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Showing posts with label #Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #Health. Show all posts

Wednesday, 28 October 2026

ESCAPING CHIANG MAI HAZE SEASON

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Could the best escape from Chiang Mai's smoke be to a city
that has a serious smog problem of its own?

Fast Track

  • Part 1 set out the first rule of escape: leave the Lower Mekong airshed, not just the city. This part adds a second: check the destination's own pollution calendar.
  • Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan lie thousands of kilometres outside the burning belt. Their cities do have bad air, but it comes mainly from coal heating in winter and has usually eased by April.
  • Uzbekistan is the strongest all-round choice for March and April: mild spring weather, the Silk Road cities of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, and the Navruz festival on 21 March. Kazakhstan is the easiest to reach from Thailand; Kyrgyzstan suits nature lovers, but mostly from April.
  • China illustrates both rules at once. Yunnan sits downwind of the same fires as Chiang Mai, and Beijing's spring brings Gobi dust storms. China's 30-day visa-free scheme for many nationalities currently runs only to 31 December 2026.

Introduction

Part 1 ended with a simple consideration: Chiang Mai's March smoke belongs to a regional airshed, so escaping it means leaving that airshed. For most residents that means heading south to the Thai islands or maritime South-East Asia.

But the beach is not for everyone, and March and April are the hottest months on the Andaman coast. Some would rather spend six weeks walking through ancient cities in a cool spring. Central Asia and China are the obvious candidates, yet both have reputations for poor air. This article asks whether those reputations matter in March and April. The answer turns on a second rule: a destination is only a refuge if its own bad season does not coincide with yours.

Why It Matters

For anyone with asthma, a heart condition or young children, choosing the wrong destination can mean swapping one form of bad air for another. Flights, visas and accommodation for a long stay are booked months ahead, before anyone knows how bad the season will be. Annual pollution averages are little help: what matters is the air during the weeks you are actually there.

1. The second consideration: every city has its own pollution calendar

Central Asia passes Part 1's test easily. Tashkent and Almaty lie well over 3,000 kilometres from Chiang Mai, far beyond the reach of the fires in Shan State and northern Laos.

But leaving one airshed means entering another. Almaty and Bishkek sit on plains hemmed in by mountains, a bowl-shaped setting that, like Chiang Mai's basin, traps pollution. In winter, households burn coal in stoves and both cities rely on Soviet-era coal-fired power stations. On bad days their air rivals Delhi and Lahore, and similar smog affects Tashkent and Dushanbe.

The crucial word is winter. Researchers at Nazarbayev University find Almaty's pollution most severe from October to March, with an average winter PM2.5 concentration of 94 µg/m³, more than six times the World Health Organization's daily guideline. The cause is heating, so the problem eases as the heating season ends. Chiang Mai's calendar runs almost exactly the other way, at its best from November to February and its worst in March and April.

The fit is not perfect. Kazakhstan's weather service, Kazhydromet, issued pollution warnings for Almaty on 26 and 27 March and on 2 and 9 April 2025, when still weather let pollution build up. The fair conclusion is that early March in Almaty can still be smoggy, while April is usually much clearer.

Escaping Chiang Mai's haze is a matter of timing as much as distance: the best refuge is a place whose bad season you can miss.

2. Uzbekistan: the Silk Road in spring

Uzbekistan is the strongest all-round choice, mainly because of its cities. Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva were wealthy stops on the Silk Road and remain among the most complete Islamic townscapes in the world: turquoise domes, tiled madrasas and old bazaars. Samarkand's Registan and the tombs of Shah-i-Zinda are the best known; Khiva's walled inner town survives almost entire.

The timing suits too. Navruz, the Persian New Year, falls on 21 March and is the region's great spring festival, with music, public celebrations and special dishes such as sumalak, a sweet paste of sprouted wheat. In Samarkand and Tashkent, March highs are typically in the mid-teens Celsius; April, in the low to mid-twenties, is close to ideal for walking.

Tashkent shares the region's winter smog, so early March is the weakest point. Short dust storms can also affect the west, around Khiva and the dried-out Aral Sea. Citizens of around 90 countries can visit visa-free for up to 30 days, and there are nonstop flights from Bangkok to Tashkent. Uzbekistan suits those who want history, architecture and food; those seeking mountains should look further east.

3. Kazakhstan: easy to reach, mountains on the doorstep

Kazakhstan's great advantage is access. Air Astana flies six times a week from Bangkok to Almaty and Thai AirAsia X three times, and Air Astana also flies daily between Almaty and Phuket.

Almaty is a leafy, café-filled city with snow-capped mountains rising directly behind it. The ski slopes of Shymbulak usually still have snow in March, and Charyn Canyon and the Kolsai lakes make good trips once spring arrives. For history, Kazakhstan is thinner than Uzbekistan; the great exception is the UNESCO-listed mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi in Turkistan, near Shymkent.

