You don't know Pattaya and have no contact to the locals if you don't even know how to find a trash bin.
The sad fact that too much goes into the ocean is not a Thai issue but an issue for global environmentalists.
Sorry, I left my own country last not least because I <deleted> by lazy greedy women of my age who in fact wanted me to stay so they can grab money out of me in GerMoney.
It has much to do with your statement, because if informal labour is counted as labour then unemployment isn't so high.
The question whether it's illegal or not is a completely other question, and I'm not about to condemn Thai females.
I'm glad I never married in the West. If I would be incacipated in GerMoney they would hand me over to one of their nanny state homes for the elderly (aka mental hospitals), and then all kinds of German women would only care for one thing: how to grab as much money out of me as possible. I avoid this in advance by simply not going back.
I found a family in Thailand to take care for me and keep me busy so I will certainly not go back to disgusting GerMoney where I come from.
No idea how old I'll get, but as far as I can see I've never been sick except for some accidents.
There's a difference between owning a house and owning the soil that it was built on in Thailand. And that's correct. Because Thai soil is unextendable.
I came to Thailand to live with Thai people, and I certainly wouldn't like to see Thai Land being sold out to foreigners. Bad enough they did that in the Western country where I once lived, and certainly not a model for Thailand.