Total Disrespect!

[Globeliner]

I walk the dogs along what used to be a green field, now some Thai builders are dumping their <deleted> all over it! Discrace! Do Thai people respect and love their green and pleasant land??? I thought they did!

I feel sick to the bloody bone about seeing plastic bags, concrete, loads of crap strewn all over a once pleasant strip of land. Something should be done about it!

To any Government Officials reading, please pm me in order to proceed with action.

[TAWP]

Yes, that is the common sight in most places here.

Or "throw garbage on your neighbours land if it has any green grass = not covered in cement and therefor 'built'".

[farangsay]

This is one of the sadder aspects of the whole region.

Arriving back on Phuket by road and I used to see these "paradise" hoardings put up by people selling real estate and all around them was trash and construction debris.

Not so long ago I was on a visa run to Savannakhet (Laos) and passing some time in a Mekong side bar/eatery when I heard a "thwock" from the riverbank. An employee was clearing a table and she had just tossed a partially consumed bottle of water down to join the other garbage below.

I do not know how you could persuade people here that it is not a good idea to despoil their environment like that.

[Nebukanezar]

It would be nice to see them get hard core about it like Singapore and start jailing people for that shit.

[beammeup]

It would be nice to see them get hard core about it like Singapore and start jailing people for that shit.

They kind of do sometimes, my wife was charged 2000Bt for tossing a used bandaid onto the street on Sukhomvit last year. I didnt know weather to side with the cops or with her for being so stupid but. She talked them down to 500Bt after saying "take me to jail"

[lazeeboy]

I walk the dogs along what used to be a green field, now some Thai builders are dumping their <deleted> all over it! Discrace! Do Thai people respect and love their green and pleasant land??? I thought they did!

I feel sick to the bloody bone about seeing plastic bags, concrete, loads of crap strewn all over a once pleasant strip of land. Something should be done about it!

To any Government Officials reading, please pm me in order to proceed with action.

this resembles the road from the airport every tourist is greeted with on there way to there resort,dont know about you but 1st impressions count with me and this would stop me visiting again,theres only 1 airport/airline in samui ,the government ought to make them donate part of the fare to pay for the clean up ,or surcurity in the area to arrest the culprits that dump there rubbish there

[Jimjim]

I saw a great story recently on an American news show on sea gypsies that live on islands near the border with Burma and Thailand. Some are Burmese and some are Thai. They are the Moken. It was absolutely fascinating. They're like hilltribes with their own language except they don't live in the hilly jungles, but on the sea. They live a life with no need for money, although the Thai government is stupidly affecting their unique culture by trying to get them to make trinkets for tourists and trying to put them in permanent settlements. This will hurt them, not help them. Anyway, I doubt they dumped all that trash on the land.

[kmart]

Disgraceful. This always puzzles me about this place, Thais are usually very aware of the visual aspect of their own personal presentation, neatness, and appearance, yet the "bubble" usually ends at their garden gate....

[baabaabobo]

What has dumping building debris got to do with Thai gypsies? They don't even own land...

[Globeliner]

What has dumping building debris got to do with Thai gypsies? They don't even own land...

Gypsies are renound for dumping crap, Sure they don't own the land, but you would be surprised at how rich some gypsies are, they just don't have any respect for the enviroment

keep living up to your name 'baabaabobo'

[Mid]

my country , not my land .

[kmart]

What has dumping building debris got to do with Thai gypsies? They don't even own land...

Gypsies are renound for dumping crap, Sure they don't own the land, but you would be surprised at how rich some gypsies are, they just don't have any respect for the enviroment

keep living up to your name 'baabaabobo'

I think you may be alluding to gypsies of the European Romany variety...? Lucky heather, clothes pegs, crystal balls; etc? I've never had any Thai pikeys offer to tarmac my drive or steer my dodgem car to impress my g/f.

[PhilHarries]

Don't confuse the Romany people with Gypsies, Tinkers or Pikeys of England, they get upset about it - the Romanys that is.

And don't ever confuse the Gypsies, Tinkers and Pikeys with the new age travellers or they get upset, the G's, T's and P's that is.

It's also best to avoid the terms Gypsies, Tinkers and Pikeys as they are three separate groups and get upset if miscategorised.

My old stamping ground in northeast Hampshire, UK, was home to all three groups plus some new age travellers. I got to know a few of them and they aren't all as bad as portrayed in the British press but then good news don't sell newspapers.

Never seen any Thai gypsies as such but they may well exist. This kind of dumping is done either by builders getting rid of rubble on the cheap or ordinary householders on the "out of sight out of mind" principle. It's a shame because it is despoiling the country for which they are, reputedly, so proud.

And, yes, before somebody points it out the UK also has a major problem with fly tippers.

[Mid]

And, yes, before somebody points it out the UK ( insert appropriate location ) also has a major problem with fly tippers( insert relevant problem ).

can we please have this as a post script on all our posts ??

this is Tv , we are confined to Thai related topics and it's not a valid excuse as to why things can not be better here .

rant off .

[mellow1]

12 yrs. ago when I first came here, I already noticed garbage, as well as dog shit in all the towns and Cities, I visited.For the last 5yrs. I've been living in the countryside,in Isaan.I noticed there is not only garbage,and dog shit all over the countryside,but also cow and buffalo shit, all over the road.Many times the animals are on the roads too.I'm surprised that you all find this, to be something new.