Kazakhstan is the least suited of the three to an early escape. In March, Almaty's highs are typically around 10°C and snow is still possible; April brings highs in the mid to high teens. With the region's most notorious air, its case strengthens as April approaches. It is the most expensive of the three, but also the most comfortable for city life.

4. Kyrgyzstan: a nature refuge that wakes up in April

Kyrgyzstan is the region's outdoor country, with high mountains, the vast lake of Issyk-Kul, yurt camps and a living nomadic culture. It is also the cheapest of the three.

The difficulty is the season. In March and April the high valleys and most trekking routes are still under snow, and highlights such as Song-Kul lake are generally reached from June. A spring visitor is largely limited to Bishkek, the shores of Issyk-Kul and lower day trips such as the Ala-Archa gorge or the medieval Burana Tower. Bishkek shares Almaty's winter smog pattern, and there are no direct flights from Thailand.

Kyrgyzstan works best as the second half of a trip: Uzbekistan's cities in March, then Kyrgyzstan's lakes and foothills in April.

5. China: both rules at work

China is tempting because it is so close. China Eastern flies from Chiang Mai to Kunming, the self-styled "Spring City", in under two hours, and Chengdu Airlines flies to Chengdu three times a week. Yet China illustrates both rules.

5.1 Yunnan: the airshed rule

Yunnan lies downwind of the same fires that fill Chiang Mai's valley. Chinese researchers describe spring smoke from South-East Asia as the decisive obstacle to cleaner air in south-west China. From 31 March to 2 April 2019, PM2.5 in seven Yunnan cities exceeded China's national standard of 75 µg/m³, and modelling presented in 2024 attributed about 60 per cent of Yunnan's burning-related PM2.5 to fires along the Myanmar–Thailand border. Kunming may be cleaner than Chiang Mai at the peak, but it is not outside the airshed, and Xishuangbanna, closest to the border, is the least reliable refuge in China.

5.2 Northern China: the calendar rule

Beijing's winter smog has improved considerably, but March and April are its sandstorm season, when winds carry dust from the Gobi Desert. In March 2021 the city suffered its biggest sandstorm in a decade, and in 2023 it had recorded eight by early April. Storm days are a minority, but this is the wrong season for six weeks of clean air.

5.3 The rest of China and the visa question

Elsewhere, including Shanghai and Hangzhou, neither the fires nor the Gobi dust dominates in spring; check the specific city's recent spring record. China allows citizens of more than 45 countries, including most of the European Union, Australia, New Zealand and, since 17 February 2026, the United Kingdom and Canada, to visit visa-free for up to 30 days. The scheme currently runs to 31 December 2026, and no extension into 2027 has yet been announced for most of these countries, so check before booking. Others, including Indonesians, can use the 240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit with a confirmed onward ticket to a third country.

6. Practicalities: getting there and getting in

Entry rules vary by nationality and change often, so the visa column gives the general position only.

Destination Getting there from Chiang Mai Entry (general position, October 2026) March April
UzbekistanVia Bangkok; nonstop flights to TashkentVisa-free for about 90 nationalities, up to 30 daysCool, some rain; good from mid-MarchIdeal
KazakhstanVia Bangkok or Phuket; nonstop to AlmatyVisa-free for many nationalities, typically 30 daysCold; smog possibleGood
KyrgyzstanVia Almaty or TashkentVisa-free for many nationalities, 30 to 60 daysCold; mountains closedGood in the lowlands
China (Yunnan)Direct to Kunming30-day visa-free for listed countries, to 31 December 2026Smoke riskSmoke risk
China (Beijing)Via Bangkok or a Chinese hubAs aboveDust storm seasonDust storm season

Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are left out: many nationalities need a visa for Tajikistan, whose mountains are mostly a summer destination, and Turkmenistan requires a letter of invitation.

The most efficient plan follows the two calendars. Leave Chiang Mai in early or mid-March for Uzbekistan, ideally in time for Navruz. Move on in April to Almaty or Kyrgyzstan once the heating season has ended. Return in late April or early May, when Chiang Mai's season usually winds down. Check live air quality readings before booking and again before travelling.

Bottom Line

Part 1 answered where the smoke is not; Part 2 adds when. A refuge must lie outside the Lower Mekong airshed, and its own bad season must fall at a different time of year. Central Asia meets both conditions better than its reputation suggests, because its smog is driven by winter heating while Chiang Mai's is driven by spring fires. That makes Uzbekistan the strongest choice for most readers, with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan improving as April arrives. China shows what happens when either condition fails.

The wider lesson is that air pollution is less a property of places than of places at particular times. For anyone choosing where to live, not just where to holiday, the question is not "how clean is the air there?" but "when is it clean, and when am I there?"

Related Articles

Glossary

Airshed - a geographical area within which air and pollution circulate as a shared system, often bounded by mountains or prevailing winds.

Biomass burning - the burning of vegetation, including forests, crop stubble and leaves, as distinct from burning fossil fuels.

