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Published on December 11, 2007

Government officials and private investors who are in support of the Bt1.2-billion project say it will have little effect on Mae Hong Son and the surrounding areas.

Assistant Prof Det Wattanachaiyingcharern, manager and coordinator of the environmental assessments, said the cable car would use a wire rope to transport it from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son.

It will hold between 40 and 50 people and be fitted out for emergencies with medical supplies and construction tools.

The company behind the idea is Pai Cable Transport. Managing director Phoom Sirachadaphong believed the cable car would not damage the environment.

He said the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand had previously surveyed the area, but plans were cancelled due to lack of funds.

He explained the cable car would have only a minimal effect on the environment. Its support pillars would be high in the mountains. Each would occupy one rai.

The company will plant trees to reverse deforestation caused by construction. If the assessment is favourable, the project will begin as soon as possible, said Phoom.

The cable-car route will cover a

distance of 141 kilometres, from

Mae Taeng district in Chiang Mai to

Pai in Mae Hong Son and then to

Pang Mapha and on to Mae Hong

Son.

About 20 per cent of the line is in Chiang Mai with the rest in Mae Hong Son.

The environmental study will take five months and should be completed in February.

Three similar projects have been proposed in the North, including the Three Regions Cable Car (Thailand, Laos and Burma) in the Golden Triangle at Chiang Saen district in Chiang Rai, the Chiang Mai World Cable Car above the city's Night Safari park and the Doi Luang Chiang Dao Cable Car. However, none of these were built due to a lack of comprehensive environmental studies, as well as protests from local people.

Thipwaree Ruangjaem

 Citylife

CHIANG MAI