Klongs

[myauq]

i walk past klongs everyday to and from work. they are truely disguisting. although they do have 'saftey' railings i still wonder - out of my sheer perverse curiousity - what kinds of things/people are or have been in them.

what's the most unusual thing anyone has ever seen in them?

[bkkjames]

Leena.

[Cobalt60]

Not a klong, but sat beside the river about to get my first mouthfull of lunch, along comes a long time dead dog, bobbing about alongside us, very bloated and stiff.

I got to eat two lunches that day

[toybits]

The reason klongs are they way they are is because there are many low-income families that live along the klong. They do not have a proper waste disposal system and the only way for them to dispose of their garbage is by dumping into the klong.

Are Thais not aware of the problem? They are. You can NAG them about not dumping their garbage into the Klong all you like. But if there is no other place to dump the garbage and there is nobody around that will take the garbage to a municipal waste processing center or sanitary landfill - you are just wasting your time.

I have seen a python and people trying to catch the snake. Yum!!!

i walk past klongs everyday to and from work. they are truely disguisting. although they do have 'saftey' railings i still wonder - out of my sheer perverse curiousity - what kinds of things/people are or have been in them.

what's the most unusual thing anyone has ever seen in them?

[sangfroid]

Aphirak the recently re-elected governor of Bangkok has promised to clean up and rejuvenate the canals during his new term

[bkkjames]

Aphirak the recently re-elected governor of Bangkok has promised to clean up and rejuvenate the canals during his new term

Nice idea, but he also proposed bicycle paths on sidewalks if I remember correctly.

[MetroGirl]

Well my house is by the small klong that drains directly to klong Sanseab

Well typical sight:....dead dogs and poops

The positive side is that.....we can put a net across the klong to catch all those krathongs, looking for money

WE = ME + the neighbour directly across the klong from us - yea...we work as a team here

So not all at lost here

[MKAsok]

Aphirak the recently re-elected governor of Bangkok has promised to clean up and rejuvenate the canals during his new term

Nice idea, but he also proposed bicycle paths on sidewalks if I remember correctly.

Apirak Promises Promises, Fulfills Promise

BANGKOK - Apirak Kosayodhin promised today he would make even more dramatic promises in his second term as Bangkok Governor and then immediately fulfilled that promise.

"It is the most sacred tradition of Bangkok governors to make promises to fulfill Bangkok's tremendous promise and I personally promise to make those promises too," the Democrat declared. "And with that first promise I am already fulfilling my promise to the people to deliver promises."

A crowd of well-wishers who greeted him outside his home last night after hearing he had won with 991,018 votes cheered the statement.

Apirak then said: "As I know more than ever that the Bangkok governor position holds no real authority, I can't promise anything but I can and will promise promises."

He then declared: "I promise to solve the city's traffic problems and clean up its khlongs. I promise to reduce pollution and get rid of stray dogs. I promise massive new infrastructure projects. Thank you for electing me. My job is done."

From http://notthenation.com/

[citizen33]

Aphirak the recently re-elected governor of Bangkok has promised to clean up and rejuvenate the canals during his new term

Nice idea, but he also proposed bicycle paths on sidewalks if I remember correctly.

Exploring some of the more out-of-the-way canals is something I've always wanted to do (always wondered about the image of the 'Venice of the Orient' etc.), but as people say you would need a strong stomach at present. Much more potential than bicycle lanes though!

[londonthai]

the further from the city the cleaner khlongs are - people fish in the evening, swim. On my khlong a farmer do sell fruits and vegetables from the boat, around breakfast and lunch the kitchen on the boat comes.

many canals do have paths next to them or over them - good for cycling

[think_too_mut]

the further from the city the cleaner khlongs are - people fish in the evening, swim. On my khlong a farmer do sell fruits and vegetables from the boat, around breakfast and lunch the kitchen on the boat comes.

many canals do have paths next to them or over them - good for cycling

Fish, swim, wash dishes...

Khlong in the city (can't remember what the location is called, walk through there from Skytrain to Pantip, there was a cluster of overpriced seafood restaurants after the bridge, could be Pratunam, aptly named Amari Watergate is nearby), khlong near Waterford apartment building on Rama 4 (fishing from the bridge and guy in the back does that from his house), khlongs near the airport ...

Once whole Bangkok was like that - "Venice of the Orient"

[sylviex]

The seasonings make the water all the more delicious for Songkran.

[pampal]

I ride my bicycle next to the canals in Bang Sue, but I wouldn't want to fall into one.

[tuky]

Wasn't it a klong that did Big in?

[pete_r]

Aphirak the recently re-elected governor of Bangkok has promised to clean up and rejuvenate the canals during his new term

Nice idea, but he also proposed bicycle paths on sidewalks if I remember correctly.

He did deliver on that in my area along Paholyothin: Two strips of white paint wherever the sidewalk was flat enough to paint on. Not very practical in the first place, and after a year, the paint is either gone or has become as grey as the sidewalk. He didn't promise that these paths would be long lasting, so who can complain?