Kazhydromet - Kazakhstan's national weather and environmental monitoring service, which issues air pollution warnings.

Letter of invitation - a document from a host or agency in the destination country, required in support of some visa applications.

Madrasa - a traditional Islamic college, often built around a courtyard with tiled portals.

Navruz - the Persian New Year, celebrated on or around 21 March across Central Asia, Iran and beyond; also spelt Nowruz or Nauryz.

PM2.5 - airborne particles 2.5 micrometres or less across, small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream.

Silk Road - the network of overland trade routes that linked China with Central Asia, the Middle East and the Mediterranean from antiquity to the early modern period.

Visa-free transit - permission to enter a country without a visa for a limited period while travelling on to a third country, usually with a confirmed onward ticket.

References

Further Reading

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Tuesday, 27 October 2026

UNDERSTAND CHIANG MAI HAZE SEASON

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Understand Chiang Mai's haze season.



Fast Track

  • Chiang Mai's haze peaks from early March to late April. In 2026 the city briefly ranked as the world's most polluted major city, while some northern districts recorded more than seven times Thailand's daily limit.
  • The smoke does not come mainly from the city. It comes from forest fires and crop burning across a shared regional airshed covering northern Thailand, Myanmar's Shan State and northern Laos.
  • Escaping therefore means leaving that airshed, not merely leaving the city. Pai, Chiang Rai and Luang Prabang usually offer no relief; southern Thailand and maritime South-East Asia usually do.
  • For those who stay, one properly sealed room with a purifier does more than any mask. A long-term fix depends on a Clean Air Bill still stuck between Thailand's two parliamentary chambers.

Introduction

For four months of the year, Chiang Mai is close to ideal. From November to February the mornings are cool, the skies are clear and Doi Suthep stands sharp above the old city. Then, within a few weeks, the mountain disappears.

By late March 2026, all 111 of Chiang Mai University's monitoring stations in the province showed red. On the morning of 1 April the city recorded an AQI of 235 on IQAir, its fourth consecutive day as the most polluted major city on Earth. Pharmacies reported queues for N95 masks.

The instinctive response is to get out. Yet each year some residents drive to Pai, or take the slow boat to Luang Prabang, and find the same grey sky waiting. Others fly to Krabi and breathe easily within hours. The difference has little to do with how far they travel.

This article asks why. It traces where the smoke actually comes from, explains why the problem is regional rather than local, and uses that explanation to identify where clean air can reliably be found in March and April. It ends with what to do if leaving is not an option, and whether the problem is likely to improve.

Why It Matters

Chiang Mai's annual average for fine particulate pollution looks moderate, but that average conceals a short, severe spike. Around March the monthly PM2.5 concentration rises to many times the World Health Organization's guideline.

The health effects are measurable. A study of upper northern Thailand found that hospital readmissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) peak in March. Nationally, the Public Health Ministry counted around 3 million people with PM2.5-related illness in 2024.

The haze also shapes the local economy. Tourism thins out, outdoor workers have no choice but to breathe it, and a growing number of residents now plan their year around six weeks away. For anyone with asthma, a heart condition or young children, deciding when and where to go is a genuine health decision, not a lifestyle preference.

1. A city built in a bowl

Chiang Mai sits in a basin, ringed by mountains. For most of the year that setting is the city's chief attraction. In the dry season it becomes a trap.

The last significant rain usually falls around the end of October. By March the land has been drying for four or five months, and the forests and fields are primed to burn. At the same time, the surrounding mountains limit the movement of air across the valley floor. On still days, a layer of warmer air can settle above the basin like a lid, holding smoke close to the ground until wind or rain breaks it up. The pollution is not evenly spread, either: on the morning of 1 April 2026, PM2.5 readings ranged from about 80 µg/m³ in Suthep, near the city centre, to 286 µg/m³ in Chiang Dao to the north.

Geography does not create the smoke, but it decides how long the smoke stays. That distinction matters, because it explains why the problem is so stubborn, and why a city with modest traffic can briefly outrank Delhi or Lahore.

2. Where the smoke really comes from

The smoke is overwhelmingly rural. Research on northern Thailand estimates that burning vegetation, known as biomass burning, accounts for nearly half of Chiang Mai's PM2.5 across the whole year, and more than 70 per cent of it in April. Vehicles, industry and charcoal stoves add to the load, but they are not what turns the sky white in March.

Three kinds of fire dominate.

Forest fires. These are the largest single source. On 31 March 2024, satellite data from Thailand's space agency, GISTDA, showed 1,477 of the country's 1,864 hotspots in forest and reserved areas, against 294 on farmland. Thai officials have said that around 90 per cent of northern hotspots are started by people, whether to clear undergrowth, gather forest products or for other local reasons.

Crop burning. Farmers burn stubble to prepare fields for the next planting, because it is the cheapest way to clear steep land. Maize is the crop most closely linked to the haze. Greenpeace Southeast Asia estimated that more than 11.8 million rai (about 1.9 million hectares) of forest in northern Thailand, Myanmar's Shan State and northern Laos was converted to maize between 2015 and 2023.

