But conditions on this mountain have changed, and a group of people living in mountainous areas are starting to feel the effect.

"The temperature on the mountain is getting hotter. It used to be as low as 2-3 degrees Celsius in the winter, but now it never drops below 10-11 degrees. In the summer, the air was always cool, never more than 25 degrees, but now it gets as hot as 30 degrees," said Amnat Techa, a caretaker at Phu Ping Palace, which is a few kilometres up the mountain from Wat Prathat Doi Suthep.

The environment of Doi Suthep was the topic of discussion at a recent meeting aimed at increasing local awareness of the crisis at Suthep-Pui National Park. The organisers also hoped to encourage people to stop engaging in activities that harm the environment.

"The number of forest fires that have broken out in the national park has dropped gradually since 2004, but they still happen," said Amnat. Forest fires usually break out between November and April, he said.

There weren't many forest fires during the time HM the Queen was staying at the Phu Ping Palace, thanks to good coordination among villagers, said Amnat.

Observers of the environment have suggested that forest fires in the Suthep-Pui park could also be linked to flooding, air pollution, changes in the diversity of plant and animal life in the region and the possibility of land slides hitting the city below.

"Chiang Mai's air quality is reaching a critical level. The level of minute particles present in the city's air during last year's drought season bypassed the acceptable level of 120 micrograms per square metre. Worse than that, the rate of lung cancer in Chiang Mai is the country's second highest," said Dr Duangchan Apawatcharut Charoenmuang from the Social Research Institute.

"Forest fires also cause flooding. Plants are destroyed and streams have started to run faster and more destructively. We don't have many plants to block and absorb the water before it runs down to the city below. In the past, only 10 per cent of the water on the mountain ran down to the city," said Itsares Sitthirojanakul, a head of Chiang Mai's Forest Fire Station.

Recycling and the use of fertilisers are considered to be the best solutions to the problem of forest fires and garbage burning.

Speaking about the garbage problem, Itsares said tambon administration organisations in the area should provide more funds to cover the expense of managing local garbage.

He said the national park, which houses several tourist attractions like the Night Safari, Wat Prathat Doi Suthep, Montatarn, Huay Kaew, Wang Bua Ban, Pa Ngerb and Pa Laad waterfalls, attracts some three million tourists a year. Garbage from the area is becoming too big a problem for local organisations to tackle, he added.

Citylife

Chiang Mai