Phuket Is Filthy

[pmgthailand]

I have lived and worked on the so called Pearl of the Andaman, Phuket, which is a beautiful island for almost 4 years now. I pay my taxes and employ Thai nationals, so I have every right to voice my concerns as the next guy. My only regret is how dirty I found the place. Everywhere you travel on this island there is garbage strewn all around. Mostly at convenience stores without naming the stores. Garbage everywhere, piles of it, with small roadside restaurants preparing, cooking and serving food only a few feet away from piles of rotting garbage. I have even witnessed rats amongst the garbage, with drainage ditches running with raw sewage nearby. We took a trip on a yacht in Phang Nga, a national park. This is a national disgrace, as the water was strewn with plastic bottles, foam containers and what I can only describe as emulsified oil from ships, we did not even want to swim in it. I also understand that Phuket produces 300 tons more garbage than it can incinerate each day and has so for the past 4 years. I am also sure that it cannot deal with the amount of sewage that it produces and that most of it will end up in the sea, where we want to swim. All of this is leading up to a possible health epidemic of biblical proportions or at the very least will stop people from returning on holiday to Phuket, which is the major revenue for this now overpopulated island. Please Phuket clean up your act, people do not want to go on holiday to such an unclean place.

[XStatic]

It is very true what you are saying, pmgthailand and truely a disappointment.

I have lived here in Phuket now for 5 years & have noticed this rubbish / dirtiness situation getting worse as the years go by. There seem to be a number of open plots just dedicated to throwing rubbish into without any proper disposal units. The amount of people I drive past throwing rubbish out of their car windows is also atrocious.

The problem will never be fixed if people just don't care, which seems to be the case.

What a shame for such a naturally beautiful and now yes, overpopulated island.

[KarenBravo]

The funny thing is...........it's no different than the rest of Thailand.

[stevenl]

The funny thing is...........it's no different than the rest of Thailand.

I think it is different, most areas are clean.

I don't recognise the post from the op at all.

[Nio]

The funny thing is...........it's no different than the rest of Thailand.

We have professional trash service pickup 3 times a week and it is different

Phuket has gotten worse and worse.

In 1984 it was a spectacular place

I have not visited Phuket in over 10 years or more

Trash in the water is pathetic

Plus there are many better places to go with no trash, no tuk tuk thugs and many less tourists

[KarenBravo]

Plus there are many better places to go with no trash, no tuk tuk thugs and many less tourists

Off you go, then.

[fiddlehead]

Don't blame the Thai people.

Blane the western culture for putting plastic bags into the mainstream here.

They used to use banana leaves with bamboo toothpicks to hold it together.

Now, they use double plastic bags.

I agree it is a disgrace but have stopped blaming Thai people for the problem.

Why don't you buy some trash bins and pay to have them emptied instead of whining.

In other words, do something about it.

[stevenl]

Phuket has gotten worse and worse.

I have not visited Phuket in over 10 years or more

But that does not stop you from knowing how it looks like.

[Colonel_Mustard]

The funny thing is...........it's no different than the rest of Thailand.

I think it is different, most areas are clean.

I don't recognise the post from the op at all.

I would agree. It certainly isn't as clean as it could be but IMO it is cleaner than most parts of Thailand.

[MyphuketLife]

Don't blame the Thai people.

Blane the western culture for putting plastic bags into the mainstream here.

They used to use banana leaves with bamboo toothpicks to hold it together.

Now, they use double plastic bags.

I agree it is a disgrace but have stopped blaming Thai people for the problem.

Why don't you buy some trash bins and pay to have them emptied instead of whining.

In other words, do something about it.

Thats Thai thinking "would not have happened if not for westerner"....

How about don't throw garbage to the road? Don't blame Thai's because they did not invent plastic bags? So if a Thai gets drunk and drives and kills some one, don't blame him as Thais did not invent rum and did not invent cars ? Your logic is flawed....

[fredob43]

The funny thing is...........it's no different than the rest of Thailand.

if you think all of Thailand is dirty like Phuket. Where I live name withheld, has won the cleanest town/city in Thailand 6 time's in the last 10 year's. If you want to see dirt go to Pattaya, you dont have to look, just open the window of the car the smell will knock you out. And before I get a earhole bashing from the Pattaya peep's, Im refering to the drain's.

[LivinginKata]

I have removed all the unnecessary references to topless sunbathers as that has nothing to do with the original topic about Phuket being Filthy with garbage/plastic bags/etc.

[katabeachbum]

Phuket has gotten worse and worse.