Smoke from across the border. On the same day in March 2024 that Thailand logged 1,864 hotspots, Myanmar logged 5,296 and Laos 3,047. When the wind blows from the west or north, much of that smoke ends up over Chiang Mai.

How much of the haze crosses the border is disputed. A former head of Thailand's Pollution Control Department once put Myanmar's share of northern dust at around 5 per cent, emphasising domestic fires. Researchers at Chiang Mai University and environmental groups place far more weight on transboundary smoke, especially in years when the region's hotspot count surges. The honest conclusion is that the share varies with the wind and the year, and that both domestic and cross-border fires matter.

There is a less visible thread connecting these fires. Thailand is one of the world's largest producers of animal feed, and maize makes up more than a third of it. Cross-border contract farming expanded after Thailand removed tariffs on maize imports from its neighbours. An interpretation follows, though it is not the whole story: part of northern Thailand's haze is a hidden cost of cheap chicken and pork, paid in the lungs of people who live far from the supermarket shelf.

This also explains why local bans struggle. Chiang Mai banned open burning from 1 January to 31 May 2026, yet the province still recorded 10,849 hotspots by 27 April. A provincial ban cannot reach a hillside in Shan State.

The smoke that fills Chiang Mai's valley is not only Chiang Mai's smoke. Escaping it means leaving a region, not a town.

3. The airshed rule: why distance is not enough

An airshed is an area within which air, and therefore pollution, circulates as a shared system. Analysts describe northern Thailand, eastern Myanmar and northern Laos as one such system: the Lower Mekong airshed. Bangkok and the lower central plain form a separate one.

This single idea explains most of the confusing experiences people report. Pai and Chiang Rai lie in valleys within the same airshed, surrounded by the same fires, and are often just as smoky as Chiang Mai, sometimes worse. Northern Laos is frequently worse still: in one recent season, Luang Prabang recorded hazardous readings above 500 on the AQI scale, and travellers routinely describe the old royal capital vanishing behind haze in March.

Bangkok is a less reliable refuge than it appears. The capital has its own smog season, driven by traffic, industry and burning in the central provinces, which usually peaks in January and February rather than March. In 2025 its smog episode ran from early January to late March. By April Bangkok's air is often acceptable, but it is rarely clean.

The practical rule follows directly. The best destinations are those furthest from the interior farmland of mainland South-East Asia and closest to steady sea winds. A short flight south across that boundary achieves far more than a long drive within it.

4. Where the clean air is in March and April

Southern Thailand is the default choice. There is comparatively little agricultural burning, and breezes off the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand keep the air moving. Further afield, maritime South-East Asia sits outside the mainland burning belt entirely.

Destination Why the air is usually cleaner Trade-offs
Krabi and Koh Lanta Andaman sea breezes; little crop burning nearby Hot; Koh Lanta is popular with Chiang Mai's remote workers, so book early
Phuket Island setting; the widest choice of flights and accommodation Tourist prices; local rubbish burning can still cause short spikes
Koh Samui and Koh Phangan Gulf breezes; island air Higher costs on Samui; Phangan is quieter but slower to reach
Koh Chang (Trat) Coastal and forested, on the eastern Gulf Long journey; better for budget travellers than short trips
Penang, Malaysia Outside the Mekong burning belt; easy overland or by air Warm and occasionally wet; Malaysia can suffer Indonesian haze later in the year, not usually in spring
Bali, Indonesia Maritime climate; the rainy season is ending by March Higher costs in popular areas
Cebu, Philippines February to April are among its driest months Further away; fewer direct connections from northern Thailand
Nha Trang and Da Nang, Vietnam Central coast; Nha Trang's best season is February to April Check readings, as coastal Vietnam is not immune to regional smoke

Three cautions apply wherever you go. First, March and April are the hottest months across the region, and the beaches are hot too. Second, Thai school holidays and the Songkran festival in mid-April push up prices and fill flights. Third, no destination is guaranteed. Local burning happens almost everywhere in South-East Asia, so check live readings for your destination before you book, and again before you travel.

On timing, residents commonly leave for four to eight weeks. Going from about the start of March until late April covers the worst of most seasons. In 2026 the province was down to two active hotspots by 30 April, and officials were already describing the season as winding down.

5. If you stay: turning one room into a refuge

Leaving is not possible for everyone. Work, schooling, caring responsibilities and cost all keep people in the city. For them, the evidence points clearly to one strategy: protect the air you breathe for the most hours, which usually means the bedroom.

Seal one room, then filter it. A purifier in a leaky room struggles to keep up. Close and tape windows, keep the door shut, set the air conditioner to recirculate, and run a HEPA purifier sized for the room. A home monitor will tell you whether it is working: if the indoor reading creeps towards the outdoor one, air is getting in.

