`Rose of Thailand' no longer so sweet

`Rose of Thailand' no longer so sweet

BANGKOK (AFP): The northern Thai provincial capital of Chiang Mai, once dubbed the "Rose of Thailand," is wrestling with a thorny question these days: where to dump its trash.

Chiang Mai administrators ran out of dumping sites two weeks ago and have been unable to find any new ones, according to local dailies and Thai television.

In the meantime, the garbage has piled up in the streets, where foraging rats and dogs have torn open trash bags and spilled the refuse.

Residents of the city, where the scent of jasmine and incense usually waft from the many temples, say they cannot sleep because of the stench.

Chiang Mai is one of the country's most prosperous and popular tourist destinations, but has grown in a rapid, unwieldy rate in the past decade.