Once or twice per year, Citylife’s editor Pim Kemasingki catches up with the mayor, the governor and a few other key movers and shakers in the city, to find out what the year’s plans are for our fair city and province. This year, we were eager beavers and startled early…only to be reminded that the mayoral election is this May, and he is banned from discussing any new projects or updates before his candidacy is announced, as it could be construed as pandering to electorates and be illegal under the regulations set by the Election Commission. Persevering, she managed to tippy toe around various subjects, and, at least got most of our readers’ questions sent in pre interview asked. So here goes:
Citylife: Will you be running again?
Mayor: Absolutely! I am slightly frustrated as the first two years of my four year term were during the pandemic and there was little budget left for anything else but the Covid crisis. And to pitch any new project to the central government often takes years to reach fruition, so I have so many plans which I have been unable to implement. Four more years will see massive and very big changes to the city.
Citylife: What can you talk about?
Mayor: I can talk about my plans from now until the start of May, when the municipal elections will be held, anything beyond that will have to wait. This past few months, the floods have obviously been the biggest issue to face the city, and that is where the great majority of our emergency resources went. [Ed. The current political posters you see around town are for the upcoming Provinciial Administrative Organisation election which will be held in March.]
Citylife: Please give our readers an overview of the municipality’s purview.
Mayor: We have 130,000 registered residents within the municipal area. However, we estimate a further 200,000-300,000 non-registered residents live within the municipal areas, meaning, those registered in homes elsewhere in the country, yet may work and live here. In total, we have about registered 40,000 households in the municipality. We provide healthcare for them, such as the long-standing Municipal Hospital which cares for around 12,000 residents and we also provide education to 2,000 students across 11 schools and one nursery. We care for the roads, the public utilities, most green and public parks and spaces and most city-related issues. However, there are plenty of other organisations whose responsibilities may appear to overlap us. For instance, until very recently, Nimmanhaemin was the Highway Department’s responsibility.
Citylife: What are you planning for Chiang Mai over the next few months?
Mayor: After our very successful New Year celebrations, when we closed Tha Pae Road for many days and turned it into a walking street with up to 900 shops and stalls, we now have plans to do the same thing more frequently for other occasions such as Songkran. We have surveyed the residents and the businesses, and they appear to be very happy with the closure, so that’s a good thing. We are still thinking about what more we can do for the Flower Festival. This annual event has been part of the city for decades, but in recent years it has been overshadowed by the Bloom Festival and now the PAO Flower Park, so we need to find a way to make the event relevant again. While the governor is in charge of the entire festival, I am responsible for Suan Buak Had Park, so we will deck it out beautifully and have activities for 15 days over the festive period. This upcoming Chinese New Year, on the 29th January, will also be our biggest yet. We will have a parade through town from Tha Pae to Lao Jo Lane in Warorot Market, making it bigger and better than ever before, brimming with Chinese performances and activities. This event is mainly led by the local Chinese communities, which include associations and clubs as well as large families.
One of your readers questioned why our events appear to be aimed more at tourists than the local community. I would like to dispute this, as there are so many locally organised and targeted events across Chiang Mai, perhaps we don’t promote them well enough. Also the more community-forward events tend to happen towards the end of the year.
Citylife: What is going on with the moat’s roads and wire burial progress?
Mayor: We have completed works on Tha Pae Road, with all wires now buried and the road fixed. We have also completed the Moon Muang side of the moat, but we are still waiting for the handover from the Electricity Department, who is currently burying wires and setting up underground systems on the remaining three sides of the moat. Once we have authority again, we will fix all of the moat roads, repaint signs and zebra crossings as well as fix lights and public areas. Our budget for all four sides is 70 million. As you can see, we are already working on areas which we can work on, including the little gardens by the Ratvithi and Chang Puak Intersections. I know it is frustrating, but as the Electricity Department is still digging up holes everywhere, we can’t go in and tarmac it all up as they still need to bury control boxes and sort out all of the wires before we can level the road, remove layers and overlay pavements; it is a process. Please bear with us. As none of these roads can be closed, it is a complicated and slow situation.
Citylife: Many of our readers have complaints about Nimmanhaemin, myself included as I live there, so can you tell us your plans?