Consider positive pressure. A positive-pressure room adds a fan that pushes filtered outside air into the sealed room, so air leaks outwards through the gaps rather than smoke leaking in. Hospitals and child development centres across the north use the approach. The low-cost clean-air room developed at Chiang Mai University, now being rolled out to 83 sites in eight northern provinces, costs about THB3,600 per room.

Wear a mask that seals. An N95, KN95 or FFP2 mask that fits snugly over the nose and cheeks filters fine particles. A surgical mask does not. Buy them before the season: during the late-March spike in 2026, pharmacy sales of N95 masks rose by about 30 per cent.

Check the air every morning, at the nearest station. Readings vary sharply by district and by day. On 23 March 2026 Suthep recorded just 15 µg/m³ under a clear sky; within a week the city topped the global rankings. IQAir is the easiest app to use; the government's Air4Thai network is the official record but reports 24-hour averages that lag behind sudden spikes; Chiang Mai University's DustBoy sensors give real-time readings by neighbourhood; and GISTDA's fire map shows where fires are burning.

The principle behind all four steps is the same as the airshed rule, applied at the scale of a home. You cannot clean the valley, but you can create a small, separate pocket of air within it.

6. Will it get better?

Policy is moving, but slowly. Thailand tightened its national PM2.5 standard in 2023, lowering the 24-hour limit from 50 to 37.5 µg/m³. That is still two and a half times the World Health Organization's guideline of 15 µg/m³.

The more significant reform is the Clean Air Management Bill, which grew out of a citizen-led campaign and would recognise a right to clean air, create national and provincial clean-air committees and introduce a polluter-pays system. Its passage has been tortuous:

  • October 2025: the House of Representatives passed it by 309 votes to none.
  • December 2025: parliament was dissolved ahead of a general election, leaving the bill in limbo.
  • May 2026: after the election, parliament voted 611 to 3 to revive it.
  • July 2026: the Senate returned it with amendments, including greater business representation on clean-air committees and safeguards against duplicate fees.
  • September 2026: the House rejected the Senate's changes by 414 votes to 2, sending the bill to a 20-member joint committee.

At the time of writing, the bill is not yet law. Critics of the Senate amendments, including the People's Party MP for Chiang Mai who led the House rebuttal, argue that the revisions favour big business and weaken local control. Senators maintain that they support the bill in principle but disagree on specific provisions.

Even a strong law would face the limit identified in Section 2. Much of the smoke originates outside Thailand, in areas where enforcement is weak or, in parts of Myanmar, where the state has little authority at all. Regional agreements exist: in 2020 the five Lower Mekong governments adopted the Chiang Rai Plan of Action, aiming to cut hotspots by 40 per cent by 2025. The severity of the 2026 season suggests that such targets have not yet translated into clean skies.

The most plausible near-term outlook is therefore gradual improvement at best, with large swings from year to year depending on rainfall and wind. For the next few seasons at least, planning to leave, or to seal a room, remains the sensible default.

Bottom Line

Chiang Mai's haze is best understood not as a city's pollution problem but as a region's land-use problem, concentrated by geography into one valley. That single shift in perspective answers the practical question. To escape the smoke, leave the Lower Mekong airshed: go south to the Thai coast or out to maritime South-East Asia, and treat nearby valleys as part of the same system. If you cannot leave, recreate that separation at home with one sealed, filtered room.

The wider implication reaches beyond travel planning. Air does not respect provincial boundaries or national borders, and neither do the markets that drive the fires. A Clean Air Act, however well drafted, can govern only one side of the hills. The question that remains is whether the governments and companies that share the airshed, and profit from what grows in it, will ever treat its air as a shared responsibility.

Deep Dive: Reading the Numbers

AQI is not the same as µg/m³. Most apps display an Air Quality Index (AQI), a scale built from pollutant concentrations, in which 0–50 is good, 151–200 unhealthy and 201–300 very unhealthy. Thai government figures and health guidelines use the PM2.5 concentration itself, measured in micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m³). An AQI of 235 and a PM2.5 reading of 235 µg/m³ are very different things, so check which one you are looking at.

Averages hide spikes. Thailand's official Air4Thai readings are 24-hour averages. During a sudden worsening they read lower than real-time sensors such as DustBoy. For deciding whether to go for a run this morning, the real-time figure is more useful; for comparing days, the average is fairer.

The standards differ. Thailand's 24-hour limit has been 37.5 µg/m³ since June 2023, matching the WHO's third interim target. The WHO's actual guideline is 15 µg/m³. A day that is "within the Thai standard" may still be more than double the WHO guideline.

The cigarette comparison. Berkeley Earth offers a rough rule of thumb: breathing air at 22 µg/m³ of PM2.5 for a full day is broadly comparable, in health terms, to smoking one cigarette. By that measure, central Chiang Mai's air on 1 April 2026 was equivalent to around four or five cigarettes a day, and Chiang Dao's to about thirteen. The comparison is an approximation, but it conveys scale more vividly than any index.

