Apec's over, so lop the trees

[george]

Apec's over, so lop the trees

BANGKOK: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has called on city hall and electricity authorities to stop the unsightly lopping of trees in city streets.

Mr Thaksin told his cabinet he was shocked by the sight of so many bare trunks and branches on his return from a trip to England.

``It was so sad. We had a lot of green trees during the Apec summit,'' he told ministers, a source said.

``I never thought their branches would be cut off right after the meeting.''

Sita Divari, the government spokesman, said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Praphat Panyachartrak had explained that the Metropolitan Electricity Authority had asked city hall to cut away tree branches which were touching power transmission lines.

Mr Thaksin said the trees should not have been cut back to the point there was almost nothing left of them.

He instructed local authorites to talk about ways of keeping the city green without interfering with power lines.

--Bangkok Post 2003-10-31

[dr_Pat_Pong]

He's also gonna stop the flooding without interfering with the roads. A relative of King Canute perhaps    

[huski]

``It was so sad. We had a lot of green trees during the Apec summit,'' he told ministers, a source said.

green trees? what about doing something about those <deleted> green buses that spew smoke and try to run every pedestrian over.

[plachon]

I don't Adam and Eve it! i've found something I not only wholeheartedly agree with the PM, but discover that he does have a chink in his armour. He actually felt "sad" about the destruction of the trees, which is a rare admission for a top dog politician. Normally, though they cut the trees before the Big Kaek comes to town in a fit of "pak chee loy naa", so this suggests that Samak was warned off lopping them all down by Thaksin, but as soon as he was out the country for a second, the BMA went at it with chainsaws and loppers, true to form. After all, can't have messy birds roosting in our trees or leaves giving shade to pedestrians or filtering out the pollution can we? or it might actually become a livable city!

[Guest IT Manager]

Who was it said that Governor "beggars are the same as dogs" Samak had a brain, again?

[Butterfly]

Micro-managing Thailand, that's the way to go. Btw, there is no electricity in my apartment, can Mr Toxin help ?