Mayor: We must complete the four sides of the moat first, then Nimmanhaemin will be our next project. It has already been budgeted for. One of your readers complained about the size and designs of the pavements, but again, that was the Highway Department’s responsibility until 2022, so I can’t comment on it. But we intend to bury all lines and redesign the entire road system. First of all, it is never more than 10-15 cars parking along Nimman which creates much of the jam. We are aware of that. I can’t speak to details as that would violate the EC rules, but it will take us two years to complete once we start work.
Citylife: What about the much-touted Mae Kha Canal cleanup?
Mayor: We have done a study about the first phrase of the canal cleanup, which we have completed, and have found there to be 300 new businesses and regular stalls to have popped up since the newly minted canal was launched. Water pollution levels are also healthy and feedback has been great. We are starting phrases two and three now which will include five kilometres from JJ Market to the current location, it will cost 22 million and 40 million respectively.
Citylife: And air pollution?
Mayor: I know that it sounds like I am shirking responsibility, but my area is only the municipality. So yes, we are clamping down on pollution generated within our area, so construction trucks must be covered and have their wheels cleaned before leaving work areas, and all 100 community heads have attended workshops to spot emissions and burn violations, with clear instructions as to how to report and deal with such situations. We will arrest everyone who burns, we constantly monitor satellite images for hot spots and our hotlines are as follows (in Thai only):
NakornPing and Srivichai Sub-districts: 0981969895
Kavila Sub-district: 0655471399
Mengrai Sub-district: 0831465546
Citylife: One of our readers wants to know why Tha Pae Gate seems to be filled with cars; what is the policy?
Mayor: Odd you mention that, I just got off the phone from the Fine Arts Department, responsible for Tha Pae Gate, asking for potted plants to block vehicle access to the area so they can keep cars out. They aren’t allowed to park there, but without constant watch, people just ignore the signs.
Citylife: There also appears to be news about development of the Railway Park?
Mayor: As far as I know, half of it belongs to the Provincial Authority Organisation who intend to create a park while the other half belongs to the Railway Authorities, so you will have to ask them.
Citylife: And the old prison?
Mayor: Sorry, once again, it’s not under my responsibility, so you have to ask the governor, as it is up to the provincial hall what is done with the space. But one area I can talk about is the Three Kings Monument area, which is my responsibility. We try fixing it and within days skateboarders break steps or seats, so that is rather frustrating. The same with graffiti across the city; we just can’t keep up! They are so fast. However, we have a new plan to redesign the entire area. [He shows me a design which shows two open aired salas on each side of the square and a much greener overall public space, but says he is unable to share with the public yet.]
We are also about to open a dialysis centre in the Municipal Hospital, as health and wellbeing of our citizens is certainly my responsibility.
Citylife: Any update on our waste management?
Mayor: None. Bangkok is testing out a new recycling system which requires household compliance. Apparently, once that is installed and working, it will be rolled out nationwide. For now, there is no point us trying to set up recycling, when individual households wont start doing it. So our current system stands.
Citylife: It appears that many shophouses, hotels and guesthouses have opened with not enough parking provided, causing public nuisance. Are there rules for such things?
Mayor: Absolutely! Ask any architect. You can’t build anything like that without X space for greenery and parking. The problem comes when the permit has been given and the building completed. People start encroaching on these areas and using them inappropriately. The Public Bureau under our municipality is in charge of this and we are very strict with permits.
Citylife: Any flood prevention plans for the future?
Mayor: The long term solution will have to be to build a wall along the banks of the Ping. But it will be ugly…so that is something we have to accept. Once the bypass channel of water between Mae Ngat and Mae Guang Dams is complete, this will help divert water away from the city and be great for water management. We were prepared to deal with a crisis which saw water levels rise way above danger levels to 4.92 metres, but this year, the unprecedented levels went beyond 5 metres and we just couldn’t cope.
In total 20,000 households were affected by the floods, that is half of our municipal households. The government is giving 10,000 baht per household, and individuals can ask for 9,000 baht each, but we are also asking them for more.
Citylife: And the Chiang Mai Festival idea which we went to Edinburgh together two years in a row for?
Mayor: It is coming…we are already seeing so many new festivals and events happening in Chiang Mai. Let’s get this election over and we can talk more.
