Disappointed locals - some of whom have spent hundreds of thousands of baht to spruce up their souvenir shops and restaurants on the avenue leading to the exposition - are seeing buses and buses of tourists passing by without stopping to buy even a single key chain or a bottle of water because of the strict traffic management.

Likewise, farmers are looking into their drying canals with concern as most of the water has been diverted to the fairgrounds to keep millions of exotic plants fresh and green. And downtown, office workers, parents and schoolchildren are complaining about unusually heavy traffic caused by all the tourist vehicles.

"So many people are coming to the expo. Why don't we have a chance to make some money?" Sakorn Khamsao, a young souvenir-seller from Hang Dong district, said yesterday.

Since the horticultural festival had its grand opening on Wednes-day, Sakorn has tried to sell his products from a small, rented stall along Ratchaphruek Road. But he's led to believe that the expo is not doing so well because he hasn't seen many tourists. His shop has been so quiet that only two or three pieces moved a day.

Sakhon is among some 10,000 traders who had hoped to make a killing from the millions of tourists expected to turn up at the flora event. They were wrong.

Reed Tradex, the firm hired to organise the show, directed the traffic so that tourist vehicles do not stop by any place along the approach to the expo. Though the traffic arrangement was modified to accommodate local shops after the owners complained, their sales have not yet improved. Many of them have decided to abandon their booths even though they have already paid three-months' rent for them.

"The doors for me to do business are closed," Sakhon said. This was the first time he had had a chance to run a business at an international attraction and the first time he had gone bust.

Downtown, the owner of a bookshop on Nimmanhemin Road was busy dusting her shelves. The small road got busier a week before the exhibition kicked off as vehicles from other provinces started coming in. Asked what good the expo would do her, her answer was a simple: "I have no idea."

Thanet Charoenmuang, a political scientist at Chiang Mai University, had the same feeling.

"The traffic flows smoothly only near the site of the expo, not throughout the city. You can control the numbers of vehicles only when they get close to the site, not when they enter Chiang Mai," he said.

In a small village in Hang Dong district not so far from the flora extravaganza, Thong Jailangka was wondering about what it meant to him. He could think of only the one link to his community.

"It's just here to consume our water [from the Mataeng irrigation canal]," he said.

Thong got a little bitter when he realised that he and the other villagers had to pay Bt200 for admission to the expo, which was built on the land of his district and took water from the same canal he used for his paddy fields.

"The province asked us to be a good host for the world-lass event. Why does the host have to pay [an entrance fee]?" he said.

Preecha Sananvattananant, chief officer of Reed Tradex, argued that the event had opened up many opportunities for Chiang Mai residents and the three-month-long event would attract millions of tourists who would patronise hotels, resorts and restaurants, so that ordinary people could find many jobs.

Preecha said that as an organiser his top priority was the convenience of visitors.

Former senator Karun Sai-ngam, who spent time talking to the villagers living in communities near the expo, said it demonstrated the classic dichotomy of any development project into those who gain and those who lose.

Pennapa Hongthong

The Nation

CHIANG MAI