Glossary

AQI (Air Quality Index) - a scale that converts pollutant concentrations into a single number, usually from 0 to 500, with colour bands from "good" to "hazardous".

Airshed - a geographical area within which air and pollution circulate as a shared system, often bounded by mountains or prevailing winds.

Biomass burning - the burning of vegetation, including forests, crop stubble and leaves, as distinct from burning fossil fuels.

COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) - a long-term lung condition, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis, that air pollution can worsen.

HEPA filter - a high-efficiency particulate air filter, designed to capture the very fine particles that make up PM2.5.

Hotspot - a fire, or an area of unusually high heat, detected by satellite; used as a measure of how much burning is taking place.

N95, KN95 and FFP2 - US, Chinese and European standards for respirator masks that filter at least 94–95 per cent of fine airborne particles when properly fitted.

PM2.5 - airborne particles 2.5 micrometres or less across, small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream.

Positive-pressure room - a sealed room into which a fan pushes filtered outside air, so that air leaks out through gaps rather than polluted air leaking in.

Rai - a Thai unit of land area equal to 1,600 square metres; 6.25 rai make one hectare.

Temperature inversion - a weather condition in which a layer of warmer air sits above cooler air near the ground, trapping pollution beneath it.

Transboundary haze - smoke pollution that originates in one country and drifts into another.

References

Further Reading

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Tuesday, 17 February 2026

A SENSITIVE ADOLESCENT WATCHING HER GRANDPARENTS GROW OLD

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17 February 2026

A SENSITIVE ADOLESCENT WATCHING HER GRANDPARENTS GROW OLDER

I. When You Begin To Notice

There comes a moment, often in adolescence, when a young person begins to see their grandparents differently. They are no longer simply kind figures who bring sweets or tell stories. They appear more fragile, sometimes more anxious, occasionally more rigid or critical. For a sensitive teenager, this can be confusing, even unsettling. It may feel as though something is “going wrong”.

In truth, what they are witnessing is not failure but ageing, ageing in its full psychological depth. Growing old is not only a physical process. It is an emotional and existential one.

II. The House They Built

Much of adult life is spent building. School, exucation, work, training, reputation, property, wealth, business, family - these are the bricks and beams of identity. For decades, people are occupied with construction. They are needed. They are productive. They are busy. They become the achievements.

Later in life, however, the activities of building slow down. Retirement arrives. Children leave home. Social roles shrink. At that point, a person must live inside and reconcile themselves to what they have built. If their identity was based entirely on achievement, the house can feel strangely empty. If they also built inner depth - maybe reflection, self-knowledge, acceptance of change within and without - the house feels warmer.

A teenager observing their grandparents may notice this difference without having language for it. One grandparent may seem peaceful and reflective. Another may seem restless or dissatisfied. What she is seeing is the difference between achievement and integration. Achievement builds the house. Integration makes it habitable.

III. The Shadow That Emerges

The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung wrote about the shadow, meaning the parts of ourselves we prefer not to see - regrets, weaknesses, unfulfilled desires, mistakes made. When people are busy, these aspects can remain hidden, but later in life, when external distractions diminish, they have a tendency to resurface.

This may express itself as repeated complaints, irritation, moral rigidity, or nostalgia for a past that feels safer than the present. For a sensitive adolescent, such behaviour can feel personal. It is important to understand that it often appears like a personal comment by the grandparent on the young person, but in reality what is happening is that the older person may be reflecting on their own life rather than making a judgement of the young.

To see things in this way may help the young person to soften their understanding of what's going on. One begins to understand that ageing can expose unresolved chapters of a long story.

IV. The Search For Meaning

In youth, the central question is often “Who will I become?” In older age, the question shifts to “Did my life matter?” This is not self-pity. It is a natural psychological turn toward meaning.

When grandparents repeat stories, dwell on memories, or reflect on earlier decades, they are not merely being repetitive. They are organising their life narrative. Psychologists describe this as the movement toward ego integrity — the ability to look back on one’s life with a sense of coherence rather than despair.

Ther is a long-running Harvard Study of Adult Development that has consistently found that, in later life, meaning and relationships matter more for wellbeing than wealth or status. What appears from the outside as reminiscence is often an attempt to weave experience into a whole.

V. Mortality In The Background

An adolescent may not consciously think about death, but an older person often does. Friends pass away. Health shifts. Time feels finite rather than expansive. This awareness can bring gratitude and tenderness. It can also bring fear or defensiveness.

A teenager who senses this tension is perceiving something real. Mortality sits unspoken in the room, no one names it. Some older people reconcile themselves to it. Others resist it. Both reactions are human.

Understanding this changes the emotional atmosphere. What looked like stubbornness may partly be vulnerability. What felt like criticism may partly be anxiety.

