Spoiled Kids

One little boy screaming and crying at the top of his lung right in the middle of the shopping mall at toys department. At first thought, everyone might think but the boy is in pain but the truth is he just cry his lung out so his mother can get the toy that he wants. This picture can be seen in our everyday life when the kids are going crazy to get what they want and their parents happen to spoil them.

When I think about that situation I think that a lot of kids had been spoiled by their parents badly but this is not the worst part. If the kids have always been spoiled when they were young, they will continue doing that because they know that their action can get what they want from the parents. And when they are older they will learn that bad habit from their young age and continue doing that. The worst part about this is when the kids are out of control and nobody can really tell them what to do. Not even their parents.

Teachers seem to be the people who have to deal with this kind of kids all the time. Some kids ca be helped but some kids are hopeless. Then they will cause more trouble to our society. Some of them become drug addict and most of them become dangerous criminal.

It’s ok to love your own kids but it’s bad to spoil them. Sometime the kids can just deal with little disappointment like say no when they want some non-sense toys. After we deny them we give them a good reason. Then the kids will learn more about being more rational.

It doesn’t matter how rich or poor your are, you can raise your kids to be just as good as everyone else. It’s all depending on how you raise your children and how you teach them.

Posted by Chaiyot

So disgusting: Chiang Mai garbage

Last week…..
I am on the footpath while I am walking to the book store on Suthep road. Something strikes my eyes, look like a mountain on the footpath and smell badly. Garbage bags obstruct the way I am walking. It is more than 3 days that the garbage collectors don’t keep it out the way. Every morning, they will take that garbage for throwing away, but they don’t.

You will see what I see like this around Chiang Mai city. If you don’t believe me, you can notice it. Garbage disposal in Chiang Mai is major problem some days our rubbish didn’t even get picked up, and then the stray dogs ripped the bags open. And who cleaned it up? Me or you. So disgusting!

I said that it is major problem because garbage can decreases a good atmosphere of Chiang Mai city. You imagine that if tourist from other country visit CM and think that they will satisfy with a good atmosphere of CM but, they see mountain of garbage. What happened?

The problems of garbage disposal are the province’s growth, both in economic and social term, has brought many problems to the city. Particularly the garbage piled up by the residents. Meanwhile, the rising number of visitors has aggravated the problem somewhat. More over, industrial enterprises are also factors which have added garbage volume to the city.

I wander Chiang Municipality cannot deal with the problem of mounting quantities of garbage from the expansion of build-up households around the city. Also industrial waste pollution from industrial waste mostly contains toxic substances and chemical.

I don’t why they are not rapidly solve this problem because it is continuing problem in the big city like Chiang Mai. So I want the local government should concern about this issue because a lot of garbage can causes many problems such as atmosphere of the city or people healthy. Least but not last, please stopping to throw away garbage to another province because it cannot solve the core problem. So think about it!

By Nartchulee

Street Children in Chiang Mai

A little dirty girl is running toward cars stopping by the red light at the intersection of Chiang Mai – Hangdong highway. She raises the white flower garlands in her hand while handing them to people in the cars.

“A flower garland? Would you please help me to buy one?”

She asks with her little pity voice. Some drivers buy her garland. Some pitifully give her money while some feel irritated and annoyed. They shout her away. The little girl keeps on shouting and walking on her little tired feet. When the green light turns, she rushes to run for life to be on the pedestrian island. This is a scene of street children in a big city like Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai is the second big city of Thailand, second ranking to Bangkok. Chiang Mai is developed in many ways, economy, tourism, transportation, etc. to serve and raise the quality of people lives. The change of society, from an agricultural society to a materialistic society, forced people to speed up their lives. They struggle to earn a living for themselves and for their family. Poor families suffer from poverty. Their children are also affected by this change which can destroy their lives. Some children are forced to sell flower garlands on streets; some are forced to sell flowers and snacks in restaurants at night to earn a little money to help their family.

The street children have to struggle to live. While they try to ask for mercy from people on streets, they have to be aware of accident. Their lives are hung in risky situation. They have to run back and forth across the street, among the noisy and busy traffic. One day they may be crashed by car.

Another scene of street children is always seen at the tourist areas, most especially the night bazaar, in many bars and restaurants, young boys and girls are wandering, selling flowers from chair to chairs. Some children do not selling, but plea for money or charity like beggar. They are seen there from dusk till dawn. Isn’t it time to go to bed for little children like them?

According to the Center for Protection of children, Chiang Mai’s street children usually come from poor family. Sometimes, their parents have died, some parents are in prison for drug abuse and some of them are hill tribe people, lured by the chance of making money. Often, these street children fall prey to child traffickers. Some of these children has no education, no nationality and is often exploited. They are at high risk for using drugs, becoming prostitutes and contracting HIV.

Many organizations try to help street children to break the vicious cycle of street life and, hopefully, to return them to a normal life. These organizations work to improve the lives of street children. Some encourage them to join the life skills program. Volunteers visit the children, offering them the chance to learn life skills or continue their education. Some suggest that the government should take action; there should be a strict regulation to control these children. Do these
methods work in solving the problems?

