Total Disrespect!

[pumpuiman]

I'm always amazed at the toilets on trains....consisting of a hole directly to the tracks underneath.

The littering problem in the U.S. was successfully combated with a publicity campaign.

The ad consisted of a Native American in traditional garb, paddling down a polluted river. He goes ashore and stands by a highway.A car driving past throws garbage at his feet. A single tear drop slowly runs down his face....

(Here's a youtube link for those with access)...

More than four decades ago, the Ad Council partnered with Keep America Beautiful to create a powerful visual image that dramatized how litter and other forms of pollution were hurting the environment, and how every individual has the responsibility to help protect it. The ad, which featured Native American actor Iron Eyes Cody, "The Crying Indian," first aired on Earth Day in 1971. Created by ad agency Marstellar, Inc., the campaign used the line, "People Start Pollution. People can stop it." The ad became one of the most memorable and successful campaigns in advertising history and was named one of the top 100 advertising campaigns of the 20th Century by Ad Age Magazine.

This ad had a huge impact on the Nation.

I remember when littering was the norm. It seemed everyone, including myself, didn't give a second thought about throwing things out of the car window.

After this publicity campaign, my attitude and that of the country changed dramatically.

I wonder what kind of impact such a campaign would have in Thailand?

What historical figure would have the most impact?

[TAWP]

A directly localised version, with You Know Who instead of the indian (since he does important work in related fields) would be so shockingly powerfull that it would far out-match the original indian ad.

[LucMee]

A directly localised version, with You Know Who instead of the indian (since he does important work in related fields) would be so shockingly powerfull that it would far out-match the original indian ad.

Amen Brother!

[Robski]

What a fantastic idea! If only it could be acheived...

[dantilley]

A directly localised version, with You Know Who instead of the indian (since he does important work in related fields) would be so shockingly powerfull that it would far out-match the original indian ad.

Great idea TAWP

[Robski]

We have two threads running along similar lines so I'll post this here too.

In response to Dantilley's post that he estimates 1000 active users on TV I replied;

Ok well that's still 1000 people, hardly a lone voice in the wilderness.

General topics is always full of complaints, we even have threads about it!

Lets do something constructive so it is not all just hot air, with Georges consent of course.

We all love Thailand right? Lets try and give something back. Something peaceful, something constructive, maybe we can build some bridges with Thai people and show that we care about their country too.

Nothing was ever achieved by anyone who said it can't be done.

Or are you just going to sit there and carry on complaining or take from Thailand what you will and say the rest is not your problem.

[TAWP]

As Thailand is an emerging economy I can really see the need for a well thought-out campaign for public awarness on this topic.

The problem I can see against a public campaign being initiated would be related to something George Carlin said about nobody solving the problem with homeless people in the US: "There is no money in it".

The other way would have to be that someone would somehow be allowed to approach someone high enough surrounding the HMK to raise the issue for debate. A far fetch if anything, I know.

[Jet Gorgon]

Dried buffalo dung is excellent garden fertiliser. My neighbours had a buffalo, and I went over now and then to collect the dry pies for my garden. They thought it was hilarious.

Like Kmart said, neatness ends at the garden gate, but not only in Thailand; saw it all over Asia. If there is no garbage collection, people will just dump it wherever. I used to carry poo bags when I walked my dogs; the Thais thought I was dirty for picking it up and throwing it in the closest roadside bin. Hard to win.

That is a pity, Globeliner. Could you burn it off?

[qualtrough]

I'm always amazed at the toilets on trains....consisting of a hole directly to the tracks underneath.

The littering problem in the U.S. was successfully combated with a publicity campaign.

The ad consisted of a Native American in traditional garb, paddling down a polluted river. He goes ashore and stands by a highway.A car driving past throws garbage at his feet. A single tear drop slowly runs down his face....

(Here's a youtube link for those with access)...

More than four decades ago, the Ad Council partnered with Keep America Beautiful to create a powerful visual image that dramatized how litter and other forms of pollution were hurting the environment, and how every individual has the responsibility to help protect it. The ad, which featured Native American actor Iron Eyes Cody, "The Crying Indian," first aired on Earth Day in 1971. Created by ad agency Marstellar, Inc., the campaign used the line, "People Start Pollution. People can stop it." The ad became one of the most memorable and successful campaigns in advertising history and was named one of the top 100 advertising campaigns of the 20th Century by Ad Age Magazine.

This ad had a huge impact on the Nation.

I remember when littering was the norm. It seemed everyone, including myself, didn't give a second thought about throwing things out of the car window.

After this publicity campaign, my attitude and that of the country changed dramatically.

