Anybody else see the banners above the roads around the moat saying "Songkran Festival 1-18"

The moat would dry up with all the people throwing buckets of water at passing motorbikes for 18 days...

They want you to start throwing water early to help clear the air of the smoke.

I'm serious....this is what they think....doesn't seem like it would work but don't know for sure.

It might work if enough people threw eoungh water up high enough and it dispersed into fine droplets and fell through the haze it would act rather like a flue gas scrubber. Then you'd have a hole in the haze over Chiang Mai that the surrounding haze would fill up in hours.

Joking aside, I think their idea is that splashing water around causes it to evaporate faster, then it accumulates in the high atmosphere as clouds causing rain to fall clearing the haze.

Did I say joking aside? Oh, of course we are discussing the ideas of politicians.

This is typical politics. Come up with a daft scheme that buys a bit of time and hopefully the haze will clear naturally and you can claim success. An added bonus to this scheme is that any subsequent drought can be blamed on the people playing Songkhran too early and for too long. It's what the politicians call a win-win situation, they win twice.

Sorry if I appear cynical but I am.

It might work if enough people threw eoungh water up high enough and it dispersed into fine droplets and fell through the haze it would act rather like a flue gas scrubber. Then you'd have a hole in the haze over Chiang Mai that the surrounding haze would fill up in hours.

Joking aside, I think their idea is that splashing water around causes it to evaporate faster, then it accumulates in the high atmosphere as clouds causing rain to fall clearing the haze.

Did I say joking aside? Oh, of course we are discussing the ideas of politicians.

This is typical politics. Come up with a daft scheme that buys a bit of time and hopefully the haze will clear naturally and you can claim success. An added bonus to this scheme is that any subsequent drought can be blamed on the people playing Songkhran too early and for too long. It's what the politicians call a win-win situation, they win twice.

Sorry if I appear cynical but I am.

I think it's the current Chiang Mai Governor's plan.

He also 'saved' CM from the floods last year by dredging the Ping river just in front of the US consulate.

Anybody else see the banners above the roads around the moat saying "Songkran Festival 1-18"

The moat would dry up with all the people throwing buckets of water at passing motorbikes for 18 days...

Those banners seem to be the residue of this idea - no doubt the result of a keen bureaucrat who missed a tardy memo. The press (and all my local Thai relatives!) are saying that Songkran is officially 12-17 April in Chiang Mai this year.

JxP

I know I am one of the few excited for this, sorry for all of you that are scheduled to leave on the "real" days...

This quote is from the Chiang Mai Mail:

http://www.chiangmai-mail.com/current/news.shtml#hd3

Mayor's Office confirms Songkran set for April 12-17

A comment made earlier last week by Chiang Mai Mayor Boonlert Buranupakorn suggesting Songkran be moved forward to April 1 was only an idea he believed would help improve the air quality in the city.

The official starting date for Songkran is April 12 and will continue through April 17.

Full coverage of the annual event including details of the Moat roads being closed to all vehicles will appear in next weeks ChiangMai Mail.

I'm outta here the 5th

I'm outta here the 5th

I'm leaving for Sri Lanka and India on the 6th, back on the 18th.

Gettin' my butt to the cool North American springtime, April 8-30 to do a little mountain snowboarding, and tours of tulip fields in my home state.

Eat your hearts out, expats, with all the sweat, dirty moat water, chalky-gooey powder, and smoky air.