Frequently asked questions
Straight answers about what Thai Haze Risk is, who it's for, and what its score does and doesn't tell you. For how the score is calculated, see the methodology page.
What is Thai Haze Risk?
A tool that scores seasonal agricultural-burning risk for zones of Upper Northern Thailand, built for people deciding where to settle, rent or buy property long-term — not for checking today's air quality.
Who is this for?
Expats and foreigners considering settling or buying property in northern Thailand, families with children sensitive to air quality, and digital nomads planning their stay around burning season (January–April).
How is this different from IQAir/AirVisual or other air quality apps?
Those apps answer "what's the air like right now" — they're excellent at that, and we don't try to compete on it. Thai Haze Risk answers a different question: over several seasons, which zones are historically least affected? It's a decision tool for a long-term move, not a daily-readings app.
Why does my area show "Insufficient data" instead of a score?
That only happens when GISTDA's burnt-area endpoint returns no data at all for that point — the one input every zone needs to be scored. It's shown as a distinct, hatched state, never folded into a low-risk score.
What does "partial coverage" mean?
The zone has a score, but drought recurrence and/or soil moisture data was unavailable for it, so the score rests on burnt area alone (or burnt area plus whichever of the two is available), with the weights adjusted accordingly. This is common — about 46% of tambons nationwide as of the 2026-08-12 pipeline run.
How often is the data updated?
Via a batch pipeline, not live. The current dataset is from the 2026-08-12 run. It isn't on an automated schedule yet — see the methodology page's "pipeline run" date for the most recent update.
What is a "tambon", and why that level of detail?
A tambon (sub-district) is the finest administrative level Thailand's official statistics use — smaller than a district, larger than a village. It's also the finest level at which GISTDA's drought and soil-moisture endpoints return data, so it's the natural unit for this score.
Where does the data come from? Is this an official source?
Burnt area, drought recurrence and soil moisture come from GISTDA (Thailand's space agency) public APIs. Administrative boundaries come from the Royal Thai Survey Department via the UN's Humanitarian Data Exchange. Thai Haze Risk itself is an independent project, not affiliated with GISTDA or the Thai government — it combines their public data into a score they don't publish themselves.
Does a low score mean the air is always clean there?
No. The score measures where biomass burns, not the PM2.5 a resident actually breathes — smoke travels with wind and valley geometry, so a zone with no local burning can still receive smoke from a neighbouring one. See "What this score does not say" on any zone's report.
Which areas are covered?
The 9 provinces of Upper Northern Thailand: Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son, Lamphun, Lampang, Phrae, Nan, Phayao and Tak — together responsible for roughly 99.8% of the country's biomass-burning emissions. Southern Thailand and Bangkok are out of scope; they aren't materially affected by this specific seasonal pattern.
Can I get alerts, or use this via an API?
Not yet — both are on the list of possible future features, not part of the current version.