The department of national parks and wild life has announced that all visitors to National Parks across Thailand are no longer allowed to grill any food as smoke can become annoying to other campers. The parks also hope to reduce waste by deterring the common practice of barbequing.
Camping lovers, however, have raised concerns over this new rule, saying that it ruins the experience of camping for so many people, as camping is synonymous with grilling.
“Most Thai campers feel as though grills and barbeques are synonymous with camping,” said Chawisa Nuanjerm, a regular camper in Chiang Mai. “If this is taken away from us then the camping experience will not be the same.”
The park has heard some of the pushback and has now agreed to limit times for cooking to 6pm to 9pm only.
At this point nothing is being enforced, said the department representative, who went on to say that each park is different and that the rules may have to be nuanced to accommodate different parks.