With temperatures rising above 36C and four children playing in our small house my wife decided we should all depart for the riverside.
Just 6km from our village and approximately the same distance from Thaton lies a very popular "beach", a place that during the Songkran revelry gets more than a thousand visitors a day, to a village temporary constructed from bamboo poles where food, drink and very loud music is considered obligatory for a good time. With the holiday over and the village undergoing demolition we were unfortunately provided with a perfect scene of the aftermath of a Thai party.
The first remark from our neighbours' six-year-old was, "Why does it smell like a pig farm?", a question quite obviously true.
Moving slightly downriver to avoid the unpleasant smell we found a decent enough patch of sand and the kids cooled off in the flowing water. During the course of their play they discovered three large beer bottles in the river which we added to the collection of plastic bags, cups, bottles and bowls that were littered all around the sight. To be honest it looked like the clearing ground for a refugee camp.
The next rains will ensure all we didn't collect washes down through Chiang Rai, over to the Golden Triangle and into the Mekong for the long journey down through Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam to the ocean.
I was left with a very simple question: What does the average Thai citizen think happens to the non-biodegradable rubbish that they leave on the riverbank? Do they think about it, are they capable of this reasoning, and if not why not?
If the nation's citizens can't get their minds around the simple problem of rubbish dispersal, how can we ever expect them to understand all the related problems of drunk and dangerous driving on the highways?
Lungstib
Doi Suthep secrecy
Re: "Social media campaigns against Doi Suthep court project", (BP, April 22).
Those who criticise the citizens of Chiang Mai for having waited so long, until the controversial court housing project was 98% finished before coming out in protest -- deserve to be addressed as being totally unwitting of the facts.
This project has been kept surreptitious all along during its construction phase.
Legal rights over this land notwithstanding, the location of this project is exactly in the vicinity of the Doi Suthep-Pui Sanctuary -- which is also home to the revered Doi Suthep temple as well as the beautiful and venerated Bhubing Royal Palace. And most importantly, this sanctuary serves as the lungs of Chiang Mai city.
If this project is allowed to go on without any deterrent, similar projects will mushroom in the same manner until the overall Doi Suthep-Pui sanctuary is destroyed beyond redemption.
Hence, since Doi Suthep is our lifeline -- we will fight to the end and in every way possible, in order to protect it.
Chavalit Wannawijitr
Taking a toll on us
Some may recall that in the 80s, the pay tolls were installed on Sukhumvit Road, which was and is a public road, on the way from Bangkok to Pattaya and back. Each motorist had to pay at least three baht. The public was unhappy and brought the case to the court. The payment was declared illegal as the road had been built and maintained using taxes including the road taxes. The tolls were demolished.
On Saturday, we travelled by car from Pattaya to Bangkok through the motorway and had to pay 110 baht. Just recently it had been only 60 baht. Again, the pay tolls have been installed on the private road, close to Pattaya, resulting in almost a doubling of the payment.
I believe that this case will be brought to court as well and the increase will be declared illegal. It may take a lot of time. Meanwhile, some, who are already rich, will get a lot of money.
But to think again, with so many happy people, should the public complain at all?
Guena
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