Phuket Struggles with Escalating Waste Woes: A Call for Action

[webfact]

File photo courtesy: Thai Newsroom

 

Phuket is facing an escalating rubbish crisis that threatens both the environment and the island's reputation as a tourist paradise. The surge in waste has outpaced the infrastructure designed to handle it, prompting urgent calls for comprehensive solutions.

 

Every day, the island generates over 1,000 tonnes of waste, a staggering increase from prior years, reflecting the swell in both tourism and local development. This far surpasses the island's capacity for processing garbage, as the Saphan Hin landfill and the sole incinerator, with its maximum capability of handling 900 tonnes daily, struggle to cope. This incapacity leaves hundreds of tonnes to accumulate, creating unsightly and odorous mounds of trash.

 

Residents, like Vassana Toyou, find their everyday lives disrupted by the overwhelming stench emanating from the ever-expanding landfill, which has replaced scenic vistas with unsightly dumps. The constant need for air-conditioning and purifying devices adds a financial burden to local households, significantly escalating electricity costs.

 

Phuket's appeal, with roughly 13 million tourists visiting annually out of Thailand’s 35.5 million foreign arrivals, has been a double-edged sword. While tourism boosts the local economy, the growth estimated at 1,400 tonnes of waste per day by year's end, places unsustainable pressure on the island's waste management infrastructure.

In response, local authorities have unveiled plans to curb waste output by 15% within six months. This strategy includes expanding the landfill and constructing a new incinerator, with the overarching aim of steering Phuket towards becoming a sustainable tourism hub.

 

Nonetheless, enhancing incineration capacity alone is insufficient, insists waste management expert, Panate Manomaivibool from Burapha University. He advocates a more holistic approach that includes waste minimisation and segregation.

 

Currently, a mere 10% of Phuket's refuse is recycled, with organic waste comprising 60% of the total. Efforts are being made to instil recycling habits among locals, such as a "garbage bank" initiative piloted in Muang district, aiming to incentivise community participation in waste reduction.

 

As Phuket grapples with its burgeoning waste crisis, authorities and residents alike are in a race against time to implement effective measures. Immediate action and sustainable planning are indispensable to safeguard Phuket's future as a cherished global destination. If successful, these measures may serve as a blueprint for other tourist-dependent regions facing similar challenges, reported Bangkok Post.

 

-- 2025-01-17

 

 

[Andre0720]

"Immediate action and sustainable planning are indispensable "

 

Immediate action needed to change the culture in Thailand.

 

If we observe the speed that the Thai culture is changing its behavior on the roads, might take some time, if ever.

Mainly because Thai people simply do not care about these things... Garbage is thrown everywhere, land is space where to throw plastic drink containers, papers, plastic bags and so on.

 

"Is culture difficult to change? Culture is resilient. Finally, for precisely the reasons cultures can be so powerful, they are difficult to change. Implication: Changing a culture takes committed leadership, often requiring years of concerted and consistent effort, including intensive work to communicate and reinforce desired new behaviors and values".

 

Based on this, what would be an estimation of time required to achieve any result....

[simosiam72]

If everyone did their little part by sorting the garbage at home into a few very simple groups including plastic, paper, glass, metal, the remaining wet food waste can easily be dispersed in nature or given to animals. With these very simple measures, in a week we would have solved the problem.

[lamecn]

Zero Waste and Circular Economy!

http://www.ggienergy.com/ 

https://aikan.dk/home-2/how does it work.html

[madone]

7 minutes ago, simosiam72 said:

If everyone did their little part by sorting the garbage at home into a few very simple groups including plastic, paper, glass, metal, the remaining wet food waste can easily be dispersed in nature or given to animals. With these very simple measures, in a week we would have solved the problem.

 

<deleted>, time after time recycling has shown itself unviable except in perfect circumstances.  The vast majority of household waste cannot be recycled because it is contaminated. People would need to carefully clean and process plastic paper products. The lions share of "recyclable"  waste ends up in landfills.  

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Phuket is facing an escalating rubbish crisis that threatens both the environment and the island's reputation as a tourist paradise. The surge in waste has outpaced the infrastructure designed to handle it, prompting urgent calls for comprehensive solutions

Deportation would be a bit harsh

[Purdey]

It is a bad idea to burn certain types of waste. The local government maybe cannot afford to collect and separate waste, and I doubt there are recycling factories close by. 

The government could provide tax incentives for a private company to set up a recycling facility for PET bottles, but few other materials are cost effective.

[digger70]

Phuket Struggles with Escalating Waste Woes: A Call for Action 

 

Typical mismanagement Wait till they cant handle the waste than think about what they maybe can do about it.

They should've had a Future plan in place Years ago . 

 

[khunPer]

That's what happens, if you so much want mass tourism and don't have the infrastructure in order first...

[impulse]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Phuket is facing an escalating rubbish crisis that threatens both the environment and the island's reputation as a tourist paradise. The surge in waste has outpaced the infrastructure designed to handle it, prompting urgent calls for comprehensive solutions.

 

Didn't see that coming.

 

Too busy counting the brown envelopes to notice.

 

[Woke to Sounds of Horking]

Send it to Mars on one of Elton's Sbace Ex rockits.

 

Or sell it to the Chinese communists to burn for heating fuel.

 

Or dump it into the Gulf when no one's looking...

[Baz Erckens]

As long as the 'money-first' mindset dominates, meaningful change is unlikely. While I believe change will come, it will take decades to unfold. Historians a century from now may look back on our era as the 'Trash Era'—a time when the Earth was at its most polluted and degraded.