Stop Trashing Thailand! Tourists show the Thais how to pick up litter!

 

 

Following reports that Thailand is being named as a major dumping ground for the world's trash came two tourists who decided to take matters into their own hands.

 

And show the Thais what a bit of elbow grease can achieve in helping to make the country a bit cleaner.

 

The foreigners were filmed by a passerby collecting bags of trash blown in off the sea at Ao Ton Sai Beach on Phi Phi Island, Krabi.

 

They waded into the sea and filled several bags and put them by the roadside for proper collection

 

Spring News praised the tourists saying they didn't make a song and dance about doing a good deed - they just got on with it. 

 

 

Source: https://www.springnews.co.th/view/283659

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-6-12

Makes no difference, otherwise they wouldn't of thrown it there in the first place

Hopeless.

I am looked at like an alien if I deny a plastic bag and put things in a shopping bag brought with me (tales from the village market).

I asked my wife what did they do before the age of plastic bags?

"They had a basket."

How do I know that school is closed?

Less garbage in front of the plot.

 

9 hours ago, BEVUP said:

Makes no difference, otherwise they wouldn't of thrown it there in the first place

Yep...do something for them...they don't change

No consequences...no change

Wrong priorities they  have

9 minutes ago, KCPhuket said:

Yep...do something for them...they don't change

No consequences...no change

Wrong priorities they  have

I have noticed that some people always believe that there is someone below them to clean up after them. They think that have that they have superiority and cleaning up their own mess is beneath them. Probably more noticeable in Thailand.

10 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

"they didn't make a song and dance about doing a good deed - they just got on with it". 

Unlike the reporter on here?

Somebody needs to start from somewhere.?? Thank you !!

Littering looks to be part of the country's DNA.  Remember riding on a klong boat admiring a beautiful woman who was eating lunch serenely.  She then so elegantly, gracefull floated the plastic bag into the klong.  It was horrifying. 

 

To be fare, saw the same things in Malaysia. 

I wonder when the authorities become embarrassed enough that they start busting trash-collecting tourists for cleaning up Thailand without a work permit?

Thai Media:
"Tourist Can't Just Come To Thailand and Do What They Want - Like Picking Up Trash!!!"  <cut to horrified locals suffering from lose of face>

Thais will object tourists , have no work permits, not that having one would help as the right to work means in  Thai language......…Not working at all !! For Thais . 

Farangs have been showing Thais how to pick up trash for decades to no avail.  Thais have the means and opportunity, but lack the motivation. Case dismissed

Stop to accuse only the Thais about the trash situation, many of us do always the best to increase the problem.

yes every thai *its not my problem* on beach road Jomtien,  there was a piece of wood in the road,(accident waiting to happen to the unwary) every single vehicle swerved to avoid it,(not my problem) i stopped my bike and removed the killer object to the sidewalk,i waited ages for the photo shoot.but sadly, no one took my pic. lol ,(still it stopped you reading tomorrow, ) * scooter rider killed by hitting an object in the road*

There should be a national campaign to "Keep Thailand Clean and Beautiful"

The tourists put the bags of rubbish by the side of the road . I am sure the Thais thought what a load of plonkers, as they took the rubbish to the recycle yatd and sold it

People

used to pick up plastic to sell for recycling. All that plastic in the seas is profit. For every 100 kilos of plastic is about 14 baht 

 

i know not much but plastic can be returned into gasoline. Can be used to tarmac roads. It is litturally a waist to throw away

Unfortunately, will have no effect whatsoever on Thais. They'll say: "..Look those tourists cleaning their own shit away, they are the ones who pollute our country...".

54 minutes ago, peperobi said:

Stop to accuse only the Thais about the trash situation, many of us do always the best to increase the problem.

That is a very untrue and stupid statement ! My guess is you are still in the ‘honeymoon’ stage ! Lol

12 hours ago, BEVUP said:

Makes no difference, otherwise they wouldn't of thrown it there in the first place

I disagree.  Actions like this combined with strong publicity could end up helping the government, which is doing its best in a corrupt way, to get support to make a stronger push for a cleaner Thailand.  

Household rubbish, building material, motorist just tossing their rubbish anywhere most just treat the place as a tip doesn't matter where they get rid of it as long as they can ! 

