How dry is it this year I wondered?  So I went to the Met office by the airport and was given their website link, with daily rainfall, temperature etc readings for years back. From these I computed the following table:

June 4th 2013 was World Environment Day and the Chiang Mai Mail reported that the Mayor had led students to plant the yellow Cassia fistula in the city’s parks.

So we went to Railway Park to see the result.

But first WARNING KILLER TREES. Running and playing in this park could end your life.

Folks in Chiang Mai may feel attracted to the idea of having some where to walk in style, to promenade, considering that apart from the weekend walking streets walking is mostly nigh impossible considering the lack of pavements and authority sanctioned (thanks for the kick-back) obstructions. 

No doubt some have been wondering why some of the Red Songtaews in Chiang Mai show the letters CMU and what they mean? .. Well to digress for a moment:

When I first attended university in 1963 – yes 50 years ago, I and my classmates found it a liberating experience.

Well the ancient nursery rhyme begins “Here we go gathering nuts in May” .. on a cold and frosty morning.

Well May in Chiang Mai is hardly frosty but the early morning cool and maybe a light shower of rain make gathering seeds a pleasant task.

May 22nd 2013 saw a one day meeting of Chiang Mai folk on a Vision for Chiang Mai. (Mostly folk not invited to the big meeting at the new Convention & Exhibition Center)

The Meeting was held as part of a national consultation process for a bill on local government powers attended by around 60 Chiang Mai residents included one foreign national.

It appears the second Asia Pacific Water Summit now under way in  ChiangMai’s newest extravagant building project and scheduled to end on 20th May 2013 is already creating controversy with government officials asserting that no protests will be allowed and when one considers criticisms of water management in the pages of OurChiangMai.com one might wonder if internet censorship of the site is in the offing?

Chiang Mai residents can hardly help to notice the so often newly painted Red & White painted kerbs to indicate no parking.

What may have gone unobserved are the on road markings for the safety of road users. These have largely disappeared under a film of grime and included among them are markings beginning in Loi Kroh Rd all the way to the western end of the old city showing a bike only counter lane in that one way street.

So often, coming from Australia, where love of the water is the national religion, one is perplexed by the fear of water shown by the majority in tropical Thailand.

But this day, with the mercury reaching 38 celcius, were youngsters not only braving the water but some braving a ten metre drop in this free swimming pool south of Chiang Mai.