The overflow from the Ping River that flooded Chiang Mai, leaving a trail of devastation has now subsided and life for some communities is slowly getting back to normal.
However, in some districts roads are still covered in mud and dried soil, causing thick dust to float everywhere. While many roadsides and sidewalks are covered with trash and damaged household items that have been left behind without being collected.
In Chiang Mai’s San Pa Khoi distict, which is one of the hardest hit areas has been greatly affected by the flooding. The villagers say that they received almost no assistance from the government.
Local residents told reporters that there were only rescue workers and soldiers who brought food and water, during the flooding, buts since the water has receded there has been no assistance from the government or military.
One local headman told reporters he understood that there were other important economic and commercial areas that needed to be urgently addressed first, but now that those areas have improved, so it would be nice to get help restore the San Pa Khoi area because this area has many markets, shops, and restaurants.
The garbage and damaged debris is piled up everywhere because many villagers do not have pickup trucks to take the waste to the places specified by the municipality. If they rent a pickup truck to take them out, it costs 1,000 baht per trip, and there are also no laborers.
He said some days, municipal workers come to help collect the rubbish. They ask us not to scold them because there is really a lot of garbage to collect, so they don’t come every day. We are also frustrated because some people are careless, and when they see piles of garbage, they secretly dump more in front of other people’s houses instead of in front of their own.
Ms. Busaba Posarakorn, a resident of San Pa Khoi Road, Wat Ket Subdistrict, Mueang Chiang Mai District said their roads haven’t been cleaned and residents in this area have to live with the dust that covers everything. There is a problem with tap water not flowing and they have to buy their own water every day.
She hoped Chiang Mai Provincial Officials would help distribute personnel and equipment to the smaller areas because many people are suffering. Were no different from the shops owners along the main road she said.
Meanwhile, the Chiang Mai Provincial Administrative Organization, together with local administrative organizations in the area, and from other districts along with the military volunteer force have partnered together.
More than 700 people and 200 water trucks have been mobilized to spray and clean the main roads, alleys, and lanes to reduce the amount of dust accumulated on Charoen Mueang Road from Nong Prathip Intersection to Nawarat Bridge.
They will start working on other routes in the future to quickly improve Chiang Mai’s landscape to be clean and beautiful, ready to welcome tourists before the high season in November.
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