What’s Killing Thailand’s Tourist Industry?

Air pollution levels in Thailand’s northern city of Chiang Mai and surrounding provinces are keeping tourists away and alarming locals, with the government, urging residents to avoid outdoor activities. For several weeks last month, the city was at the top of air quality information platform IQAir’s global chart on poor air quality, ahead of Lahore, Pakistan and New Delhi, India.

Authorities have blamed a combination of forest fires and crop burning in Thailand and its neighboring countries. Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said he was coordinating with Laos and Myanmar to reduce hot spots in the border area to curb transboundary haze.

Chiang Mai, known for its scenic mountainous views, temples and chic cafés, received 10.8 million visitors in pre-pandemic 2019, but hotel bookings in the city have dropped to 45% occupancy, the Thai Hotel Association Northern Chapter president Phunut Thanalaopanich told Reuters on Monday.

Thailand’s second-largest city after Bangkok had received 10.8 million visitors in 2019, before the Covid pandemic. For the authorities, the air pollution is caused by the numerous fires in the last month and the stubble burning carried out each year after the harvest by farmers throughout Southeast Asia.

The level of fine particles is now more than 60 times higher than the maximum threshold set by the WHO. Exposure to these tiny particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres is particularly harmful. Indeed, they increase the risk of contracting respiratory and cardiovascular diseases as well as cancer. 

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The threshold of prevention of concentration of these particles set by the World Health Organization (WHO) is 15 micrograms per cubic meter. Some days in March, the levels in the 18 districts that make up the northern province of Chiang Rai, on the border with Burma and Laos, were much higher – ranging, according to La Croix, from 37 to 550 micrograms per cubic meter.

These rates are of great concern to the more than 127,000 inhabitants of the city located 800 kilometres from Bangkok. It’s getting worse every year, pointed out the experts. Allergies and the risk of cancer are of particular concern to Chiang Mai residents.

The Thai Ministry of Health called on Chiang Maians to avoid all outdoor activities and to wear masks capable of filtering fine particles. The provincial governor, Nirat Pongsittitavorn, already called for telecommuting. Despite these measures, more than 1.3 million people in Thailand have fallen ill since the beginning of the year due to air pollution.