Samui Trash island of Thailand

[jon feaver]

There is always posted news about other cities in Thailand about the rubbish or dirty beaches,yet in Samui nothing is said or done.

We do not have a butt problem,ours is 100% worse .

Is there a news ban about talking about Samui,I never see anything from Thaivisa about it or any help.

The incinerator has not worked for 7 or 8 years,the centre of the island is now full of eight years rubbish,every street you look has rubbished dumps,that never get cleaned,why does no one in the govenment care or do anything.

The last year it has become a problem with many tourist saying they will not be back because of the rubbish and the smell that comes with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dfdgfdfdgs]

The dump pictured doesn't look that big for what is after all the second largest and second most populated island in Thailand.

 

And I doubt you can smell it once you get a couple of hundred metres away so I don't think that this would stop any tourists from visiting.  But maybe you meant the rubbish by the side of the roads was the cause of complaints from tourists.

[Formaleins]

Don't worry, they will soon have it solved, they plan to charge for plastic bags!

[Samui Bodoh]

Actually, the problem is well-known and well-discussed.

 

The difficulty is getting concrete, effective action taken...

 

Edited December 18, 2017 by Samui Bodoh

[Tidybeard]

The dump picture only shows about 10% of the problem, the other 90% has been hidden by a huge black tarpaulin so now it doesn't exist because nobody can see it ... magic puff !

[bleble]

People in charge are broke, they spent all the money to buy luxury watches :-)

 

 

[sambum]

1 hour ago, Tidybeard said:

The dump picture only shows about 10% of the problem, the other 90% has been hidden by a huge black tarpaulin so now it doesn't exist because nobody can see it ... magic puff !

 

8 hours ago, dfdgfdfdgs said:

The dump pictured doesn't look that big for what is after all the second largest and second most populated island in Thailand.

 

And I doubt you can smell it once you get a couple of hundred metres away so I don't think that this would stop any tourists from visiting.  But maybe you meant the rubbish by the side of the roads was the cause of complaints from tourists.

The incinerator has been broken since 2012, although money was provided for its repair by the Government - where has it gone? 

 

The PM asked for the problem to be investigated as a matter of urgency some time ago. OK, it's been investigated - how about DOING something about it?

 

"And I doubt you can smell it once you get a couple of hundred metres away so I don't think that this would stop any tourists from visiting." I don't believe that someone can make such an incredibly stupid comment! Perhaps when the wind changes direction it might blow some sense into your brain! Perhaps when some outbreak of typhoid occurs, or some equally disastrous catastrophe happens you can say "Oh, I didn't smell that happening!" Ask the bar owners, hoteliers, and restaurant owners how trade is on this rubbish strewn island, and show the tourists the photos and ask if they'll be coming back!

The rubbish by the side of the road is the LEAST of the problems!

 

  

[geisha]

Yes, it’s really disgusting, if nobody is doing anything about it, try getting a petition underway ( don’t laugh ) lots of photos and sending them with a short description to Bangkok authorities and the two main newspapers, Facebook etc. If you are worried about doing it, get someone abroad to do it for you. 

[Ulic]

Follow the Sweedish example and build a trash to energy incinerator for the island.  

[khunPer]

1 hour ago, geisha said:

Yes, it’s really disgusting, if nobody is doing anything about it, try getting a petition underway ( don’t laugh ) lots of photos and sending them with a short description to Bangkok authorities and the two main newspapers, Facebook etc. If you are worried about doing it, get someone abroad to do it for you. 

Somebody seem to do something. Where there used to be piles or garbage by the Ring Road – which were picked up at night by garbage collecting trucks – there are now signs stating that it's not allowed to dump garbage, and if one does, the fine is 2,000 baht...

[Blackheart1916]

There has been a lot of talk about this problem for the last 5 years or so, but that is all it has been, talk. The day will come soon when the problems that are being left to fester in this country, along with the idiotic schemes dreamed up by the powers that be, will prove to be a greater repellent  than the attraction for people to come to Thailand. Someone should tell the short sighted authorities that there are  alternatives to Thailand. Act now or cry in your Chang mineral water later.

[Samui Bodoh]

4 hours ago, khunPer said:

Somebody seem to do something. Where there used to be piles or garbage by the Ring Road – which were picked up at night by garbage collecting trucks – there are now signs stating that it's not allowed to dump garbage, and if one does, the fine is 2,000 baht...