VI. What The Adolescent Is Learning

To witness ageing closely is an education. It reveals that life is not only about ambition or visibility. It is about becoming whole. It shows that success does not automatically guarantee peace. It teaches that inner work matters as much as outer accomplishment.

For a sensitive young person, this can be both sobering and profound. He or she is seeing the later chapters of a story while they're still writing the first. They may feel sadness or tenderness or even feel fear of what ageing means. All of these responses are natural.

What the young person does not need to feel is responsibility. After all, they cannot repair another person’s unfinished psychological work. But what they can offer is presence, listening, and respect. That is often more powerful than advice.

VII. A Wise Old Conclusion

Old age is not merely decline. It is a stage of reckoning and integration. Some navigate it with serenity. Others struggle. Most do a mixture of both.

A sensitive adolescent who begins to see this clearly is already developing wisdom. He or she is learning that human beings are layered up and unfinished at every age.

And perhaps, without yet fully realising it, they are also learning how to build their own house in a way that one day will make it easier to live inside.


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Thursday, 10 April 2025

WOULD YOU LIKE THE GOOD CARBS FIRST, OR THE BAD

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10 April 2025




Carbohydrates are your body’s fuel—your engine runs on them. But not all carbs are created equal.

Simple carbs are like jet fuel: fast-burning, fast-crashing. They spike your blood sugar and often come from added sugars—look for sneaky names like sucrose, dextrose, or fructose on labels. Soda? Cereal? That sweetened latte? Packed with them.

But it’s not that simple. Some healthy foods naturally contain simple sugars too—milk has lactose, fruit has fructose—but they also give you fibre, vitamins, and slow release energy.

Complex carbs, on the other hand, are the good guys. Found in whole grains, beans, vegetables, and popcorn, they take time to digest, keeping you full and balanced.

Want better carbs?
Choose whole grain bread, brown rice, quinoa, lentils, and starchy veg like sweet potatoes. Skip the syrups and sweeteners hiding in fancy packaging.

Bottom line: Carbs are vital—but pick the ones that give you more than just a sugar rush.

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Saturday, 7 December 2024

LIFE EXPECTANCY IN GLASGOW IN 2024

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7 December 2024


Life Expectancy in Glasgow Challenges and Lessons
No surprises here

Women in Glasgow continue to have the shortest life expectancy in the UK, and while men have improved slightly, they still rank poorly. In stark contrast, the south of England leads the way with significantly higher life expectancy. This survey confirms what we already know from previous surveys.

Thete are probably a few interlinked factors responsible:

Diet and Health Conditions: 
Poor diet contributes to chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes.

Housing Conditions: 
Damp, poorly insulated housing is harmcful to health.

Environmental Factors: 
Air pollution and the industrial legacy of regions like Glasgow worsen respiratory and cardiovascular conditions.

Economic Disparities: 
Lower incomes limit access to nutritious food and quality healthcare.

Healthcare Access: 
Preventive healthcare, like screenings and vaccinations, is less accessible in deprived areas.

Education: 
Affluence often leads to better education, which in turn fosters healthier behaviours like improved diet, reduced smoking, and regular exercise.

COVID-19’s Role

Nationwide policies to manage COVID-19 delayed healthcare access, worsening existing health issues. This impacted the entire country, but deprived areas have struggled to recover.

Addressing the Root Causes

The patterns are clear - inequality lies at the heart of these health disparities. Solutions focus on the usual culprits, the goals shoukd be:

Reduce poverty

Improve education to make individuals aware of health issues abd lifestyle choices.

Invest in healthcare infrastructure and ensure accessibility.

Target deprived areas with tailored public health campaigns.


Beyond Politics and Policies: A Culture of Hope

More than politics, policies and programmes, we need to create a culture of hope. People need to see a future worth striving for, one where health and wellbeing are attainable as the basis of enjoying life. This involves fostering hope and resilience in tge community and providing opportunities for all.

Personal Actions

While the broader issues require setting strategic goals, with solutions and measures of progress, for readers here, we can:

Get Regular Health Check-ups: 
Early detection can prevent or slow severe conditions.

Monitor Air Quality: 
Understanding and dealing with pollution can protect long-term health - buy an air purifier which costs naybe £150 and will keep the air in the room clean.


The challenge lies in moving beyond correlations and analyses to meaningful action, "rfe execution oremium" as it is called, ensuring everyone has the chance to live a healthier, longer life.


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Tuesday, 8 October 2024

THE INCREASE IN CANCERS AMONGST YOUNG PEOPLE (25 - 40)

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8 October 2024

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20241004-the-puzzle-of-rising-early-onset-breast-and-colorectal-cancer-in-younger-people

Here are the top nine suspected factors, according to this article:

Obesity and metabolic syndrome

Ultra-processed foods

High sugar and processed food consumption

Sleep pattern changes

Artificial light exposure (including streetlights and mobile devices)

Microplastics exposure

Increased antibiotic use

Gut microbiome disruption

Opportunistic pathogens (e.g., Fusobacterium nucleatum and E. coli)

These factors are all being investigated as potential contributors to the rise in early-onset cancers among younger populations.

