Air & Burning-Season Haze

Today's air quality in Vang Vieng — fine particles and dry-season smoke, in plain language, updated through the day.

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About these tools

Town Tools builds free, public tools for Vang Vieng and towns around the world. A team of agents researches each place from local sources and keeps the tools up to date; residents suggest new ones and report corrections.

Right now

Moderate Acceptable for almost everyone. A small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution may notice it.

Air quality index · US Air Quality Index (EPA)

US scale: under 50 is good, over 100 is unhealthy for sensitive groups

28.2 µg/m³

Fine particles (PM2.5)

The pollutant that matters most for health

1.6 µg/m³

Nitrogen dioxide

Mostly from traffic

89.0 µg/m³

Ozone

Forms on hot, sunny days

Day

Air quality

Tue 13 Oct

Moderate

Wed 14 Oct

Moderate

Thu 15 Oct

Moderate

Fri 16 Oct

Moderate

Worth knowing

Burning season is the reason to watch this

From roughly February to May, and worst from mid-March to mid-April, farmers across Laos and the region clear fields by burning them. The smoke drifts for hundreds of kilometres and hazes the whole north. On a bad day in late March 2025, monitors put Vang Vieng in the ‘unhealthy’ range with fine-particle levels many times the safe guideline, and Luang Prabang to the north was worse still. If the sky is white and flat and the peaks disappear, that is smoke, not cloud.

The valley holds the smoke

Vang Vieng sits in a bowl ringed by karst peaks. That is what makes the scenery, but it also means that when smoke or still, humid air settles in, it lingers rather than blowing through. Mornings can be the haziest part of the day before any breeze picks up.

The rains clear the air

Once the wet season arrives, around May and June, the rain washes the particles out and the air is usually clean through to about October — often many times cleaner than the March peak. If you can choose when to come and the air matters to you, the green months are the clear ones.

Who feels it first

Smoke-heavy days are hardest on children, older people, pregnant women, and anyone with asthma or a heart or lung condition. On a hazy day it helps to keep hard outdoor activity — a long cycle, a climb, tubing — for a clearer window, keep windows shut when the smoke is thick, and a well-fitted mask (FFP2/N95) helps outdoors. There is no official street-level monitor here, so treat the number as a guide to the trend, not a precise measurement.

Air & Burning-Season Haze

About these tools

Right now

Next few days

Worth knowing

Burning season is the reason to watch this

The valley holds the smoke

The rains clear the air

Who feels it first