I wonder what kind of impact such a campaign would have in Thailand?

What historical figure would have the most impact?

I remember that ad, very moving. Little known fact: Iron Eyes Cody didn't have a drop of Indian blood in him!

[Globeliner]

Dried buffalo dung is excellent garden fertiliser. My neighbours had a buffalo, and I went over now and then to collect the dry pies for my garden. They thought it was hilarious.

Like Kmart said, neatness ends at the garden gate, but not only in Thailand; saw it all over Asia. If there is no garbage collection, people will just dump it wherever. I used to carry poo bags when I walked my dogs; the Thais thought I was dirty for picking it up and throwing it in the closest roadside bin. Hard to win.

That is a pity, Globeliner. Could you burn it off?

It started with brushwood, which after a week would be tinder dry, so i would have several fires, unfortunatley they then dumped truck loads of concrete, i believe concrete does not burn. Use the buffalo cripe as a fertiliser, works wonders for the roses

[lioness]

Some government involvement and a publicity campaign may be a start. Australia has the "keep Australia Beautiful" campaign and for the majority it is part of the culture to dispose of their rubbish thoughtfully, I doubt folks here really even think about it, It all starts with public education and maybe at the school level.

[Heng]

Yeah, that's why we always put up barbed wire fences with plenty of no-littering signs. Simple, cheap, and surprisingly effective. Too lazy to heave their waste an extra meter high.

[p_brownstone]

It’s a problem that can only really be corrected by education - at home and at school.

My daughter used to attend ISB here in Bangkok and it was something I noticed whenever the School held a Fair in the Compound.

Children were walking around drinking from paper cups, eating from paper plates etc.; when finished the Farang (and most Luk Kreung) children would look around for a Bin to dispose of the item and walk as far as necessary to do so, the Thai children simply dropped it on the grass.

Both actions were completely automatic.

Patrick

[Briggsy]

Littering is part of Thai culture. They like it.

[JohnGotti]

wow, that's sick, OP.

[bkkjames]

A couple of weekend's ago, the mrs and i go out to do a little shopping. Upon returning to my little soi I see as I approach my house a bunch of styrofoam packing material from a TV strewn all over my garbage can area and on the soi. The lazy asshol_e couldn't even be bothered to put it in a bag.

Needless to say not impressed so I grabbed it all and chucked it next to the fence from where I thought it came from. And I did it in such a way that the offending party would realise that I knew where it came from and any attempt to do things again such as this will result in a swift response.

Unsurprisingly a few days later near the neighbors garbage can, appears a big Panasonic box.

Don't take this the wrong way peeps, but this neighbor is not some uneducated type from Nakon Nowhere....and he has a perfectly good and empty garbage can to place his shit in but I am sure thought to himself, to heck with it, let's throw it all over the farang's garbage area and make him look like the pig.

Rant over.

[phaethon]

I'm always amazed at the toilets on trains....consisting of a hole directly to the tracks underneath.

I remember those types of toilets in the UK just twenty or so years ago.

[bobjenssen]

This is very typical of most 3rd world nations. Quite simply- they know no better.

Rather than implement punitive policy's which only serve to keep them longer in that 3rd world backward mentality

Its best to have a policy of reward and education.

but it has to come from the top, and seeing as though the top here very often only seems to care about its own personal agenda it will take a few decades or foreign intervention ( as does any area of improvement here)

to change things for the better.

[imaneggspurt]

They are a nation of gypsies,.most inconsiderate, where will the dog sh1t now ? !

[wilsongbrown]

When I walk my dog around the sois off of the Sai Yuan road here on Phuket, I see many pickups simply throw everything out into the surrounding countryside. Plastic bags, builders' rubble, lavatories(?!) It's truly disgusting and they know they're doing wrong. I can see it in their eyes as I glare at them.

People being what they are (they used to do this in the uk until penalties were imposed), the orborjor should either provide somewhere to safely dump it at regular intervals for free (they won't pay) or have someone patrolling the sois (impractical) early morning and evening and fine them. Really a television campaign should be started, along the lines of those shown many years ago in the West, to educate people.

By the way, it's not simply relegated to those whom you'd term 'gypsies' - on my last visit to Pai, there were all these wealthy youngsters taking pictures of a local 'beauty spot' with their Nikons dumping their bloody plastic bags and tincans without a care, and at least a bin was provided there.

Edited October 16, 2009 by wilsongbrown

[Harcourt]

Dried buffalo dung is excellent garden fertiliser. My neighbours had a buffalo, and I went over now and then to collect the dry pies for my garden. They thought it was hilarious.

