Welcoming Remarks by
Mr. Amonrapun Nimanandh, Governor of Chiang Mai Province
at
th
The 5 CRISU-CUPT Conference
on Thursday, 8 July 2010
Chiang Mai Orchid Hotel, Chiang Mai, Thailand
__________________________________________________________________________
Your Excellency, Mr. Mohammad Hatta, Ambassador of the Republic of
Indonesia to the Kingdom of Thailand
Honorable Presidents,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen
The first thing I want to say is that it is indeed a great honour for me to be
able to give the welcoming remarks at such an important conference, and
I would like to extend a warm welcome to all the participants and
honoured guests from Indonesia, to our beautiful city of Chiang Mai.
The theme of the conference: ‘Challenges and Opportunities’, is, I believe
very timely indeed because in Chiang Mai, in spite of it’s stunning natural
beauty, we do indeed face some very real challenges that have a very
tangible affect on the lives of our people.
The problems we confront are, I’m sure, not so different to those faced by
our Indonesian colleagues and that is why the objectives of this
conference could not be more important as we move into the 2 nd decade
of the 21st century.
I would like to just briefly highlight one challenge we face in Chiang Mai.
If you asked any person on the streets of Chiang Mai what they
considered the number one problem of the city, they would almost
certainly say AIR. Like most other big cities, Chiang Mai’s air pollution has
become a growing problem as economic growth has increased. This has
reached alarming proportions and has had a major effect on public health.
I am sure that our honoured guests from Indonesia would report a similar
pattern from their own big cities. My good friends, the challenges that lie
ahead are indeed formidable, but I deeply believe that the close
cooperation that has developed between Thai and Indonesian academics
is a major development, that together with the work of other organisations,
will pave the way for environmentally friendly and sustainable answers to
these serious questions.
Once again, I would like to sincerely thank the organizers for inviting me to
speak at this esteemed conference. I would like to wish you all the best in
your discussions over the next days.
Thank you.