Chiang Mai netizens want NACC to take action against their mayor over fake snow



CHIANG MAI: -- A complaint was lodged with the Chiang Mai’s office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission today by a group of netizens demanding legal action to be taken against the mayor of Chiang Mai.

The group claimed that the mayor, Mr Tassanee Buranapakorn, might have benefited from the snow festival held at Eastin Tan hotel on Nimman Hemin road. About 40 tonnes of salt were used as imitate snow.

Officials of the Pollution Control Department have checked the water samples taken from drains around the site of the festival. Results of the tests are yet to be made public.

The organizer of the festival has already disposed of more than 90 percent of the salt from the site. The rest is to be disposed of by means of vacuum cleaners.

The organizer has reportedly offered to give away the salt for use to make salt leaks but it was rejected by the National Parks and Wildlife Department. So the salt will be returned to the supplier to be properly disposed of.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/chiang-mai-netizens-want-nacc-take-action-mayor-fake-snow


-- Thai PBS 2015-01-06

it was inevitable...

Hopefully the NACC has a few higher priorities than an unsubtantiated claim of corruption over this salty event.

What a bunch of Whingers!

There is to date, NO Proof that the Refined Salt would cause pollution in the Drains of Chiang Mai.

It might very well, give them a decent Clean-out!

As for allegations of "corruption," what a load of "R.S." (refined salt, if you will) I suspect all of the complaints are from those who are miffed that they didn't think of the idea first, to use at their venue.

We should be congratulating the Hotel Owner and the Mayor, for an initiative that brought............

a "Wonderful Winter Wonderland of Delight" to our city.

In countries where you have colder weather in Winter, you use tons of salt to keep snow and ice off from the roads with little environmental impact. Why a little bit of salt in Chiang MaI should cause a big damage I don't know. And why the mayor should have benefited from this I don't understand neither. Sounds politically motivated to me.

Seems some think there is no environmental impact from salt because its used in snow countries. It's used because it's cheap not because it is safe. Think of the millions in cost of damage from rust in cars, bridges, metal drainage systems, etc. Millions spent on car rust proofing and undercoating. A lot of impact studies have shown it to be very detrimental. So read up and get up to speed.

http://des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/wmb/was/salt-reduction-initiative/impacts.htm

In August 2000 Environment Canada completed a five-year study of the effects of road salt on the environment. They concluded that road salts (sodium chloride, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, and ferrocyanide salts) are toxic to the environment, particularly in large concentrations. In the United States, deicing salt is considered a possible pollutant under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).

The heavy use of road salts can lead to damage to vegetation, to organisms in soil, to birds, and to other wildlife. Almost all chloride ions from road salts eventually find their way into waterways, whether by direct run-off into surface water or by moving through the soil and groundwater. In surface water, road salts can harm freshwater plants, fish, and other organisms that are not adapted to living in saline waters.

But it doesn't stop there — road salts also threaten drinking water security. For example, the region of Waterloo has found chloride levels in its municipal water wells as high as 233mg/L, close to the unsafe level of 250mg/L set by the Ministry of the Environment.

Because most ice melters contain salt, they can also injure pets and children. Doctors and veterinarians routinely treat cases of poisoning and painful skin and jaw lesions that are caused by these salt deicers. Animals can be poisoned when they lick ice-melting products off their feet, so be sure to use a damp towel to wipe your pet's paws and underside after being outside.

Source - http://water.greenventure.ca/road-salts-alternatives

Smithsonian - http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-happens-to-all-the-salt-we-dump-on-the-roads-180948079/?no-ist

Slate.com - http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/the_green_lantern/2010/02/salting_the_earth.html

Environment.about.com - http://environment.about.com/od/pollution/fl/The-Environmental-Effects-of-Road-Salt.htm

Many, many articles on environmental impact that come to the same conclusion.

@tywais: not saying there is no impact from road salt, I'm saying there is relatively little impact on the environment considering the gigantic amounts of salt being used in some countries. So the tiny small amount of salt that was used in Chiang Mai will have no impact to the environment in Thailand. I can tell you there are dozens of other things you should be concerned about in Thailand in terms of environmental pollution than this tiny bit of salt that was used.

@tywais: not saying there is no impact from road salt, I'm saying there is relatively little impact on the environment considering the gigantic amounts of salt being used in some countries. So the tiny small amount of salt that was used in Chiang Mai will have no impact to the environment in Thailand. I can tell you there are dozens of other things you should be concerned about in Thailand in terms of environmental pollution than this tiny bit of salt that was used.

You are right about the amount but the concern is that a precedence has been set that would be better to be stopped before other bright bulbs think it is ok.

Seems some think there is no environmental impact from salt because its used in snow countries. It's used because it's cheap not because it is safe. Think of the millions in cost of damage from rust in cars, bridges, metal drainage systems, etc. Millions spent on car rust proofing and undercoating. A lot of impact studies have shown it to be very detrimental. So read up and get up to speed.

http://des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/wmb/was/salt-reduction-initiative/impacts.htm

In August 2000 Environment Canada completed a five-year study of the effects of road salt on the environment. They concluded that road salts (sodium chloride, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, and ferrocyanide salts) are toxic to the environment, particularly in large concentrations. In the United States, deicing salt is considered a possible pollutant under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).

