Mayor Agrees to Clear Up Tha Pae Gate

 | Thu 29 Oct 2015 06:03 ICT

CityNews – A campaign to clear up Tha Pae Gate, return it to its original cultural function and stop illegal vendors selling goods in the area has been hailed a success after the Mayor of Chiang Mai announced that he will begin clearing up the area during a meeting held to discuss the campaign with authorities, locals, campaign leaders and vendors.

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The campaign began on the increasingly popular facebook “Raks Mae Ping” who have managed to pressure authorities into taking action during several campaigns, including Citylife’s Sign City campaign.

Tha Pae Gate is an important tourist spot, but also an iconic landmark of the city. Its core purpose of the area is for public use and for events such as ceremonies, festivals, important gatherings and other cultural celebrations. However, Raks Mae Ping began a campaign demanding the area be brought back to the people.

The campaign included sharing images of Tha Pae Gate in 2007 compared to today, clearly showing the increase of vendors.

In recent years, the municipality has allowed many markets and other types of vendors to set up in the area, which Raks Mae Ping claim affects the image of Chiang Mai.

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On October 27, the Mayor of Chiang Mai, Tassanai Buranupakorn, said at a meeting held to discuss the campaign “Clean Up Tha Pae” that he would begin looking into cleaning Tha Pae of unofficial market stalls and events that detracted away from the genuine purpose of the area. Unofficial accounts also claim that the Governor also promised to clean up the gate in time for Chiang Mai’s 720th anniversary.

Vendors from Chiang Mai’s walking street market also presented the mayor with a signed letter, saying they were ready to comply with the new rules and supported the plan to clear up Tha Pae Gate.

Following on from the meeting, a statement from the local municipality was shared on Raks Mae Ping’s facebook page agreeing to clean up Tha Pae Gate after the Yeiping festival is over. However, the statement goes on to say ‘until Chiang Mai’s 720th year anniversary celebrations.’

The use of the word ‘until’ has worried netizens, who have expressed concern that after the event, Tha Pae may return to its usual ‘sloppy’ self.

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However, for the time being, Raks Mae Ping and their army of netizens have once again succeeded in pressuring the government into taking action on matters that greatly affect the residents of Chiang Mai.

Several recent photos of Tha Pae Gate have been shared on their facebook page, showing how clean and empty the gate area is of market stalls and illegal vendors.

Comments include “I’m so happy all those crazy vendors are gone,” and “I hope the gate stays clean and tidy like this forever.”