CityNews – The Vesak Day mountain walk held on May 28th was a great success, with the amount of rubbish left much less than expected.
The annual Vesak Day mountain walk was held on May 28th this year, the eve of Vesak Day, where a large crowd gathered in the evening at the Chiang Mai University main gate to start the walk.
The opening ceremony began with a speech from the deputy governor of Chiang Mai followed by a 20 minutes historical light and sound performance. This is reportedly the 647th year of this tradition.
In spite of the continuous drizzle, the crowds continued to grow. The first stop on the walk was at Kruba Srivichai Monument, after which people began walking the 11km uphill towards Wat Phra That Doi Suthep.
In an effort to reduce the amount of rubbish produced this year, Doi Suthep-Pui National Park set up tents offering reusable containers of food and drinks to the participants, while encouraging them not to use plastic or single-use containers. Several campaigns were there to promote no-plastic activity.
The following day, May 29th, over a thousand volunteers carried out a clean up activity at Wat Pra That Doi Suthep and along the road. They reported to the media that this year the clean up was fairly easy as the amount of rubbish left was remarkably less then last year.
The rubbish that was left was also mostly in plastic trash bags provided, and not left on the road. Doi Suthep-Pui National Park made a statement following the clean up revealing that only 10 tonnes of rubbish was created, over half that of last year which was over 20 tonnes.
