When I was in India & Nepal, there were lots of people working the garbage dumps, mining steel, aluminum, plastic, glass, electronics, anything that can be resold.

 

So the question is, are there such scavengers at Thailand's dumps? I have to admit never having been to a Thai garbage dump.

 

This is pretty basic living. I know the garbagemen who come to our mooban with punctual regularity work really, really hard in all kinds of weather. Through rain & heat & dust & pollution. Garbage is really, really stinky & heavy and I'm sure it's not great pay. Yet these guys are universally cheerful. I've gotten to know them by name and often give them little treats or snacks

 

No real recycling in Bangkok. I mean who washes their plastic & glass? 

They are all over the place; mainly working at night. In Manchester we used to call them the " The Rag and bone man". The used to ride around our streets with a waggon and horse.

1 hour ago, Magictoad said:

They are all over the place; mainly working at night. In Manchester we used to call them the " The Rag and bone man". The used to ride around our streets with a waggon and horse.

Not from Manchester, but down south & yep, I remember the Rag & Bone man..

 

 

As for original question, only ever been to a big dump once & didn't see any scavengers.

 

Of course, there are the people that scavenge the bins in the sois- what a horrible existence that must be. 

 

do they have garbage dumps in Thailand?? Have not seen any professionally run dumps, just piles in the countryside burning

Sure, we have rag-and-bone men who general pay us for our recycling, even unwashed (unwasheds hippie meself!).

 

Of could there is a majaor garbage dump in Bangkok, maybe more than one. BMA trucks show up at our house.

 

Where are theyband are there scavengers???

Living with trash: Bangkok’s waste pickers and the recycling economy | SEI

 

To my knowledge these scavengers normally pick through trash at the source. They drive old contraptions and often cause hazards for traffic on the roads.

I recall the first accident in the first tunnel to open in Phuket was caused by an old guy U turning to collect a bottle in the gutter.

 

Edit, Sorry link doesnt work, try google

 

Have an elderly (or hard mileage middle aged) woman who is present daily in my neighborhood.

She has one of those two-wheeled shopping rigs.

She hits the house trash cans around the neighborhood.

Seems like she takes plastic and glass.

She is very friendly and chats with everyone in Thai.

Always has clean clothes and seems to be in good health.

I know nothing of her story or where she lives etc.

 

We go to dumps every few weeks with cardboard, glass and tins, mrs actually takes boxes from Foodland and Big C etc then sells them. Seems like they get a kick out of it, we don't need the bit of money you get

We DO wash our plastic and glass. We discard recyclables in a separate sack from other waste. 

We put the real waste in the blue barrels and the recycle bag on the ground next to it. 

Somebody always picks up that bag and it disappears.

I often got called into the office at all hours and found the garbage truck out in front of my Asoke apartment with all the garbage scattered across the street with the guys picking out anything they could resell or recycle.  If you got up at a normal hour, they were finished and gone and you'd never see them.

Usually see several people around samui collect plastic and cardboard from bins around the island. We would keep all our empty plastic bottles in bags then when seen someone going through bins on main road near our house we would tell them we had bags full of them they could come and take . Hopefully it gave them the rest of the day off and a decent bit of money for selling them.

There was also a local guy with a saleng that worked with Tessa baan and he would come take things we couldn't give away and sometimes cut our grass for us if we needed it done .

On 7/14/2025 at 6:52 PM, unblocktheplanet said:

So the question  such scavengers at Thailand's dumps? 

 

Yes, so many of them.

 

Every time I go out, always see a couple of them at work.

Actively searching for  "treasure" in their term at the roadside  garbage dumps.

 

Some collect wide range of items; cardboard boxes, plastic, bottles cans. and broken electronics.

Some specialized in single item.

 

Empty casings of the long shelf life drink can also be recycled(aluminum film inside).

So I always wash and dry them after contents emptied.

And give them to such people when I see them.

 

Maids working for apartments, also often do the collection of these recyclables for their extra money.

 

There are stores buying usable wastes(by kilo).

And that is how scanvagers  earn their living. 

Thanks, everybody. Guess I'll have to visit the landfills myself to get my answer!

 

• West Landfill: Located approximately 70 km west of Bangkok. 
   
• Southeast Landfill: Situated near the sea, about 30-40 km southeast of Bangkok. 
   
• Waste Transfer Station: The On Nut subdistrict houses a waste transfer station where waste trucks deliver their loads before being transported to the landfills. 
   
• Nong Khaem: A new waste transfer station in Nong Khaem, spans 18 rai and uses technology to convert waste into energy. 
   
• On Nut Landfill Conversion: The BMA is planning to transform the landfill in the On Nut subdistrict into green space according to the Nation Thailand. 

Up here is remote rural northern Thailand we have several depots that will pay for scrap/recyclables. In our case since COVID we just donate. Recently we got two brothers to collect from our home and they were staggered we didn't want payment. At our village landfill and indeed at a couple of spots in the village there are places for recyclables. And I see evidence that someone occasionally opens and examines bags presumably looking for items they can scavenge. 

On 7/15/2025 at 1:15 AM, Old Croc said:

Living with trash: Bangkok’s waste pickers and the recycling economy | SEI

 

To my knowledge these scavengers normally pick through trash at the source. They drive old contraptions and often cause hazards for traffic on the roads.

I recall the first accident in the first tunnel to open in Phuket was caused by an old guy U turning to collect a bottle in the gutter.

 

Edit, Sorry link doesnt work, try google

 

Do you mean someone running into a guy stopping to collect a bottle?  Stopping is sometimes necessary; driving into people is not.

14 hours ago, StreetCowboy said:

Do you mean someone running into a guy stopping to collect a bottle?  Stopping is sometimes necessary; driving into people is not.

You dont know what you're talking about. 

There is no stopping in Phukets tunnels.