Air quality comparison · Thailand, 709 km apart
Chon Buri vs Hat Yai Air quality index (AQI) today
Hat Yai has cleaner air than Chon Buri right now: AQI 10 (Good) against 75 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Hat Yai averaged AQI 23 against 46, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Hat Yai has lost more forest since 2001. Chon Buri has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Chon Buri75Hat Yai10
Head to head
Chon Buri vs Hat Yai at a glance
Chon Buri and Hat Yai are level, each ahead on 3 of 6 measures. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Chon Buri | Hat Yai | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 75 | 10 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 21.8 | 1.8 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 46 | 23 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 44 ha (better) | 4,770 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 22.3% (better) | 15.0% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 18.7K (better) | 47.1K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Chon Buri and Hat Yai right now?
Hat Yai has cleaner air than Chon Buri right now: AQI 10 (Good) against 75 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Chon Buri's PM2.5 is about 1.5× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Chon Buri is read from a nearby ground station and Hat Yai is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
Chon BuriHat Yai
Concentrations at the same moment as the index above, for the pollutants both places report. Lower is better. The dark marks on the PM2.5 and PM10 rows show the WHO's 24-hour guidelines (15 and 45 µg/m³).
Chon Buri: Ground station · Soi Bumrungsin , 4.8 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, M Cross.
Hat Yai: Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 165 km, e.g. Alor Setar and Kota Kuala Muda. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 165 km, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Hat Yai averaged AQI 23 against 46, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Chon Buri0Hat Yai7
- Average AQI
- Chon Buri46Hat Yai23
- Worst day, AQI
- Chon Buri59Hat Yai32
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Chon Buri | Hat Yai |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 4 | 56 | 24 |
| Nov 5 | 43 | 32 |
| Nov 6 | 50 | 31 |
| Nov 7 | 43 | 19 |
| Nov 8 | 59 | 19 |
| Nov 9 | 44 | 17 |
| Nov 10 | 24 | 21 |
Daily averages from the CAMS atmospheric model for both places, so the week compares like with like. They can differ from today's reading at the top of the page wherever that comes from a ground station.
What it means today
Is it safe to go outside in Chon Buri and Hat Yai today?
Chon Buri (AQI 75, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Hat Yai (AQI 10, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Exercise outdoors
- Chon Buri
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
- Hat Yai
- A good day to be active outside.
Windows
- Chon Buri
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
- Hat Yai
- Open them to air the house.
Masks
- Chon Buri
- Not needed for most people.
- Hat Yai
- Not needed.
Air purifier
- Chon Buri
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
- Hat Yai
- Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Chon Buri and Hat Yai compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Chon Buri's air is cleaner than 34% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Hat Yai's is cleaner than 97%. Within Thailand, that is 0% and 100% of its 31 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Chon Buri
- Beats 34%
- Hat Yai
- Beats 97%
More tree cover than…
- Chon Buri
- Beats 52%
- Hat Yai
- Beats 34%
Includes model estimates as well as station readings, so it can differ from our most polluted and cleanest air rankings, which use station readings only.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which has lost more forest, Chon Buri or Hat Yai?
Hat Yai has lost more: about 4,770 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 44 ha around Chon Buri. 4,760 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Measured within 10 km of each center, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: a wider circle than the one for tree cover, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Worst year: 2008, with 7 ha lost.
Worst year: 2017, with 409 ha lost.
| Chon Buri | Hat Yai | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 44 ha (better) | 4,770 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 2.4% (better) | 41% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 40 ha (better) | 4,760 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Slowing down |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (86%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (82%) |
Satellite timelapses
Watch both change, year by year
A clear satellite photo a year of the land around each city. Press play, turn on the forest cleared since the first year, or drag the before and after.
Chon Buri
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Hat Yai
2017: satellite photo from April 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southeast of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Chon Buri or Hat Yai?
Chon Buri has more tree cover: 22.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 15.0% around Hat Yai, or about 54,225 trees against 47,124.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Chon Buri | Hat Yai | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 54.2K (better) | 47.1K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 18.7K (better) | 47.1K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.2M kg (better) | 1.0M kg |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each center, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Reading these numbers
How this comparison is made
Air quality index
The US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations: ground stations where a place has them nearby, and the CAMS atmospheric model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so it is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place. The guideline marks are from the WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines.
Trees and forest
Tree cover is the share of ground under canopy within 2 km of each center, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It measures that circle, not the whole municipality, which is what makes the two comparable. Forest loss comes from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
More on the method on the About Airleaf page.
Frequently asked
Chon Buri vs Hat Yai: your questions answered
Is Hat Yai cleaner than Chon Buri?
On air quality, yes, right now: Hat Yai reads AQI 10 against 75, a gap of 65 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Hat Yai averaged AQI 23 against 46, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Chon Buri and Hat Yai today?
In Chon Buri, at AQI 75: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. In Hat Yai, at AQI 10: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Which has lost more forest, Chon Buri or Hat Yai?
Hat Yai has lost more: about 4,770 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 44 ha around Chon Buri. 4,760 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Chon Buri or Hat Yai?
Chon Buri has more tree cover: 22.3% of the land within 2 km of its center against 15.0% around Hat Yai, or about 54,225 trees against 47,124. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Chon Buri and Hat Yai need?
Chon Buri needs about 18,723 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Hat Yai about 47,124 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Chon Buri and Hat Yai measured the same way?
The method is the same: the US EPA index for air, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over an identical radius for trees. Chon Buri is read from a nearby ground station and Hat Yai is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Chon Buri vs Hat Yai comparison update?
The air readings refresh about once an hour, and each reading's local time is shown at the top of the page. Tree cover comes from the latest clear satellite image of each area (Jul 19, 2026 and Aug 3, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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