I have not visited Phuket in over 10 years or more

But that does not stop you from knowing how it looks like.

hehehehehe, brilliant steven

[katabeachbum]

What a shame for such a naturally beautiful and now yes, overpopulated island.

overpopulatd compared to Singapore, Hong Kong, Manhattan or where?

Edited April 27, 2010 by katabeachbum

[fiddlehead]

Thats Thai thinking "would not have happened if not for westerner"....

How about don't throw garbage to the road? Don't blame Thai's because they did not invent plastic bags? So if a Thai gets drunk and drives and kills some one, don't blame him as Thais did not invent rum and did not invent cars ? Your logic is flawed....

I have my opinion. You have yours.

That's fine and what makes the world go round.

But, I think many of us will agree that more trash bins would help solve the problem

[Richb2004v2]

I have my opinion. You have yours.

That's fine and what makes the world go round.

But, I think many of us will agree that more trash bins would help solve the problem

Not necessarily. I attempted to clean a Thai beach in Rayong. There was many many bins, but lots and lots of garbage everywhere. I watched the Thais sit within ten feet of the empty bins and still not put their waste in it. The best they could manage was to put it in plastic bags and leave it where they had been sat, maybe six feet from a bin. I'd already talked so some of these people about trying to keep the area clean. In some way though I imagine it is the fault of the west.

[Ping]

But, I think many of us will agree that more trash bins would help solve the problem

Perhaps - if they could find someone to empty them (and before they overflowed).

[metisdead]

I used to go to Phuket, Patong in particular back in the late '80's. I remember walking down the beach one afternoon, observing an indigenous chappy and his kin having fun in the low waters, the chappy had one of those plastic bags that a vendor pours a coke, pepsi or whatever in it with ice. Well once he'd finished slurping, he just dropped the plastic bag right there in the low surf. Didn't bother him one iota, he was done with it.

It's a problem nationwide in Thailand that won't go away. I've lived up in Buriram, tried to get the wife's nephews and nieces pick up their garbage, while the respective mothers just looked on.

Just like many problems in Thailand, it requires a huge public relations effort to try and curb this atrocity. Even if a public relations effort was launched, it would take years before any results were observed.

For the indigenous folk, out of (their) sight, out of mind.

[billythehat]

I used to go to Phuket, Patong in particular back in the late '80's. I remember walking down the beach one afternoon, observing an indigenous chappy and his kin having fun in the low waters, the chappy had one of those plastic bags that a vendor pours a coke, pepsi or whatever in it with ice. Well once he'd finished slurping, he just dropped the plastic bag right there in the low surf. Didn't bother him one iota, he was done with it.

It's a problem nationwide in Thailand that won't go away. I've lived up in Buriram, tried to get the wife's nephews and nieces pick up their garbage, while the respective mothers just looked on.

Just like many problems in Thailand, it requires a huge public relations effort to try and curb this atrocity. Even if a public relations effort was launched, it would take years before any results were observed.

For the indigenous folk, out of (their) sight, out of mind.

That's about it. You can't put a silk hat on a Pig.

[Quero]

Just like many problems in Thailand, it requires a huge public relations effort to try and curb this atrocity. Even if a public relations effort was launched, it would take years before any results were observed.

For the indigenous folk, out of (their) sight, out of mind.

I would agree that a public education/awareness effort is needed, but I would disagree that this is a uniquely Thai or "indigenous folk" issue.

I've been watching the television series called Mad Men, set in New York in the 1960's--50 years ago. One episode has a scene with a family enjoying a picnic in a beautiful area in the countryside. When they are ready to leave, the father throws his drink can as far as he can, the mother picks up the blanket from the grass and shakes it out to fold it and in so doing lets all the trash just fall to the grass. They get in their car and leave. Why do we find this appalling? Because over the past 50 years our sensibilities have changed through public relations efforts and education. It wasn't instant, and there are still problems in Western countries so the work isn't yet finished there, but here it simply hasn't even begun.

If there were corporate and civic support for awareness programs, and of course the money to dedicate to rubbish collection, things could be different. In some Western countries, for example, companies finance the cleanups of certain roadways, and there are signs along the roads recognizing this. On Phuket, companies could fund regular (monthly?) cleanups of beach areas and scenic roads, placement of bins and removal of rubbish from bins as well as public events and contests with children, and so on. This kind of community service could be recognized by signage, news coverage, and who knows, a tax credit for the philanthropy. We live on an island, after all, with a finite amount of space to clean up, and it should be possible for companies to focus their community service funding on more than just financing traffic police posts and putting their names on them.