1 hour ago, ice4351 said:

There should be a national campaign to "Keep Thailand Clean and Beautiful"

Won't make any difference. They could have 50 campaigns a year and still be the same. Probably no Thai would even turn up. Cuts into there sleeping time.

Cleaning up shows love of land and pride in country. Especially in a country that millions of people visit each year. We even have litter in the air - the tangled telephone wires. How did this habit ever begin and grow? 

Do they have a day like Australia has "Clean up Australia day" ?

 

If not, I wonder if many would participate ?

22 minutes ago, Happyman58 said:

Won't make any difference. They could have 50 campaigns a year and still be the same. Probably no Thai would even turn up. Cuts into there sleeping time.

Kind of like trying to convince people on thaivisa.com that doing anything positive in the world is worthwhile, right?  So much cynicism here, nobody seems to see the irony.  Pot kettle black?  

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

And show the Thais what a bit of elbow grease can achieve in helping to make the country a bit cleaner.

Shaming the Thais is a waste of time. If government really wanted change they would implement law enforcement.

Kudos to the guys picking up the trash.  I mean it.  I do it myself paddling a canoe in Lumpini Park with a litter picker and a basket in the rental canoe with me.

 

But then, we put it into a bin.  And that bin ends up eventually being dumped back into a river.  And that river carries it to the sea. 

 

Great to see someone taking the initiative, but until the waste management system gets fixed, it's tilting at windmills.  In my case, Lumpini's cleaner, but I'm not convinced I didn't just kick the problem down the road.  Those guys may be cleaning up the same trash I picked up last year.

 

Wonderful intent, but like putting band aid on shark bite....education needs to start at cradle ! Then continued at home, school until it becomes habit  ?

It does not make a scrap of difference, the first move must be to stop manufacturers  producing this stuff in the first place, or use fast bio-degradable plastic, since i would think most of the manufacturers are chinese and getting them to do something about this, i would think is impossible, maybe Trump can have a word with them, like his words with Kim has achieved apparently!

To me, he is simply a nut by coming all the way here to pick rubbish for free.

13 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Hopeless.

I am looked at like an alien if I deny a plastic bag and put things in a shopping bag brought with me (tales from the village market).

I asked my wife what did they do before the age of plastic bags?

"They had a basket."

How do I know that school is closed?

Less garbage in front of the plot.

 

 

A change in consciousness must start at the most basic level. Most Thais think plastic is the best thing ever invented, and the percentage of Thais that even consider the negative ramifications of plastic is incredibly small. This requires some education. I always do two things to avoid the consumption of plastic.

 

1. I bring re-usable bags with me every time I go shopping. I use the larger shopping bags I buy in the US, which are made of recycled materials. Most of the clerks have to be dealt with. Even when they see my bag, they still start putting the stuff in plastic. I always mai sai toom. No plastic! Then they start loading up my bag. Most look at me like I am from Mars. Do I care? Not one iota. About 1% thank me, and get it. Not many do. My Thai wife does not like bringing the bags to the store. I compel her to. By now, she expects it, and sometimes even asks if I have any bags in the car, or on the motorbike. Same with the water bottles. It used to embarrass her. Now, it is second nature, as I have been doing this for so long, she expects it. So, if a Thai can be conditioned to follow these simple principals, then anyone can. 

 

2. I bring a bottle of water with me, every time I go to a restaurant. I refill my plastic bottles from the 20 liter bottles at home. It is easy. I never buy bottled water at a restaurant. This saves 300-600 bottles a year. I use a plastic bottle dozens of times. I never get any flack from the restaurants. Only once did someone say something to me. She said you cannot bring you own water. My response was if you serve the water in a glass bottle, and I do not have to consume a plastic bottle, I am happy to pay for that. She was lost. I told her to leave and get me my food. She went away. 

We simply cannot say we are concerned about the environment, and then do nothing about it. Action demonstrates commitment. Lack of action demonstrates nothing. 

Lastly, restaurants can demonstrate their commitment, by serving drinking water from the 20 liter bottles. It saves alot of plastic. They lose a small amount of revenue, by not selling thousands of bottles of water. But, their operation is still profitable, and they are making a real difference. 

 

There really is not need to be consuming water in plastic bottles. At least not often. There are alternatives. Those damn bottles are a real culprit, when it comes to fouling the environment. What can we do, if we say we care? It is so easy to say it is all their fault. But, we are the only ones we can control on a daily basis, right?