Pigeon feeding strictly banned in central Chiang Mai

CHIANG MAI, Sept 25 (TNA) – Police and city officials are seriously banning people from feeding pigeons and vendors from selling bird feed at the ancient Tha Phae gate in the center of the northern province. The measure responded to an earlier popular activity among Chinese tourists who liked to feed pigeons to attract the birds for photographic purposes. Local officials arrested a vendor for selling bird feeds and attached signs with messages banning the sales and the feeding. Officials are trying to softly persuade tourists, especially Chinese ones, not to feed pigeons there as they do not want the ban from affecting the feelings of visitors. This is because some Chinese tour guides and websites told their customers that if they visited Chiang Mai, they could feed pigeons and pose for photos with the birds. Some Chinese tourists arrived there especially to feed pigeons for their pre-wedding photo shoots. (TNA)