Former Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat is the latest major political special guest to visit the northern province of Chiang Mai this weekend, following incumbent Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and one of his predecessors, Thaksin Shinawatra, who has been there since Thursday.
Srettha travelled to Chiang Mai, ostensibly to observe the problems of forest fires and PM2.5 atmospheric pollution, while Thaksin, released on parole last month, visited his hometown to pay respects to his late parents.
Pita, who almost became the 30th prime minister of Thailand after his party won the most House seats in last year’s general election, also wants to see the air pollution problem at first hand.
Their visit comes as Chiang Mai topped the air monitoring website IQAir’s table of the world’s most polluted cities again today.
“A Move Forward MP chairs the House committee on the environment and, since we are in the opposition bloc, we want to gather information about air pollution and forest fires in the area,” Pita said, adding that Move Forward has seven MPs representing Chiang Mai, so it is their responsibility to address these problems.
Pita also said he is aware that Srettha is in the province, but that he considers the people’s problems to be a priority.
Pita and his team will visit Sanpatong district to meet firefighters and volunteers from the Mirror Foundation, who are fighting forest fires in the area.
They want to visit the sites with problems, so that they can gain real insights into the issues they are facing.
Thaksin is scheduled to return to Bangkok this afternoon, while Srettha will travel to Phayao, to host a mobile cabinet meeting.
