Old Growth Trees Felled Along Ping River

[Krungthepian]

Hi,

a friend of mine has just rented a place on the Ping river - on Faham road - north of the Super Highway bridge - was shocked to discover municipal workers cutting down old growth trees at the bottom of his block along the river yesterday. The workers told his wife they were doing this to build a public walkway. And they had allegedly been ordered to do this by the Mayor.

He is very upset about losing some beautiful old trees and possible destabilisation of the river bank. Indeed he fears it has ruined his reasons for moving to the property.

Does anybody know what is going on? Is this story told by the workers true? Have their been reports in the media that this was going to happen?

Feedback very welcome.

[davidgtr]

Funny you should say this because the bastards just came into our soi Sotsuksa in Chang Puak, got out a chainsaw, cut down a beautiful big roadside tree & left.

I wonder if it's a new big tree clean up policy going on?

[Ajarn]

Reminds me of the beautiful old trees along Thanon Suthep and along the road to Sankampeng that were cut down many years ago. Simply so they could widen the road...

Edited March 21, 2008 by Ajarn

[davidgtr]

Funny you should say this because the bastards just came into our soi Sotsuksa in Chang Puak, got out a chainsaw, cut down a beautiful big roadside tree & left.

I wonder if it's a new big tree clean up policy going on?

Here's some pix of the butchers of Chiang Mai at work

No logic in this whatsoever, but then again what should be expect from the tessebaan. 5 phone calls to complain & no one cares or gives a dam_n!

I wonder what was the point of this exercise.

Well done Mayor. Congratulations on contributing to the further destruction of Chiang Mai's environment.

[Jefferson]

Trees are evil, and ghosts accumulate in them. Time for a crackdown.

[Bluelotus]

They did the same to the trees over my favorite lunch spot .

[sylviex]

Really, what is the ...erm ... logic in that ??

[mcgriffith]

Maybe the Charcoal Makers Association contributed mightily to the successful mayoral campaign....who knows?

[mobs00]

With all joking aside, would it be possible to get the local Monks to bless the trees? It seems that the trees with yellow and orange ribbon tied around them never get touched.

Or maybe you could tie some ribbon around your favorite trees? If the workers think they have ghosts in them I am sure they would leave them alone.

[mcgriffith]

Excellent idea, mobs!

[Mapguy]

Let's get real here. Some, reading my posts on air pollution, probably label me as an ecofreak. Sorry, NOT

Anyway, there are a lot of valid reasons for cutting down trees as well as thoughtless destruction of old growth. I am glad there are photos. Maybe there is no valid reason for cutting down those trees! But muang services, the utility people --- whoever --- do NOT go out in the hot noon day sun to do this for sport!! Only Englishmen do that, according to Noel Coward !! Certainly, no one is going to get a thoughtful explanation from a workman or supervisor of a crew at the site even if they are polyglots !! They simply follow orders!! Maybe the city plan calls for a freeway through that soi!! I don't know!! Who knows???!!! Well, who knows?! Get sensible! Have a legitimate question? Be smart enough to go to the right person for the right answer!

If you play cricket at Gymkhana, you know you take your life into your hands if you want to practice your bowling or batting in one of the cages designed for practice. Above the cages are some decidedly dangerous BIG dead branches. Not a joke!!

So, there are choices to make!! Cricket practice in THAT place? Or what about the demand for uninterrupted electrical service on wires strung underneath trees? Or what about a road? I have heard more than one casual comment about narrow sois and how crowded and difficult it is to get around Chiang Mai city quickly!!

Anyway, if an answer is not readily apparent, check it out --- at least --- with the mayor. She does not have a lot of power, nor do I think she is particularly interested in just being a mayor, but she's a good sort!

[mcgriffith]

She studied for one of her degrees at the University of California Irvine, about 10 miles from where I lived for 20 or so years in South Orange County.

She knows perfectly well what the ideal is. Irvine and Mission Viejo were 2 of the first large scale master-plan communities, built in the 1980s up till recently. Lots of wide avenues, green medians, lots of open green space and small lakes with walkways, children's playgrounds and small neighborhood community parks everywhere, curved streets, etc. She lived there, and saw firsthand how space can be zoned and planned properly, how burning or code enforcement laws are enforced, etc.

It just a (huge) question of finding the budget, and the political momentum to accomplish these goals.

[john b good]

Reminds me of the beautiful old trees along Thanon Suthep and along the road to Sankampeng that were cut down many years ago. Simply so they could widen the road...

There are times when it is necessary in the interests of road safety to widen roads even if it means cutting down some trees.

Then there are cases where they should re-route the road rather than cut down trees, a case in point being the Chiangmai - Lamphun road. It would be a travesty of justice if these trees were ever cut down. That said the trees are a bloody hazard to everyone using the road.

Our lady mayor is (1) a rather lovely looking woman and (2) a great talker. Other than that I don't think that she has too much going for her.

Edited March 21, 2008 by john b good

[davidgtr]

Well, here's the finished product. Not exactly pruning...

From this

Sickening!

There's not a great deal of hope for our city environment with staff / officials operating like this to look after our municipality. Where's the logic / common sense?

Edited March 22, 2008 by davidgtr

[cmsally]

Those trees look like they are directly outside someone's property ( maybe the owner asked them to cut them down).

But obviously if you are the owner that wasn't the case.

If that is your property you would be quite right to come out and ask what the h... was going on.

One Sunday afternoon I came home to find 3 guys digging a huge hole at the back of my house - OK so it was outside, but right next to my fence.

After trying to avoid answering they admitted some enormous signpost was going to be put there. To which I said forget it, you are blocking my entrance. What entrance, they said? The gate I am going to put there tomorrow, I said. Puzzled look on their faces.

To cut a long story short they had to move their hole somewhere else. So far away I have no idea where it went.

Along the Ping River, they are planning walkways along the whole stretch, I don't know how far they have got.

They have the common sense enough to know walkways can be built around trees. But somewhere along the chain of command, someone has decided it is more logical (read, financially rewarding) to cut down the trees which stand in the way of a nice straight footpath.

If you take some pictures of the trees, maybe you can get some answers about what is going on from the environmental groups mentioned on some of the other topics.

[Ajarn]

With all joking aside, would it be possible to get the local Monks to bless the trees? It seems that the trees with yellow and orange ribbon tied around them never get touched.

Or maybe you could tie some ribbon around your favorite trees? If the workers think they have ghosts in them I am sure they would leave them alone.

It doesn't seem to matter to the city if the trees are 'blessed' or not. A few of the old trees on Suthep had loads of 'blessings' (cloth strips placed around the trunk) but were cut the same... Times have changed