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Warning over dangerous smog in Mae Hong Son


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Warning over dangerous smog in Mae Hong Son

By The Nation

 

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Mae Hong Son is facing dangerous air pollution, with PM2.5 levels reaching a critical level.

 

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Late on Friday, the amount of PM2.5 – particles of no more than 2.5 millimetres in diameter – in this northern province reached 124 micrograms per cubic metre of air. 

 

The safe limit of no more than 50 micrograms per cubic metre of air. 

 

Mae Hong Son Public Health Office has warned that the air pollution levels in the province are dangerous. 

 

“The smog situation is worrying. People, in particular the elderly and young children, will face health impacts,” it said.

 

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It urged locals to see a doctor if they have difficulty breathing after getting exposed to smog.

 

“If you can see just a few electricity poles in front of you, it means smog is serious,” the office said, offering a tip on how to check the severity of air pollution.

 

Nok Air has now joined Bangkok Airways in cancelling their flights to and from the Mae Hong Son Airport because the air pollution has affected visibility. 

 

Relevant authorities have blamed the thick haze on forest fires. As many as 250 hotspots were detected in Mae Hong Son on Friday. 

 

It took time and several people to extinguish each fire. 

 

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An informed source said the prevalence of forest fires stemmed partly from authorities’ focus on fire extinguishing, rather than fire prevention.

 

“I have noticed that whenever authorities increase the budget for fire extinguishing and announce a crackdown on people foraging forest produce, the number of forest fires rise,” the source said.

 

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said many locals resolved to not lend a hand when a forest fire started because the budget for the cause was not shared fairly. 

 

“In 2017, Mae Hong Son received Bt65.6 million for efforts to fight forest fires and smog,” he said.

 

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Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30366316

 

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-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-03-22

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12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

“If you can see just a few electricity poles in front of you, it means smog is serious,”

And if you cannot see who you are voting for on the ballot paper, it means the smog is even more serious 

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"The safe limit of no more than 50 micrograms per cubic metre of air."

 

The Thai Govt declared safe limit of no more than 50 micrograms per cubic metre of air, as opposed to the WHO safe limit of no more than 25 micrograms per cubic metre of air.

 

There, fixed it for you.

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250 hotspots. Insane.

 

I guess I'm "making lemonade" with my disappointment with the Thai smog.

 

5 or 6 months in Chiang Mai, 7 or 6 months in perhaps Eastern Europe where I've never been, or a few countries possible in Western Europe - I'm looking forward now to half a year of exploring every year.

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13 hours ago, DNPBC0 said:

This is a major disgrace, and a vivid illustration of how totally ineffective the junta has been in reducing the continuing very dangerous levels of PM2.5 in the North.
PS there is no 'safe limit'.

Really?and what did all of the previous governments do about it?

Fixing this problem(and many others also)has to come from within,theThai people themselves have to realise things need to change in many ways over here but it will take time.No election is going to fix this.

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15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Late on Friday, the amount of PM2.5 – particles of no more than 2.5 millimetres in diameter – in this northern province reached 124 micrograms per cubic metre of air.

2.5 millimeters... really? Maybe The Nation should hire better proofreaders.

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1 hour ago, JimmyJ said:

250 hotspots. Insane.

 

I guess I'm "making lemonade" with my disappointment with the Thai smog.

 

5 or 6 months in Chiang Mai, 7 or 6 months in perhaps Eastern Europe where I've never been, or a few countries possible in Western Europe - I'm looking forward now to half a year of exploring every year.

You may want to look at Batumi in Georgia. Cheaper than Thailand, excellent air quality and 1 year VOA for most...food is fabulous and wine excellent and cheap.