The heavy use of road salts can lead to damage to vegetation, to organisms in soil, to birds, and to other wildlife. Almost all chloride ions from road salts eventually find their way into waterways, whether by direct run-off into surface water or by moving through the soil and groundwater. In surface water, road salts can harm freshwater plants, fish, and other organisms that are not adapted to living in saline waters.

But it doesn't stop there road salts also threaten drinking water security. For example, the region of Waterloo has found chloride levels in its municipal water wells as high as 233mg/L, close to the unsafe level of 250mg/L set by the Ministry of the Environment.

Because most ice melters contain salt, they can also injure pets and children. Doctors and veterinarians routinely treat cases of poisoning and painful skin and jaw lesions that are caused by these salt deicers. Animals can be poisoned when they lick ice-melting products off their feet, so be sure to use a damp towel to wipe your pet's paws and underside after being outside.

Source - http://water.greenventure.ca/road-salts-alternatives

Smithsonian - http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-happens-to-all-the-salt-we-dump-on-the-roads-180948079/?no-ist

Slate.com - http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/the_green_lantern/2010/02/salting_the_earth.html

Environment.about.com - http://environment.about.com/od/pollution/fl/The-Environmental-Effects-of-Road-Salt.htm

Many, many articles on environmental impact that come to the same conclusion.

All very interesting to some people but has absolutely nothing to lend to the debate if the use of a few tons of salt at a hotel in Chiang Mai is going to cause any prolonged environmental damage to the local environment.

40 tons of salt has a potential for a significant impact, if there had been a storm during the "show" or if any number of scenarios had occured. Attention was called to the danger so the organizer had to take care in the removal, what if no one had raised an alert? Maybe they would have just dumped the salt later somewhere. If it washed into local landscaping and trees they would most likely die, also down stream would be affected, 40 tons.

The "happy snow scene" was excessive to say the least. Now, what to do with 40 tons of dirty salt?

There are more serious environmental problems to deal with, but this hotel promotional stunt was thoughtless and does pose potential and actual problems, as Tywais has pointed out, and let's hope that in future ""bright bulbs" aka "dimwits" in marketing can come up with more appropriate ways to gain attention.

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Seems some think there is no environmental impact from salt because its used in snow countries. It's used because it's cheap not because it is safe. Think of the millions in cost of damage from rust in cars, bridges, metal drainage systems, etc. Millions spent on car rust proofing and undercoating. A lot of impact studies have shown it to be very detrimental. So read up and get up to speed.

http://des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/wmb/was/salt-reduction-initiative/impacts.htm

In August 2000 Environment Canada completed a five-year study of the effects of road salt on the environment. They concluded that road salts (sodium chloride, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, and ferrocyanide salts) are toxic to the environment, particularly in large concentrations. In the United States, deicing salt is considered a possible pollutant under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).

The heavy use of road salts can lead to damage to vegetation, to organisms in soil, to birds, and to other wildlife. Almost all chloride ions from road salts eventually find their way into waterways, whether by direct run-off into surface water or by moving through the soil and groundwater. In surface water, road salts can harm freshwater plants, fish, and other organisms that are not adapted to living in saline waters.

But it doesn't stop there — road salts also threaten drinking water security. For example, the region of Waterloo has found chloride levels in its municipal water wells as high as 233mg/L, close to the unsafe level of 250mg/L set by the Ministry of the Environment.

Because most ice melters contain salt, they can also injure pets and children. Doctors and veterinarians routinely treat cases of poisoning and painful skin and jaw lesions that are caused by these salt deicers. Animals can be poisoned when they lick ice-melting products off their feet, so be sure to use a damp towel to wipe your pet's paws and underside after being outside.

Source - http://water.greenventure.ca/road-salts-alternatives

Smithsonian - http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-happens-to-all-the-salt-we-dump-on-the-roads-180948079/?no-ist

Slate.com - http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/the_green_lantern/2010/02/salting_the_earth.html

Environment.about.com - http://environment.about.com/od/pollution/fl/The-Environmental-Effects-of-Road-Salt.htm

Many, many articles on environmental impact that come to the same conclusion.

I cannot express in words how much satisfaction I get when

the well intent...uninformed commentary's, eg the Blaze y... emphatic "go a longers" (a new word I'm developing) get

a chance to read and understand the facts that there is still cause and effect on every level...To even suggest that there is no

impact on the environment from tons of salt is just Blaze y mind set...Even though the factual evidence through

using salt to melt snow and ice on the roads....Where in the world would one find an example of using tons of salt in a shopping mall to

create a snow effect to have an example to compare with....OIT

Soon to come...a start up NGO - start writing your grant proposals now! So many of you worried about some salt going down the drains... and BTW...it didn't... take a look at the banks of the Ping river and then tell us about environmental damage.

So the salt will be returned to the supplier to be properly disposed of.

You mean resold to restaurants.

Thais don't use it but falang do.

A salt lake would have been a more appropriate venue to organize this..

If 40 Mt all ended in the klong at once. Well.

It might have stung a Chinese guy taking a dump.....

Fake snow, fake watches ,fake degrees/ID/driving licences, fake T Shirts,fake smiles, TIT where fake is totally acceptable

Send in the clowns - Again ....

Send in the clowns - Again ....

.........don' worry,,,,,,,, they're hereeeeee