[terry57]

i used to watch the local thai's do oil changes on there boats and drain the oil straight into the ocean.

near on give me a heart attack watching that bollicks.

here's another one.

im on the train coming down to hua hin and we are all eating the tucker that you get in those styrofoam containers.

i finish mine and place it in the bin which was 1 meter away but the thai cat sitting next to me tosses it sraight out the <deleted> window.

i mean W.T.<deleted>>

[pampal]

Littering and spoiling the environment is a world wide phenomenon

[Robski]

Littering and spoiling the environment is a world wide phenomenon

Not in Europe it isn't.

Any road trip in Thailand is accompanied by a continuous stream of litter along the sides of the road,

You could eat your dinner off the hard shoulder of the M25 or M1 in England

and the roadsides in Sweden are so clean you can perform open heart surgery on the side of them. Now flame me.

BTW Terry you're not going against your holy vows and complaining are you?

Edited June 16, 2007 by Robski

[bangkokrick]

This problem is easier to control in the city centre and its also easy money for the BIB. My friend got fined 2000 Baht last week for dropping a cigarette end on the floor on Sukhumvit road.

The fly tippers are much harder to catch and i suppose the fines would be less for the indigenous population not so attractive for the BIB.

[Begbie]

What has dumping building debris got to do with Thai gypsies? They don't even own land...

Gypsies are renound for dumping crap,

So is your average Thai.

[terry57]

Littering and spoiling the environment is a world wide phenomenon

draining oil straight in to the ocean aint.

[uptou]

ive also been a bit horrified by the way people throw plastic into rivers & ocean.plastic & rubbish is the biggest killer of sea creatures.turtles mistake it for squid & swallow it down,eventually starving to death.

[observer21]

Littering and spoiling the environment is a world wide phenomenon

Your absoulutely wrong there mate - and even if you were right doesnt make it acceptable

[astral]

My guess is that there is no Municipal Dump where they can dispose of it legally.

[observer21]

ive also been a bit horrified by the way people throw plastic into rivers & ocean.plastic & rubbish is the biggest killer of sea creatures.turtles mistake it for squid & swallow it down,eventually starving to death.

It is all down to education or lack of it:  I have observed many unbelievable things in thailand which i find hearbreaking. Heres just a few:-

1) I used to go to a small beach near Wongamat (Pattay/Nacklua) and every day piles 

and piles of rubbish would wash up onto the otherwise nice beach.  (*see number 4)

Anyway the strange thing was that an elderly thai guy (father of the woman who rented the deckchairs etc) would spend hours each day brushing the rubbish back into the sea. I once asked the woman why he done this and why he didnt just pick it up.  She said it wasnt their rubbish and if they picked it up they would have of dispose of it - and anyway she couldnt tell her father he was wasting his time as he had been doing the same thing everyday for years.

2)  Whilst visiting the Golden Buhda in Pattaya i was sitting in the small restaurant at the foot of the hill and got chatting to a young lady dressed in a white outfit.  She told me that she was staying in the wat for 2 weeks as p

art of

a merit gaining thing.  Anyway, she was drinking a small carton of yakult and to my

astonishment when she finished she just through the empty plastic carton over the hill.

3)  On a visit to Koh Larn i was  again shocked to see an old thai lady throughing 

empty 

food (plastic) bags into the sea right next to where the boats landed.  she was working in a small restaurant serving people arrivinig on the island.  The sea was totlally littered all around yet nobody seemed to bother.  Even animals dont litter where they stay!

4)  Quite a few years ago i used to arrange fishing trips from pattaya for myself and

a few friends.  We eventually stopped as it became harder and harder to find a patch of sea - within a reasonable distance - which was not covered with plastic bags and excrement.

I have noticed on many occasions people throughing rubbish out of train windows -

it seems to me that thias dont consider any space which isnt theirs.  So the only way

to stop turning open land into rubbish tips is to build on it

[sukanyacondo]

The local 7-11 by me has rubbish over the entire back yard about 6 feet high, must have been accumulating for years. I wondered if they had any local tips or not??

[KireB]

Littering and spoiling the environment is a world wide phenomenon

Really? I have the opinion that littering and a national average IQ might show some correlation!

Edited June 16, 2007 by KireB

[TAWP]

My guess is that there is no Municipal Dump where they can dispose of it legally.

I don't think that is the problem. We have garbage trucks that come around and pick up everything from the large bins people have outside their houses. But even around here some neighbours rather chuck their crap across a fence/wall into an unbuilt patch of land then walk 2m to the bin and put it there.

[observer21]

My guess is that there is no Municipal Dump where they can dispose of it legally.

I don't think that is the problem. We have garbage trucks that come around and pick up everything from the large bins people have outside their houses. But even around here some neighbours rather chuck their crap across a fence/wall into an unbuilt patch of land then walk 2m to the bin and put it there.

Pure ignorance, lack of public awareness.  thais dont complain so local government dont act.   People genuinley dont know they are doing anything bad

[antsinmypantsouch]

I saw a great story recently on an American news show on sea gypsies that live on islands near the border with Burma and Thailand. Some are Burmese and some are Thai. They are the Moken. It was absolutely fascinating. They're like hilltribes with their own language except they don't live in the hilly jungles, but on the sea. They live a life with no need for money, although the Thai government is stupidly affecting their unique culture by trying to get them to make trinkets for tourists and trying to put them in permanent settlements. This will hurt them, not help them. Anyway, I doubt they dumped all that trash on the land.

Absolutely amazing lives these Moken live...had no idea...thanks for the knowledge!