Respectfully, I see those signs as well; it usually means that people just dump their garbage a few yards down the street from the sign instead. It doesn't mean that huge amounts of garbage aren't being produced anymore.

 

Koh Samui desperately needs a thorough review of its waste management collection and processing systems. There is credit for some individuals and hotels for taking action themselves in waste-reduction, but the problem on the island is bigger than that. There are ever-growing, festering piles of garbage that will only increase in size unless they are dealt with. Period.

 

Normally, I am 'okay' with being an expat, but in regards to this issue, I really wish I had a vote. Encourage your Thai friends and family to go yell at someone! 

[Blackheart1916]

15 hours ago, dfdgfdfdgs said:

The dump pictured doesn't look that big for what is after all the second largest and second most populated island in Thailand.

 

And I doubt you can smell it once you get a couple of hundred metres away so I don't think that this would stop any tourists from visiting.  But maybe you meant the rubbish by the side of the roads was the cause of complaints from tourists.

No, everything the OP writes is spot on. It is a huge problem, and people are starting to react to it. It is getting worse, and the years of inaction shows the attitude of the authorities. 

[jacko45k]

6 hours ago, Ulic said:

Follow the Sweedish example and build a trash to energy incinerator for the island.  

They don't seem to do well keeping the other one going, but will take the money for it thanks very much.

[peperobi]

After 22 years of Samui I decide to leave the island because of the rubbish and many other things else.

 

1. The incinerator has never worked, when was building it was too big for the rubbish amount, after too small, I suspect that the necessary equipment was never installed.

2. Is much easier to let the rubbish on the road than collect it.

3. someone become a billionaire with the rubbish on Samui.

4 result; Samui is now the rubbish island...

[maximillian]

All the foreign embassies should get together and tell the government what to do about this and other problems in Thailand, otherwise they will introduce travel warning about LOS.

[maximillian]

4 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Respectfully, I see those signs as well; it usually means that people just dump their garbage a few yards down the street from the sign instead. It doesn't mean that huge amounts of garbage aren't being produced anymore.

 

Koh Samui desperately needs a thorough review of its waste management collection and processing systems. There is credit for some individuals and hotels for taking action themselves in waste-reduction, but the problem on the island is bigger than that. There are ever-growing, festering piles of garbage that will only increase in size unless they are dealt with. Period.

 

Normally, I am 'okay' with being an expat, but in regards to this issue, I really wish I had a vote. Encourage your Thai friends and family to go yell at someone! 

 

"Encourage your Thai friends and family to go yell at someone!"

 

What a joke. Thais only yell at someone they consider lower than themselves.

[wazzupnow]

2 hours ago, peperobi said:

After 22 years of Samui I decide to leave the island because of the rubbish and many other things else.

 

1. The incinerator has never worked, when was building it was too big for the rubbish amount, after too small, I suspect that the necessary equipment was never installed.

2. Is much easier to let the rubbish on the road than collect it.

3. someone become a billionaire with the rubbish on Samui.

4 result; Samui is now the rubbish island...

go check out samet sam same

[thaibeachlovers]

12 hours ago, Ulic said:

Follow the Sweedish example and build a trash to energy incinerator for the island.  

Takes money to do that and the problem is that money always mysteriously vanishes.

Actually there is no mystery, as most of us know.

I'd say that given the reason why Thais vote for certain people to run their places it's a self inflicted injury.

 

[thaibeachlovers]

3 hours ago, wazzupnow said:

go check out samet sam same

After my last visit to Samet, a rubbish dump from end to end, I'll never go back there.

[thaibeachlovers]

8 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

 

 

Normally, I am 'okay' with being an expat, but in regards to this issue, I really wish I had a vote. Encourage your Thai friends and family to go yell at someone! 

Far better to tell them to vote for someone that will fix the problem instead of the usual suspect next election. The solution is in the voter's hands.

[peperobi]

5 hours ago, wazzupnow said:

go check out samet sam same

Ok. same, but the people must begin fighting against, many businesses on Samui will lose a lot of money if no change.

[khunPer]

8 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

13 hours ago, khunPer said:

Somebody seem to do something. Where there used to be piles or garbage by the Ring Road – which were picked up at night by garbage collecting trucks – there are now signs stating that it's not allowed to dump garbage, and if one does, the fine is 2,000 baht...

Respectfully, I see those signs as well; it usually means that people just dump their garbage a few yards down the street from the sign instead. It doesn't mean that huge amounts of garbage aren't being produced anymore.