Like Kmart said, neatness ends at the garden gate, but not only in Thailand; saw it all over Asia. If there is no garbage collection, people will just dump it wherever. I used to carry poo bags when I walked my dogs; the Thais thought I was dirty for picking it up and throwing it in the closest roadside bin. Hard to win.

That is a pity, Globeliner. Could you burn it off?

That's as ignorant a suggestion as the litterers dumping it in the first place: out of sight, out of mind eh? Pollute the air instead.

[Harcourt]

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?

Ever been to any seaside French town first thing in the morning? Ever seen the amount of dog crap on the beaches and the streets????

[lordsux]

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.

Littering? nah! They are just laying foundations for a new moobahn.

[doggie888888]

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?

It is true that the litter problem is not as prevalent in Europe, at least from a visual perspective. However, I wish to understand why the English and Swedes (just to name the two countries you mentioned) and other Westerners who should know better do the following when in Pattaya where I live:

1) let their dog shit outside their compound without theirs owners picking up the mess

2) throw their cigarette butts out of baht buses, on the beach and on the streets

3) dump their rubbish wherever when there is no bin handy...as if it's not their fault

4) dumping their renovation rubble and other rubbish in an open area to add to/create the mess akin to the pics by the OP, simply becasue there is already a small pile of rubbish there.

So please, to all civilised people who come from cleaner and greener pastures - despite the lax laws and enforcement here, you don't need to add to the problem. Not that it makes it right, but the locals' litter happy behaviour may be caused by ignorance, poverty etc but what's the Westerners' excuse?

[phusingpete]

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!

Strange but I have found that the litter problem has improved tremendously over the last 8 years. When I first came here to a small village in Issan, the place was strewn with litter, a real mess. Now we have regular rubbish collections, taking away unwanted waste.In addition all plastic bottles, tins, paper, glass is saved and later sold. potted plants now adorn the front areas of the farmers houses and it really is a very pleasant environment. Certainly I do see children drop their crisp bags on the ground, and you do see occasional plastic bags around but nowhere near what it used to be. Just noticed a few plastic bags outside my gate, I am sure they were left by the rubbish collectors. I shall go clear it now.

[Mosha]

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

If you took a trip to see them you would know why they are called Gypsies. Their village is a dump.

[IanForbes]

It's terrible anywhere you see it. It happens in Canada as well. I don't have any more than 2 plastic bags of garbage a week. In Thailand I separate the plastic juice bottles from the few food wrappers I throw away. A local collector picks up the plastic bottles for recycling.

[anothertorres]

People genuinley dont know they are doing anything bad

i wish i could believe that. when human beings see garbage strewn about, we all say the same thing... "look at all that garbage". so yeah, i'd like to believe that they aren't educated on the benefits of *recycling*, sure, but i simply cannot believe they are dumb enough to not be able to recognize their own distastes. frankly, most aren't prone to throwing a spent M-150 out their front window and onto their yard. at least i like to believe most people don't do that...

Edited October 16, 2009 by anothertorres

[sanook2me]

O/T

I love these old threads that rise to the top again, i don't even read them i just look at the posters names and see how many have been banned..

Terry made it to 3,158 posts before getting banned... fascinating.. wonder where he is now...

oh yeah, back on topic.

my condo recycle and people separate plastic from paper etc when filling the bins on their floor, quite pro active!

[dumball]

I once helped an older Thai woman transport her daughter and grandchildren gack up north because she could live far better there an it would be better environment for the children , her house and yard were a mess as was the whole soi . I asked if I could stay for a while and clean things up a little , the house was easily done with two women , so I started in on the yard piling up debri of all kinds . I got the neighbors husband to take it in his truck to a dump for a few Baht(?) then had the yard around the house cemented , this carried on to a wall between the two homes , then a couple of flower boxes , a cemented ditch for drainage etc , I even got out into the cement road and cleaned it and the accompanying ditch on the other side of the road . The children started to come up and play their 'Throw the flip-flop 'game etc in our nice clean section of road , even started to practise their English , but the litter they left behind earned them a small talking to , translated by the lady of the house . There was a bin outside of the fence in which they were instructed to place ALL of their garbage and if they saw anyone throw any on the floor to point out the bin to them , within a week the whole street became clear of debri , the chidren were so proud of themselves .

No , it does not take much effort to achieve a simple thing like teaching by example , so who else has made this kind of small effort and when are the rest of you going to '' Çhip-in' and stop just bloody whining ? Oh , and that includes the Thaiwise who find it easier to join the status-quo just to be a REAL Thai .