Pita Limjaroenrat, former leader of Move Forward, is the most recent important political figure to visit Chiang Mai this weekend. He follows Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who has been there since Thursday.
Srettha traveled to Chiang Mai to observe the issues of forest fires and PM2.5 air pollution, while Thaksin, who was released on parole last month, visited his hometown to pay respects to his deceased parents.
Pita, who nearly became the 30th prime minister of Thailand after his party won the majority of House seats in last year’s general election, also wishes to personally see the air pollution problem.
Their visit coincides with Chiang Mai once again ranking at the top of the air monitoring website IQAir’s list of the world’s most polluted cities.
Pita mentioned, “A Move Forward MP leads the House committee on the environment and, since we are in the opposing group, we aim to gather information about air pollution and forest fires in the region. Move Forward has seven MPs representing Chiang Mai, so it is our duty to address these problems.
Pita also stated that he is aware of Srettha's presence in the province, but believes that addressing the people’s problems should take priority.
Pita and his team will go to Sanpatong district to meet with firefighters and volunteers from the Mirror Foundation, who are battling forest fires in the area.
They wish to visit the areas facing issues in order to gain genuine insights into the challenges they are dealing with.
Thaksin is set to return to Bangkok this afternoon, while Srettha will travel to Phayao to lead a mobile cabinet meeting.
