Chiang Mai

[deanpratchett]

It is great to have a forum dedicated to discussion of issues affecting those of us who live in Chiang Mai without having to resort to 'that other forum' that makes a lot of money for its owner, where the comments of so called moderators are more ridiculous than regular users and where certain bars and restaurants that pay money to the forum owner are allowed to promote their businesses wheras anyone else who mentions their own business is banned.

To start the forum rolling: what about the air quality in Chiang Mai at the moment? Is not time for the Mayor to consider resigning as she promised to do something about this problem 2 years ago. The poor are still burning rubbish in the villages because the city council doesn't collect it. She has failed to take on the songthaew mafia who drive round town all day in filthy dirty polluting vehicles that are frequently empty, or the tuk tuks that could be forced to run on clean LPG or even converted to electic, but in fact run on dirty fuel. Very pleasnat woman, no doubt, but she has failed to deliver and should go!

[deanpratchett]

no, the Mayor is still the mayor. and the air quality has been terrible for 5 days now. At danger level. Ban Songthaews and get rid of the Mayor!

[bristolgeoff]

every year they do the burning in chiang mai.it affects many people one way or another.how can you stop the problem,stop the burning then what will you do

[Area Man]

Unfortunately, the current smoke condition in Chiang Mai is not a local or even a national problem, it's a regional issue, especially in the Golden Triangle area of Burma, Thailand and Laos.

Check this satellite image.

The red dots in the pictures are individual fires and you can see the smoke they generate as well as the overall effects of widespread burning.

[Native Thai]

After the rain, the pollution is gone. This is no guarantee that it will not happened again next year. People in Chiang Mai already aware and work a lot on this. The lady mayor is a great person who have made a lot of good changes for the city.

With respect, I would love to invite every of you to support the city and people.
P.S. do not worry about the Red Shirts of Chiang Mai. They are only 500 people. We have 2 million people here.

[kngdady]

I have been to Chiang Mai several times as well as different parts of Thailand and would like to say that Chiang Mai is my favorite place while in Thailand.

[mekong]

Thailand it self has some of the worse air qualities of the word.
But I also have read of a female Mayor in Chiang Mai fighting air pollution ???????

[freofarang]

Well I've just been telling my friends about the tragedy of Chiang Mai's air pollution, and here I find a forum on the topic. Especially between 5pm and 9pm in the evening, the traffic is insane and the exhaust fumes nearly lethal in concentration. Public transport might reduce it somewhat. I really hope the authorities find a solution and the finances to make it happen, for the sake of the continued wellbeing of the local population, tourists, the tourist industry, the envirnoment, and even the historical, cultural and religious structures, that are all of significant importance to the world community.
I suggest someone starts an appeal. It will be a long task, to try and accumulate the finances, ideas and proposals, and all suggestions should be welcomed.
Best of luck Chiang Mai.

[mocha11]

Last year I drove as far as Khon Kaen before the smoke thinned out. I sat in the airport departure lounge and could barely make out Doi Suthep which is 3-5km away. Unfortunately it isn't just Thailand, its from burning in Burma and Laos as well. I have extra filter material on the aircons and seperate air filters which helps to make life easier inside the house. It can get unpleasant. As Venturalaw says, this year has been very good because of the early rains.

[jessy27]

I'm sorry to hear about the air quality in Chiang Mai, my parents and I traveled through there when
I was younger and I remember it to be a beautiful place.