[Valentine]

There are groups who undertake annual clean ups but as with a lot of things only education/public awareness schemes will solve the problem. Ths issue of banana leaves, out of sight out of mind are attitudes which need to be changed. It is quite obvious whenever the tall grass is cut just how bad it is.

[markg]

Last Sunday was a nice day and in the late afternoon i walked along Rawai beach.

It was nice to see HUNDREDS of happy Thai families sitting on straw mats picnicing. There were hardly any foreigners.

What did concern me was the amount of garbage on the beach. People were literally eating and drinking and then just leaving all their empties on the beach.

Is this a lack of education or a lack of garbage bins?

[tvh13]

The funny thing is...........it's no different than the rest of Thailand.

When I landed in Bangkok from Nepal I breathed a deep sigh of relief. No cow, dog, cat, human shit everywhere. No random piles of festering trash littering the street and being picked through by cows and humans.

Water good here.

No daily rolling blackouts.

I guess clean and filth are relative terms at least to me.

[tvh13]

I would agree that a public education/awareness effort is needed, but I would disagree that this is a uniquely Thai or "indigenous folk" issue.

If there were corporate and civic support for awareness programs, and of course the money to dedicate to rubbish collection, things could be different. In some Western countries, for example, companies finance the cleanups of certain roadways, and there are signs along the roads recognizing this. On Phuket, companies could fund regular (monthly?) cleanups of beach areas and scenic roads, placement of bins and removal of rubbish from bins as well as public events and contests with children, and so on. This kind of community service could be recognized by signage, news coverage, and who knows, a tax credit for the philanthropy. We live on an island, after all, with a finite amount of space to clean up, and it should be possible for companies to focus their community service funding on more than just financing traffic police posts and putting their names on them.

I live in Phuket city. There is a truck that comes every night to empty the trash receptacles on the street. This is a working class neighborhood too.

[Ulysses G.]

Don't blame the Thai people.

Blane the western culture for putting plastic bags into the mainstream here.

PC nonsense. Every country changes and it is the Thai's responsibility to keep their own country clean.

[happyaussie]

When I was a kid in Australia people wouldn't think twice about throwing rubbish out of the car. During holidays me and my mate would walk along roads to collect bottles for refund. After years of education and media campaigns most people nowdays would never think of littering. Maybe it's a matter of time.

One thing that may help is for 7/11 to stop giving plastic bags for every purchase. Even a packet of smokes gets a bag.

Living up north east I must say the problem is the same. Contrary to what others have said.

This may sound confrontational, but in my experience most Thais don't seem to be house proud and they quiet happliy live with rubbish around their doorstep. DIfferent priorities I suspect.

[Kimera]

When I was a kid in Australia people wouldn't think twice about throwing rubbish out of the car. During holidays me and my mate would walk along roads to collect bottles for refund. After years of education and media campaigns most people nowdays would never think of littering. Maybe it's a matter of time.

One thing that may help is for 7/11 to stop giving plastic bags for every purchase. Even a packet of smokes gets a bag.

Living up north east I must say the problem is the same. Contrary to what others have said.

This may sound confrontational, but in my experience most Thais don't seem to be house proud and they quiet happliy live with rubbish around their doorstep. DIfferent priorities I suspect.

My Thai neighbours leave their houses in the morning and walk carefully over the rubbish the dogs have removed from their dustbins to their cars and drive away! I reason that they have only had the packing ie plastic bags etc some 20 years ish, like their cars and pickups, they had banana leaves and buffalo before. in time they will I HOPE learn HOW to use both.

[glassdude007]

Here in Rawai we have the nightly when the sun is just going down rubbish burning tradition plastic,wood anything that will burn or smolder goes in the fire...

at first i was told it was to keep the mozzie's away but now i know its the nightly rubbish burn.....STINKS

[fiddlehead]

Don't blame the Thai people.

Blane the western culture for putting plastic bags into the mainstream here.

PC nonsense. Every country changes and it is the Thai's responsibility to keep their own country clean.

So, I guess the US will take responsibility then for the oil they just spilled near Mexico, right?

Or the pollution they put into the air and sea that is greater than every other country's.

Who's logic is flawed ???

Thailand doesn't have the worst pollution problem.

And responsibility for it is not being met by either culprit.

[ThaiEye]

Enough of the Thai Bashing.

Many of the worst garbage offenders i have witnessed in Phuket are foreigners. Go down to Patong any late afternoon and be amazed at the amount of rubbish left by beach-goers. Empty cans of beer, cigarette butts, plastic water bottle tops - you name it and the farang leaves it.

Besides that, Phuket is much cleaner, on a whole, than it used to be. Nothing as bad as the OP makes out.

Edited April 29, 2010 by ThaiEye