 

Koh Samui desperately needs a thorough review of its waste management collection and processing systems. There is credit for some individuals and hotels for taking action themselves in waste-reduction, but the problem on the island is bigger than that. There are ever-growing, festering piles of garbage that will only increase in size unless they are dealt with. Period.

 

Normally, I am 'okay' with being an expat, but in regards to this issue, I really wish I had a vote. Encourage your Thai friends and family to go yell at someone! 

Thanks for your comment, which I in general agree in. My post was merely a satirically reply to that "nobody is doing anything about it"...

 

What I don't understand – well, there are lots I don't understand, as I'm not thinking enough the Thai way, but this is probably the number one thing – what I don't understand is that the local government can find money for a lot of new things, but cannot find the money for the spareparts and repair of two incinerators. Well, the story we heard several times in the news, all way back from the print-age, was that it's a question of warranty, but I think one after some 6-8 years – or is it 10-years now? – shall face that this warranty thing probably has been outdated by now.

 

What I recently noticed was new streetlights in turns on the Ring Road, not because there wasn't any streetlight, but now there are streetlight in both sides of the road. Firstly, keeping the "old" streetlights in working condition would help a lot, but I can see that doble-sided light may slightly improve safety, if some motorbikes are driving without light (that does surprisingly happen). However, I wonder what the cost for these new lamps with underground cables are, and if the amount of money instead could have got at least one of the incinerators in full working condition..?

 

And if we look back in time, we can find a number of cases, where one would wonder, if that funds would have been better spent on repairing incinerators. But as I said, I may not be thinking the correct Thai way, as I realized also Koh Tao has an almost identical situation. I first thought the journalist had misprinted "Samui" with "Tao", even the images of piles of garbage in front of an incinerator building looked almost identical.

 

The waste collection was at a period outsourced, but taken back to the local authorities a few years ago, when the horde new garbage trucks appeared. They actually seem to be doing a great job at night on the main roads; the problem is rather the small sois (side streets) with no garbage collection, which can be due to payment, or rather lack of same. We have a "Keep Samui clean"-collector coming on motorbike with sidecar to the little private soi where I live, and those of us being part of the collection pays 300 baht a month per home/house. I'm perfectly Okay with that, but seem like some, also foreigners, wish to save that expense, and probably dump their waste somewhere in a "collection point"..?

 

In the news it was some time ago mention by one of the big boss in the local administration, that hotels and resorts paid a fixed fee of 2,000 baht a month, no matter how little or much waste they produced; and that this was part of the financial problems in funding the waste collection and processing. I don't know if that has been changed, but in my view a fee based on number of rooms or beds, might be more in line; and compared to the up-going prices the resorts can charge for rooms at Samui, an expense of a few baht, or even 10-baht, a day per guest cannot spoil their business. I have before posted about the possibilities of the 1% or 2% tourist tax option, as a solution to garbage funding problem, but a forum-member replied that the tax is already in use.

[khunPer]

3 minutes ago, peperobi said:

Ok. same, but the people must begin fighting against, many businesses on Samui will lose a lot of money if no change.

I'm not sure, as more and more multi-star resorts opens, and many of the guests there stays mainly behind the resort's walls – which is also what the resort prefers, so their guests spent their money with them, and their organized excursions if in need of heading outside – those visitors don't see the backyard of Koh Samui. 

 

I even noticed, when walking up and down "my" beach, that the more high-end a resort is, the more heavily it's booked at the beachfront; whilst the affordable places seem to often have numerous vacant beachfront bungalows. I'm actually surprised, as some of these high-end beachfront bungalows has a normal price-tag on 1,990 a night – however knowing that some guests may buy a package, and thereby get up to perhaps 50% discount – ops, I forgot to mention the currency, it's US$...

[Samui Bodoh]

 

50 minutes ago, khunPer said:

Thanks for your comment, which I in general agree in. My post was merely a satirically reply to that "nobody is doing anything about it"...

 

What I don't understand – well, there are lots I don't understand, as I'm not thinking enough the Thai way, but this is probably the number one thing – what I don't understand is that the local government can find money for a lot of new things, but cannot find the money for the spareparts and repair of two incinerators. Well, the story we heard several times in the news, all way back from the print-age, was that it's a question of warranty, but I think one after some 6-8 years – or is it 10-years now? – shall face that this warranty thing probably has been outdated by now.