Needless to say the effort and money spent did zilch to increase bicycle use in the area.

[johnsurin]

In rural areas I have seen people bathing in them, children playing in them, bi-cycles abandoned in them and green sludge floating in them, in busier areas, buses, trucks and cars crashed in to them.

John.

[Underdog]

The reason klongs are they way they are is because there are many low-income families that live along the klong. They do not have a proper waste disposal system and the only way for them to dispose of their garbage is by dumping into the klong.

Are Thais not aware of the problem? They are. You can NAG them about not dumping their garbage into the Klong all you like. But if there is no other place to dump the garbage and there is nobody around that will take the garbage to a municipal waste processing center or sanitary landfill - you are just wasting your time.

I have seen a python and people trying to catch the snake. Yum!!!

i walk past klongs everyday to and from work. they are truely disguisting. although they do have 'saftey' railings i still wonder - out of my sheer perverse curiousity - what kinds of things/people are or have been in them.

what's the most unusual thing anyone has ever seen in them?

Yes. and it is disgusting, but you watch out around November the 12th, the hypocrites will all be out burning their liitle boats for Mae Nam whatever, to appease the gods of the water..typical Thai..Shit on it the whole year round, then spend 10 baht and on one day say you're sorry! clear the scorecard. The field has been levelled again,and the very next day, they will continue to tip all of their shit back into the wateraways.....

[Underdog]

And where I am at the minute, they are saving money by not getting the little blue shit sucking trucks to suck the shit out of their septic tanks, they are borrowing submersible pumps and sucking their shit tanks out, directly into the klong, where, downstream, people are cleaning clothes, watering land....chok dee!

[katana]

A few years ago, a couple of times I saw children splashing around and swimming in the KHLONG SAEN SAEP near Ratchatwi pier in BKK. Guess they were immune to the bugs or something.

[MKAsok]

A few years ago, a couple of times I saw children splashing around and swimming in the KHLONG SAEN SAEP near Ratchatwi pier in BKK. Guess they were immune to the bugs or something.

Christ. I use the NIDA quite a bit since I live right near Asoke Pier. I get worried about even breathing in the vapour from the Saen Saep. That stuff is liquid death...

[Tinkelbell]

Do you still remember a few years back, the Thai teen pop singer ( forgot what his name?) had a car crashed into a klong, he didn't died but spending months in coma state dues to infection he got from the klong ?

Can anyone update this story ?

Once and only time I walked by Klong Bang-lum-pu, I still have a nightmare seeing those black greenish sludge liquid ( I prefer not to call it water) filled the Klong. Yuk !

[thesunset75]

Once whole Bangkok was like that - "Venice of the Orient"

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Just back from Venice last week, I think way too far to compare to BKK :-)

I've heard manytimes about Venice of Thailand but...as long as people still too easy and trowing things onto the Klong it cant be cleaner.

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Do you still remember a few years back, the Thai teen pop singer ( forgot what his name?) had a car crashed into a klong, he didn't died but spending months in coma state dues to infection he got from the klong ?

Can anyone update this story ?

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His name something like Chrish ...

[tuky]

Wasn't it a klong that did Big in?

Do you still remember a few years back, the Thai teen pop singer ( forgot what his name?) had a car crashed into a klong, he didn't died but spending months in coma state dues to infection he got from the klong ?

Can anyone update this story ?

From http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/12/09/

"Big" of D2B band dies

Parnrawat Kittikorncharoen or Big of D2B band died Sunday morning after being coma for four years, a doctor said.

Parnrawat has been in coma following a road accident four years ago which led to bacteria infection in his brain.

Parnrawat, 25, has been in coma for four years following a road accident in the night of July 22 2003.

His car plunged into a road-side ditch and he swallowed some of the polluted water, leading to bacteria infection in his brain.

Edited November 7, 2008 by tuky

[Tinkelbell]

Thanks to ''Tuky' and 'the sunset75' for updated.

So sad. He was so young.

R .I. P.

My consolation to the parents who had lost their only beloved son.

............................................................................

Now we had learned that if you come into contack with contaminated water in any Klong...ditch, it can be fataled.

[AmeriThai]

A few years ago, a couple of times I saw children splashing around and swimming in the KHLONG SAEN SAEP near Ratchatwi pier in BKK. Guess they were immune to the bugs or something.

Christ. I use the NIDA quite a bit since I live right near Asoke Pier. I get worried about even breathing in the vapour from the Saen Saep. That stuff is liquid death...

I agree. I don't know about now, but it used to reek so bad by Witthayu you could smell it long before you ever saw it. Made you want to rip your nostrils out. The water itself was the most foul thing imaginable. On the south side of the bridge crossing it, there used to be a bunch of tin shacks (early 90s) with black sewage flowing into a ditch next to the road and ultimately into the klong. Peee-yuuuu!