Nowadays there still be lots of street children living their old cycle of risky lives on busy street and in the night life. The attempt to help them is not success yet. I hope the government and organizations will not give up their endeavors to raise these children life. The street children should have a chance to live a normal life as any other happy children in this society.

===== Prapaporn Malasarn ======

“SONGKRAN” Yesterday – Today – Tomorrow

“Songkran” is Thai ancient tradition to celebrate the Thai New Year for long time. There is the day of generosity, love and fondness giving to family, community, society and religion. Today is the family day; all householders and some relatives gather together to be grateful to their grandparents, great grandparents and also their forebear. Descendants bring gifts and pour water on the hands of revered elders and ask for blessing. They go to make merit at the temple. There are many activities to harmonize people in community such as offering food to monks, make sand pagodas, and water splashing for enjoyment. Moreover, there are some activities to make unity, share-possessiveness feeling of public properties and environment; people clean up their houses, temples and other public buildings.

Water splashing is a symbol of Songkran festival because it is a distinctive and well-known activity. Since this festival has been held in summer, it makes this activity is so favourable.

At the beginning, people walked and could play with their intimate friends or they could splash only people who willing to play with them. They splashed in limited areas not all over the whole city.

However, something has been changed. The beginning of the change was around 1960. There were many tourists from Bangkok arrived here to see the Lanna tradition which they had never seen before. This make the festival become as the famous tourist selling point. But the wave of tourist gradually makes change to the festival. Make it worse. From the fabulous tradition to something that are not exactly Songkran anymore. Lots of vehicles – trucks and motorbikes, crowd into the city mote. People can splash to anybody that they want. Female teenagers dress with strapless, spaghetti sleeve, and mini-shorts. All this behavior can decay the beautiful Sognkran.

What does next generation Songkran mean and look like?

Dutdaow [Jazz]

Pollution crisis

Pollution crisis
A big sign for the end of the world.

When we talk about summer, everyone would think about clear sky, sunny day and deep blue sea. For Thai people, summer is not only the time that we can get tanned but it is also the time to get wet with Songkarn festival. Chiang Mai is number one destination for people to join Songkarn festival and splash the water at each other.

Can you still remember your last Songkarn in Chiang Mai? If you can you must realized what number one issue was at that moment. At that moment every front page of local Chiang Mai newspaper covered the story of pollution crisis in Chiang Mai. The Pollution Control Department has detected the level of fine particle pollutants as high as 200 micrograms per cubic meter, which is above the standard level of 120 micrograms per cubic meter. To say it verbally may not be as clear as see it visually. During that time everyone in Chiang Mai live their lives in the dust, the dust that floated in the air. No one could ever see the sun during that period. This accident caused by the trash burn and forest fires. Then everyone began to aware of the problem and stop burning everything that might cause the pollution get worse again.

After what happened, everyone got the lesson and stop burning everything but that lesson is still not enough to stop them completely. Some people start outdoor burning activities again and the air pollution in Chiang Mai reached the critical level again. What do they think about? Maybe they only concern about themselves not others. Do lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses are not enough to make them stop? Maybe this really is the end of human civilization. What does actually destroy our planet is not the asteroid from other galaxy. It’s more like human causing all these.

What is your opinion toward this issue? How can we make people aware with this problem ?

Posted by Chaiyot (Gong)

++Stray dog cannot eliminate from Chiang Mai++

There are a lot of stray dogs in Chiang Mai, more than 10,000 stray dogs around the city. What happened with poor dogs? Why they throw their own dog away like the garbage that they don’t want to keep it. Dogs have their feeling, the feeling of fear, lonely, gloomy. If you are put in this situation how you do feel?

I always depressed when I see poor dogs, it lives without home, food and love from people who should be called the owner. They vagrant, move a lot from place to place, without hope in their life. They have to find some food from a mountain of garbage, but it is a little filling into their stomach. At night with the feeling of coldness, they have to lie down on the ground without warming. I cannot explain this feeling into word when I look into gloomy eyes. If I am abandoned, I cannot imagine how do I feel? I feel sorry with them because these dogs have the suffering from people who leave them alone.

People have wrong value. They feel that a puppy is so cute, so they buy them for their pleasantness. And the little puppy grow up, they eat more than they were young. They are not cute anymore. The consequence is deserting. When dogs are deserted, their population is growing up. There is no breed control in stray dogs; many little dogs become street dogs.

The problem causes by strays dog is rabies, a fetal disease which can be transmitted to humans. Stray dogs live without good looking after, so they are no chance to vaccinate the disease preventing.

Local Government should pay more attention to this problem. They should have stray dogs control planning. For instance, controlling a dog population by sterilization, to makes it impossible for them to have or produce babies. The number of stray dogs should be stable, not increase extremely.

Another suggestion is arresting stray dogs to live together in animal shelter. It will be better instead of wandering place to place. But they have to take care of them seriously. Another problem of animal shelter is money. Money is so important for feeding a lot of stray dogs. Is there anybody who has determining to solve strays dog problem? I think nobody because it wastes their time and money. So you still see dogs wander around Chiang Mai and the government cannot eliminate them. I hope someday these dogs will have a home and won't be abandoned at all.

by Nartchulee Thaithiang (Eve)