I think every post has to start with a dog.

Chiang Mai has the illustrious honor of being in the news for being such a pretty and charming city with a small town vibe. Now it has the ignominious honor for being the world’s most polluted! More polluted than India, Bangladesh, and China!

This past weekend, the PM2.5 AQI (air quality index) was over 400! The residents are so angry, they want the governor replaced:

“When its Air Quality Index (AQI) topped 400 on both Saturday and yesterday morning, residents launched a petition at Change.or calling for the governor to be removed from office for his “ineffectiveness in tackling the haze”. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30366475

*On a side note: No wonder the sunset I tried to witness in Vientiane disappeared in a thick smoggy layer—pollution from all the crop fires!

The city reacted by hosing down the main square, Thapae Gate, in an attempt to improve the AQI, but the danger of breathing in PM’s—particulate matter—was real. 

They installed misters that soaked people as they walked through the gate.

The city, in addition to foreign organizations, donated PM 2.5 face masks to the public.

Nothing to do with AQI—but only in Thailand—chocolate-durian twinkies! 

Hipster Art in the Sois

Chiang Mai is rich with artistic expression. Enjoy this street artist’s creations by Iagazzo.

Wandering around the sois (alleyways) of Chiang Mai offers a bounty of hidden treasures. Case in point: wall murals in clever locations.

These are painted on a property’s gate.