CityNews – Maejo University has revealed the results of their latest survey into the minds of Chiang Mai’s residents and found out how they feel about the Chiang Mai Metropolitan Bill, which would give the city the potential to govern itself transparently and present itself as the economic centre of the upper North.
The results from 930 people surveyed from 3rd – 20th February found the following:
60% (roughly) would support the bill if it were proposed
44% doubted the bill would ever come into fruition
6% believed the bill was a possibility for Chiang Mai’s future
Those who didn’t state that they would support the bill had varying reasons as to why, raising concerns over the city’s current issues like: city planning; lack of public transport; the public’s limited knowledge of the draft bill; and the cost of living potentially rising due to the bill, which could lead to a social gap and more corruption.
Another area that was addressed by the survey was what people think needs to be solved in the city before the bill could come into play. Their answers were:
82% said that traffic jams and other traffic problems should be solved
72% stated public transportation system issues and ideas must be addressed
63% said waste management is a matter which needs more attention
53% gave commercial, industrial, and residential zoning problems as their answer
52.17% listed crime as their number one concern before the bill could be implemented
The same people were also asked what their main concerns would be after the bill was (hypothetically) implemented. The answers they gave were:
78% said traffic jams and traffic issues would still be their major concern
53% said they’d worry about the monopoly of administrative power
52% would question Chiang Mai’s lack of green areas and shrinking natural resources
49% said the rise of crime would be a big problem
47% listed a growing social gap between urban and rural societies as their concern
Here’s a feature story we did on a self-governing Chiang Mai a while ago.
We will update news about the matter as soon as we learn more.