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I could see it was really bad this morning as soon as I went outside.  the sun was red to 8 AM and it is much cooler this morning even at 11AM. which is nice unless it reminds you that this is quite similar to "dirty energy" pollution and the exact same Albeto that allows the "general population" to believe if it ain't so bad so far [400 ppm by volume now is it?] we still have a few decades maybe. 

this stuff goes away when it rains or strong winds prevail.... and our normal "dirty energy" masking is also perhaps transient.  sure there is still some controversy over how quickly we would be on a new 'trajectory' if that dropped out significantly... for any reason..... but we are already skating near unknown thresholds.  Tony Barnston of Columbia U. can smile and get so excited he didn't wear his "sigh waahn" in his latest ENSO update a few days ago.... but that's because it means rain in the USA.  we live here.

is this off topic?  no.  Tony says we mighty even see a moderate El Nino in 2019 now.  so there is a yin and a yang to everything, even this awful smoke.  because what is coming next might not be a repeat of 2017 and 2018..... but 2015 and 2016.  pray it is not the latter nor at all any more pervasive than 15/16 was.      

   

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4 hours ago, edwinchester said:

"The safe limit of no more than 50 micrograms per cubic metre of air."

 

The Thai Govt declared safe limit of no more than 50 micrograms per cubic metre of air, as opposed to the WHO safe limit of no more than 25 micrograms per cubic metre of air.

 

There, fixed it for you.

My AirVisual App currently reading 470 AQI in Chiang Mai ...

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Why are they burning the fields? To fertilise them? No fertiliser subsidy?

 

Over here in Malaysia, our farmers get fertiliser subsidies, so there is no need to burn the fields to prepare for the next planting season.

 

 

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4 hours ago, Classic Ray said:

On my friends air purifier in house at base of Doi Suthep reading showing 338! She has a young baby whose lungs are already being poisoned by other Thais selfishness and Government inaction.

512 for ours. 

 

Indoor was 170 when we woke but the air filter brought it back down to the 50s. Our place is pretty well sealed up too. 

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22 minutes ago, Dinobot said:

 

 

 

If wild mushrooms is the root of the problem, why didn't Thailand ban their exports? Seems to be an easy solution. There aren't that many export routes to China, so just put some sniffer dogs at the exits. And what about finding a way to find the mushrooms without resorting to burning? Mushroom hunting dogs and pigs? Or is it not because of the difficulty in finding the mushrooms but because it is difficult to get the mushroom without clearing the land?

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I am quite familiar with how regulatory air contaminants are set....they are more arbitrarily set rather than purely scientifically established....the ability of obtaining them factors heavily into the selected number

 

At least for America, the majority of air standards were established in the 1960s-70s and basically copied/followed ANSI guidelines....

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20 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Mae Hong Son Public Health Office has warned that the air pollution levels in the province are dangerous.

Why not apprehend the culprits? Showing numbers on a meter and telling people to stay indoors doesn't help.

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5 hours ago, WeekendRaider said:

I could see it was really bad this morning as soon as I went outside.  the sun was red to 8 AM and it is much cooler this morning even at 11AM.

Up here in Tha Ton its been 10am for the sun to shine and about 4.30pm the fake sunset. We were better off for the first week when Chiang Mai was very bad but its gotten worse. Our village has a holding ban on burning but somewhere nearby is obviously setting their hills alight. Very bad today (Sat).

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If wild mushrooms is the root of the problem, why didn't Thailand ban their exports? Seems to be an easy solution. There aren't that many export routes to China, so just put some sniffer dogs at the exits. And what about finding a way to find the mushrooms without resorting to burning? Mushroom hunting dogs and pigs? Or is it not because of the difficulty in finding the mushrooms but because it is difficult to get the mushroom without clearing the land?


The answer to all these questions is MONEY.
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11 hours ago, Selatan said:

If wild mushrooms is the root of the problem, why didn't Thailand ban their exports? Seems to be an easy solution. There aren't that many export routes to China, so just put some sniffer dogs at the exits. And what about finding a way to find the mushrooms without resorting to burning? Mushroom hunting dogs and pigs? Or is it not because of the difficulty in finding the mushrooms but because it is difficult to get the mushroom without clearing the land?

Based on earlier reports I've read, the locals take them to local outdoor markets and sell them or just sell them on the street themselves.

 

"And what about finding a way to find the mushrooms without resorting to burning? Mushroom hunting dogs and pigs?"

 

They burn not to find the mushrooms. The mushrooms  start growing on the burned areas.

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