mar 9, 2005
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Location
Los Angeles, California
I'm in Chiang Mai, Thailand, planning to stay 5 or 6 weeks. Around this time of year, and especially in March and April, there's a smoke problem with farmers burning their crops; plus smog from cars and tuk-tuks.

More info here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/t...on-puts-Chiang-Mai-off-the-tourist-trail.html

I'm definitely staying for about 10 more days, but debating whether to stay an add'l month after that. I don't mind a bit of discomfort, but don't want to physically harm myself.

http://www.pcd.go.th/indexEng.cfm

http://aqmthai.com/

Anyone have thoughts on how harmful this is, for a 6 week stay? I don't have asthma or lung problems, and don't plan to be doing any hiking or particularly strenuous activities; a lot of laptop work in my hotel, but I do like to walk often. Also, would an air cleaner for my hotel room help?
 
RussDill said:
I'm not sure about all asian countries, but in many, wearing a filtration mask is perfectly socially acceptable. I can't speak towards the quality of any of these, but its clear there is a wide variety of options:

http://www.achooallergy.com/allergy-asthma-mask-buying-guide.asp
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I've seen a few people hear wearing them. I'd prefer not to, but would consider if that's the difference between getting sick or otherwise harmed or not--do you know if that's the case?
 
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I'm not a doctor, but I'd suspect it's less dangerous than smoking a pack a day for 5-6 weeks and then quitting (ignoring the danger of addiction, which isn't pertinent here). Most smokers do it for decades before it kills them -- 50 years isn't unusual. Your body really isn't all that delicate in the short term.
 
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Manopolus said:
...but all of them will, eventually; and so will you. There's something to smile about, huh?
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If it helps, I am just here from the worst cities thread so this is uppermost in my mind: I was in Vietnam from 1969-1970 at LongBinh. Every day big metal tubs of "excreta" (if you know what I mean and I think you do) had kerosene added to them and were burned, from time to time we took waste of many types over to the official (and on base) giant fire pit and tossed them in so the VC could not use them (med unit - I'm sure all the VC hidey holes had Chloridometers they needed test solutions for to keep accurate (we threw out over 30K dollars (1968 dollars) of same. I was following in my father's footsteps there - as a member of the Greatest Generation, in Alaska during WWII his unit buried loads of bulldozers to keep them out of Japanese hands - just in case... when they pulled out.
The actual point, I also had hay fever but I survived nicely and, so far have shown no signs of lung problems.
 
What a shame. I was there many years ago, in the winter, and it was a beautiful city--Bangkok, not so much, but certainly a fascinating place to visit, nonetheless. There is something magical and pleasant about Thailand and its people.

We have good friends in Chuncheon, Korea who are complaining about the pollution, largely dust but also coal burning, which is claimed to be coming in from China. Dangerous levels are often reported, and they've shown us through their Skype camera that one cannot see the hills just one kilometer or so to the north.

Personally, I would not stay, because I have breathing problems to begin with, but it is certainly a difficult place to leave.
 
jimtron said:
I agree; Bangkok was the first city in Thailand I visited. From there I went to Chiang Mai, which I like a lot better.
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My first memory of arriving in Bangkok, after virtually 24 hours in an airplane or airport, was sitting at a sidewalk restaurant with a bunch of family and friends eating incredible amounts of fantastic Chinese and Thai food at 3:00 in the morning. A huge flat bed truck goes by with a load of steel coils on it, and on top of one of the coils, a guy with a bottle of Jack Daniels singing and waving! I turned to a friend and smiled, we have arrived in Thailand. We were in Thailand during the first Gulf war, when Americans were under threat of attack. The airport featured military guys with machine guns.

One of my wife's brothers drove us and several other family members on the long drive from Bangkok to Chieng Mai. He is a professional race car driver, so the ride was, shall we say, interesting. At one point, we wound up behind a police escort for some VIP running with lights and siren. We followed closely for probably 100 km at terrifying speeds for those winding roads. I learned much about the differences in culture between the American and Thai driving experience. I managed, in my poor Thai, to comment that I think my pubic hair just turned grey. My place among friends was instantly cemented.:)

First things first, my wife's long beautiful hair had to go at her sister's insistence. Only prostitutes wore their hair long.

The food in Chieng Mai was just outstanding. One night we went out with about 10 college friends of my wife's to a beautiful cantilevered riverside open air restaurant. We were there for about 4 hours. Everyone ate well, about 10 courses and a $33.00 bottle of Johnny Walker Red. I decided to treat, and when the bill came, I did a quick math converting baht to dollars U.S. and came up with around $700.00. Ouch! But I figured, well worth it, great food great restaurant, great fun. Then, it was pointed out to me that I was off by one decimal point. Our evening out had cost just $70.00! Including the whiskey, and that was before the economic collapse.

My wife is from Chieng Mai, so visiting Thailand with a native interpreter, both dialect and standard Thai, was just an unbelievable experience. We wound up in tiny towns being wined and dined by the natives as heroes, a tall farang willing to smile and wai (ไหว้ ), who knew a little Thai, with a beautiful, vivacious and intelligent companion.

Although I got deathly sick from some bad peanuts at our very posh hotel, I managed to enjoy Phuket too, I must admit, for the "scenery" on the beaches.:D (Nude beaches)
 
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