 

What I recently noticed was new streetlights in turns on the Ring Road, not because there wasn't any streetlight, but now there are streetlight in both sides of the road. Firstly, keeping the "old" streetlights in working condition would help a lot, but I can see that doble-sided light may slightly improve safety, if some motorbikes are driving without light (that does surprisingly happen). However, I wonder what the cost for these new lamps with underground cables are, and if the amount of money instead could have got at least one of the incinerators in full working condition..?

 

And if we look back in time, we can find a number of cases, where one would wonder, if that funds would have been better spent on repairing incinerators. But as I said, I may not be thinking the correct Thai way, as I realized also Koh Tao has an almost identical situation. I first thought the journalist had misprinted "Samui" with "Tao", even the images of piles of garbage in front of an incinerator building looked almost identical.

 

The waste collection was at a period outsourced, but taken back to the local authorities a few years ago, when the horde new garbage trucks appeared. They actually seem to be doing a great job at night on the main roads; the problem is rather the small sois (side streets) with no garbage collection, which can be due to payment, or rather lack of same. We have a "Keep Samui clean"-collector coming on motorbike with sidecar to the little private soi where I live, and those of us being part of the collection pays 300 baht a month per home/house. I'm perfectly Okay with that, but seem like some, also foreigners, wish to save that expense, and probably dump their waste somewhere in a "collection point"..?

 

In the news it was some time ago mention by one of the big boss in the local administration, that hotels and resorts paid a fixed fee of 2,000 baht a month, no matter how little or much waste they produced; and that this was part of the financial problems in funding the waste collection and processing. I don't know if that has been changed, but in my view a fee based on number of rooms or beds, might be more in line; and compared to the up-going prices the resorts can charge for rooms at Samui, an expense of a few baht, or even 10-baht, a day per guest cannot spoil their business. I have before posted about the possibilities of the 1% or 2% tourist tax option, as a solution to garbage funding problem, but a forum-member replied that the tax is already in use.

Hi All

 

The link at the top is from a great discussion that we had regarding the garbage situation from September; if you are interested in the issue on the island, it is a good read.

 

Khun Per, let me address some of the points that you raised.

 

First, please don't worry about thinking the 'Thai' way; we have enough Thai people for that!  

 

I don't know the story regarding the warranty. However, I can offer informed speculation regarding the reason that the local government has spent money on streetlights/power poles but not the incinerator. I have a lot of experience working with local governments in Asia (though not Thailand) and I can tell you that the funds they receive are often allocated specifically to certain projects and/or specific uses. Local governments, in my experience, are quite... flexible in their interpretations of where funds are actually spent, but there are general guidelines that are difficult to wriggle out of. My guess is that the funds for the streetlights/power poles were allocated (generally) to the PEA for use, and the local government, even if they wanted to, couldn't stretch that into the incinerator. Further, I would guess that the streetlights/power poles got special attention after the power outage a few years ago where the whole island went down. Do you remember that? Perhaps 5 years ago in early December? If that had occurred during high season, it would have been international news, so I assume that funds were allocated for upgrading the electrical systems (power poles) and had to be used that way. Finally, in the bureaucratic mindset, funds were already allocated for the incinerator, so you cannot allocate more, even if the bloody thing doesn't work! I know, I know, but...

 

We covered/debated several of the other issues in your post in the thread I copied above. Again, it is good reading if anyone is interested.

 

My (somewhat dejected) view on this is that nothing will happen until it gets into the international media, either by some journalist or through a campaign by an international NGO. Or that the situation becomes sooooo bad that tourism revenue starts to drop. Either way, unfortunately I don't see much happening for a while.

[Beats56]

Don't they have a landfill site where they can bury the weekly trash and cap it of with a layer of dirt. Get it big enough and you can install pipes to collect the methane and use a compressor to colect the gas and store it for other uses. Do that in my country.

 

[evadgib]

There used to be a foreign liaison volunteer in or around the Mayors office. If anyone feels strongly enough they could perhaps throw their hat into the ring but TBH it would be a waste of time. Any fix has to come from the Thais themselves.

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎12‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 2:13 PM, peperobi said:

Ok. same, but the people must begin fighting against, many businesses on Samui will lose a lot of money if no change.

You nailed it. It's up to the THAIS to do something about it. We farangs are just tolerated, and our opinions not at all.

[PoorSucker]

Some name calling posts removed, please use the report button instead of answering. 

[natway09]

And you think this is news  ???

They built a French incinerator on Kho Phi Phi which has been sitting there unused for 10 years.

Why? We don't like it