Looking more closely at the last two:

The argument concerning gut microbiome disruption and opportunistic pathogens like Fusobacterium nucleatum and E. coli is based on how alterations in the balance of gut bacteria can lead to increased cancer risk.

Gut microbiome disruption: Antibiotic overuse and poor diet (high in ultra-processed foods) can alter the natural balance of beneficial bacteria in the gut. This disruption may impair the immune system's ability to detect and eliminate abnormal cells, increasing cancer susceptibility.

Opportunistic pathogens: Certain bacteria, like Fusobacterium nucleatum and E. coli, can thrive when the gut microbiome is out of balance. These pathogens may promote cancer by invading gut tissues, driving inflammation, and even causing DNA damage, leading to the development and progression of cancers, particularly colorectal cancer.

This interaction between the microbiome and harmful bacteria highlights the importance of gut health in cancer prevention.





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Sunday, 9 June 2024

TOP TIPS FOR MANAGING JETLAG

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9 June 2024

Here are some tips for adjusting to a new time zone after a long flight bear in mind that you would normally take a day per hour difference but here you can collapse the time.

1. Change Your Clocks


- Adjust all clock faces (laptop, watch, etc.) to the destination's local time as soon as you board the plane.
- This helps you mentally prepare and operate on the new time zone.

2. Sleep Strategy

- Sleep during the first half of a long flight.
- If the flight leaves in the middle of the day, try to fall asleep early.
- Stay awake for at least 12 hours after waking up on the plane to align with the new time zone.
- Use eye masks and earplugs to facilitate rest on the plane.
3. Avoid Alcohol

- Alcohol can disturb sleep patterns and cause drowsiness the next day.
- Avoid alcohol and caffeine to help reset your circadian rhythm.

4. Bright Light Exposure

- Get daylight exposure upon arrival.
- Spend 20-30 minutes outside, exercising or walking.
- Avoid wearing shades in the morning to maximise sunlight exposure and reduce melatonin production.

5. Adjust to New Schedule

- Resist eating when you're hungry if it’s not meal time in the new time zone.
- Align meals with local standard times to help reset your internal clock.

6. Nap Strategically

- Take short naps (10-20 minutes) early in the day if needed.
- Avoid long naps to maintain healthy sleepiness for the night.

Glossary of Terms

- Circadian rhythm: The body's natural 24-hour cycle.
- Melatonin: A hormone that regulates sleep.

Further Reading

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Thursday, 7 April 2022

ROTATOR CUFF AND CHARACTER

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7 April 2022

Sunday, day 0
Tomorrow is Friday, day 5 after the operation on my shoulder, which was last Sunday. That op. put me into a light trauma, a kind of post traumatic shock syndrome someone said to me. 

Monday, day 1
So Monday I was quite disoriented. Some friends noticed this and rallied round, asking me questions about the experience and getting me to talk; for those here in CM, offering practical help as the shock of a six hour operation was one thing, but in practical terms, I've only got one arm! Just try to imagine that!!

Tuesday, day 2
But by Tuesday, when I left hospital, two days after the six hour op., my high spirits had returned. How a person deals with adversity tells you a lot about the strength of character of the person.

Wednesday, day 3
Yesterday Wednesday was OK too - I went out for a walk round the park. And again today.

I have a set of exercises to do four or five times a day at my room, to restore flexibility, but not overdoing it as the tendon has been freshly sewn back.

Thursday, day 4
And today Thursday is more normal still. The person who takes care of my room on a Wednesday morning, while I go for Thai massage two hours, has called daily with food and helped me wash and dress. Good practise for when I'm truly old and decrepid, you might think!!!

Friday, day 5
Then tomorrow, Friday, is the third day after I left hospital and the dressing that protects the wound must be changed every three days. So back to hospital - probably in the morning.

I write all this nonsense as a kind of therapy, away to stay attached to reality.


How to measure the strength of character of a person. Observe them:

-How do they deal with adversity? Do you analyse and draw lessons for yourself, or do you point the finger of blame?
-Faced with a headache of a problem, do you say "oh, I can't do it", or do you persevere till they find the solution?
-Do you stick stubbornly to your decisions, right or wrong, or do you review and are you able to learn from experience?
-Can you accept new thinking without becoming emotional or feeling challenged?
- Are you able to work with others and not feel "ruffled"?

Character is the most important quality a person possesses. It is more important than intelligence, reputation or beauty. What do you think about "character"?

I looked up the etymology of the word "character". It seems to come from the word for an engraving instrument, to carve...carve, carve and carve again. Interesting, eh?!

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Friday, 9 July 2021

COVID FOR TRAVELING TO ENGLAND

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https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-testing-for-people-travelling-to-england

https://www.find-travel-test-provider.service.gov.uk/test-type/green
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