In Chiang Dao – just south of Pa Tung Ngam village and close to some of the most intense burning – excess deaths jumped by 3.5 per cent with every 10µg/m³ increase.Ī separate study from 2017 estimated a 20 per cent drop in air pollution could prevent up to a quarter of avoidable deaths each year across Thailand. His research has found that every time the concentration of particulate matter PM2.5 jumps by 10µg/m³, there is a 1.6 per cent increase in non-accidental mortality in Chiang Mai. “Many have no other way, they can’t afford machines or think it’s the best way to hunt.”īut experts are increasingly concerned about the health and economic consequences of the haze, and are urging political parties to change tact and put the environment at the forefront of their campaigns in Thailand’s upcoming elections. “Even when the government imposes zero burning, people continue,” he told the Telegraph last week. This makes it easier to track their prey, said Prasong Ranea, a retired hunter and farmer in Pa Tung Ngam, a village 60 miles north of Chiang Mai. While a surge in traffic and industrial development is driving pollution in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and the surrounding region is hit every year by the ‘burning season’, which generally peaks in February and March across northern Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.įarmers – many working with major agribusinesses – use fire to clear land for the next sugarcane or rice crop cycle, while wildfires erupt in the dry forests, and some hunters burn to promote growth in certain areas. “But over the last 20 years, the intensity and duration has become worse and worse.” “In Chiang Mai, the haze is seasonal,” said Prof Chaicharn Pothirat, a pulmonary consultant and professor of medicine at Chiang Mai University (CMU). At the same point Thailand’s hectic capital, Bangkok, stood at 80, while in Britain, Birmingham was measured at 25 and London just eight. The Lonely Planet describes it as a “blissfully calm” place to recharge.īut in recent weeks the tourist hotspot, which is home to 120,000 people, has been competing with megacities including Dhaka, Delhi and Shanghai for an unexpected title: the world’s worst air quality.Īnd on Monday, for the second time this month, Chiang Mai topped the charts.Īccording to IQAir, which produces an air quality index based on real-time readings from 100 cities internationally, Chiang Mai led the rankings with a “very unhealthy” 216 at noon – anything above 51 is worrying. “I think now we have four seasons: summer, winter, rainy, and the haze.”Įach year, Chiang Mai attracts millions of backpackers and holiday-makers keen to soak up its laid-back atmosphere and explore the lush forests, mountain hikes and hillside villages nearby.
“The haze has been very bad this year,” says Pat, a local taxi driver, as he navigates a winding mountain pass. Rather than a panoramic perspective of Chiang Mai, tourists and pilgrims making the trip to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep – one of the most sacred spots in northern Thailand – gaze down at a thick layer of smog. On a good day, the views from the golden temple’s ‘mountain throne’ are spectacular.
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