Chiang Mai pollution slows tourism

A tourist wears an N95 mask while riding a motorcycle in Chiang Mai province. Photo: Pattarapong Chatpattarasill
A tourist wears an N95 mask while riding a motorcycle in Chiang Mai province. Photo: Pattarapong Chatpattarasill

Chiang Mai tourism operators are hoping the province's unsafe levels of PM2.5 air pollution lessen later this month as the Songkran holiday draws near.

The Thai Hotels Association said the polluted environment is affecting tourism this month as fewer bookings have been made.

The average occupancy in March is forecast to reach 50-60%, largely guests who booked before the air pollution, according to the association.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand said the government's hotel subsidy campaign, which was fully booked last week, recorded a low booking rate for Chiang Mai.

The province still lacks a long-term plan to battle the annual problem, the association said, adding "Advanced bookings don't look good for April despite the popularity of the Songkran holiday."

Water splashing around Chiang Mai's moat has long been a popular activity for visitors during the festival.

Vocabulary

  • affect: to produce a change in somebody/something - กระทบ, ส่งผล, มีผลต่อ
  • annual: happening once a year - ประจำปี
  • battle: to try very hard to achieve something difficult or to deal with something unpleasant or dangerous - ต่อสู้, ดิ้นรนต่อสู้, มุ่งมั่นฝ่าฟัน
  • booking (noun): buying a ticket in advance; to arrange to have or use something on a particular date in the future - การจองล่วงหน้า,การจอง
  • despite (prep): used to show that something happened or is true although something else might have happened to prevent it; used to show that somebody did not intend to do the thing mentioned - ถึงอย่างไรก็ตาม, ทั้ง ๆ ที่
  • forecast (verb): to say what you think will happen in the future based on information that you have now - ทำนาย, ทาย, พยากรณ์
  • occupancy: the percentage of rooms in a hotel that have paying guests staying in them, i.e., paying guests occupying them -
  • polluted: (of water, air, land) having dirty or harmful substances so that it is no longer pleasant or safe to use - ซึ่งเป็นมลพิษ
  • pollution (noun): contaminated, when something has been made dirty, poisonous, unpleasant to see or smell and possibly dangerous to health - การทำให้เป็นมลพิษ, การทำให้สกปรก, ภาวะมลพิษ, สภาวะมลพิษ, มลภาวะเป็นพิษ, สภาพเป็นพิษ, ความสกปรก
  • popular (adj): a situation in which someone or something is liked by many people - เป็นที่นิยม, เป็นที่ชื่นชอบ
  • splash: to hit something noisily with a liquid - กระเด็นเปื้อน, สาดกระเด็น
  • subsidy: an amount of money that a government or organisation pays to help to reduce the cost of a product or service - เงินชดเชยที่รัฐเป็นผู้จ่ายให้
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