Phuket Is Filthy

[KarenBravo]

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.

Maybe you should open your eye. Car windows opening and junk being tossed to the side of the road is a Thai speciality.

[logbags]

Man you should of seen the Chinese areas of Had Yai and Chiang Mai 25-30 years ago. Where I live in Australia there is an area dominated by Chinese/Vietnamese and it is shocking. Rubbish cluttering lanes, drugs being openly sold by gangs etc. Thais at least have very good personal hygiene and their houses are usually quite neat and clean inside. You've obviously never been to old Georgetown in Penang either.

We alway hear about the bad influence of the "Farang" but it is clear Thais are far more influenced by the Chinese who dominate most inner city areas of Thailand. They own most banks, most finance companies, most resorts and most businesses in general.

Talk to some really old Thais about how some of Phuket's Chinese became so rich. It's not always hard work and frugality that makes billions of baht. More often it is duplicity, greed and bribery along with secret dealings in other vice areas.

[likewise]

Same story in Krabi and Ao Nang. Especially during the weekend when the locals visit the beach. Looks like a dump when they leave even though lots of trash bins around.

Thais feel like it is not their duty to clean up after themselves but rather have someone else doing it for them, as in many of their ways, complete ignorance!

[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.

Who's logic is flawed ???

Yours. This thread is about garbage in Phuket, Thailand and has nothing to do with any other country. PC kooks are like a broken record.

Edited April 29, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[TigerWan]

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.

Sorry I have to disagree This is not the " west's fault"

west, US particularly attitudes toward throwing trash on the ground are it's a No No.

Thai people are simply, blissfully unaware that the garbage ends up, well, everywhere.

Or they do not care.

Incidentally south Bang Tao has raw, stink'n sewage running directly into it.

I go way north to swim now. ( when the stingers aren't out.. )

Anyone ever tested for fecal pathogens around the island?

[markg]

Sorry I have to disagree This is not the " west's fault"

west, US particularly attitudes toward throwing trash on the ground are it's a No No.

Thai people are simply, blissfully unaware that the garbage ends up, well, everywhere.

Or they do not care.

You are quite right - but it wasnt always this way. Certainly when i was a kid, the streets were strewn with litter. People didnt really care about dropping litter. Slowly, over time, with education, and public service announcements, it became socially unacceptable to drop litter.

Now it is a no-no.

With an ex girlfriend and her family in a pick up truck in Chumphon. We'd stopped and 6 of us bought Big-Gulps.

One after the other, when finished, the family members wound the window down and threw the empties out.

Their justification was that 'tinkers' would pick them up and eventually weigh them in for a bit of money.

With education, this 'justification' can be changed.

In fairness, Thai kids that i have taught are very aware of 'green' issues. It would seem that their parents are not.

[TigerWan]

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

It not only stinks but plastics release poisonous gasses

I moved in to a house 4 years ago that had no neighbors but for a lovely fragrant jasmine farm and a rubber plantation.

After a year or so the trees came down , houses and shacks erected , one shack family collected recyclables but burned quite a bit too, of course only when the wind blew from their house and toward mine.

I politely asked them to stop and got the usual nationalistic,"farang ....mutter, mutter "

I took pictures and complained to the Or Bor Tor and sure enough about two weeks later they sent an official to issue a warning I guess and they haven't burned since.

It is illegal.

Edited April 29, 2010 by TigerWan

[Jimi007]

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

I still smell it around Rawai as well. But my Thai family here used to have a big pile of mostly plants and leaves, that they would burn every few days. Then when the ash pile was big enough, the Orbator would come with a dump truck and tractor and haul it away. This changed in the past year. Now we bag everything and put it out in a large wire bin and they hall that all away.. One neighbors recycles most everything for money he gets in Phuket Town for, glass, plastic, metals, etc. But there are piles of construction debris, spirt houses, and just trash all over the place. As my wife says, at least this is my translation: if we don't see it, no problem, if we see it, there's a problem!

[Jimi007]

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

It not only stinks but plastics release poisonous gasses

I moved in to a house 4 years ago that had no neighbors but for a lovely fragrant jasmine farm and a rubber plantation.

After a year or so the trees came down , houses and shacks erected , one shack family collected recyclables but burned quite a bit too, of course only when the wind blew from their house and toward mine.

I politely asked them to stop and got the usual nationalistic,"farang ....mutter, mutter "

I took pictures and complained to the Or Bor Tor and sure enough about two weeks later they sent an official to issue a warning I guess and they haven't burned since.

It is illegal.

Hope they didn't see you or know it was you that caused them a problem... But I should do the same. It's just gross and toxic!

[anotheruser]

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.

Perhaps this is because anywhere a farang sits on Patong beach they pay to do so? When I pay for the chair and to be served beer, coke etc... I do not expect to also be the bus boy. The result of the beach at Patong is a result of foreigners as is the horrendous problem with sewage there. However when Farang book a room they do not have say over the sewage system. If I rent a room my presence will cause it to eventually become dirty. If the staff never cleans the room and just take all profits of course I am somehow at fault. Farang play a role in garbage problems but the failure is that of the vendors that profit out of it along with corrupt government officials not dealing with it.

Go to Hawaii and pay for drinks at a beach. It is expensive but guests that pay do not clean up the mess and most beaches there are spotless.

If I go to Patong pay for a chair and have 6 beers is it me that should carry them out or is it the proprietors role to do so?

[pmgthailand]

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.

This was the point that I am trying to get across. I have only really begun to notice it lately, more now after having been away for a short break. The people of Phuket will, like you said live with rubbish on their doorstep, but the new car in the driveway will be spotless!!!

IMHO Asia is not a very clean place in general, compared to developed Western countries, but Phuket is supposed to be, or at least markets itself as being a world class holiday destination. The Pearl of the Andaman. Open your eyes the next time that you are out and about and have a closer look at your surroundings, Phuket is a dirty place. But nobody here seems to care about it. I agree with the op that it possibly is a cultural thing and not very high on the priority list around here.

Edited May 1, 2010 by pmgthailand

[DLock]

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

Actually, I reckon you could put a silk hat on a pig.

Oh sure, it might look silly, but I'm pretty sure it could be done.

[RPETER65]

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.

Not true, when I moved to Thailand four years ago our village had no garbage collection, there was always piles of garbage burning along the road, and many unburned piles of garbage. Last year the govt. bought garbage collection trucks and placed garbage containers along the roads, it took about three months but now burning garbage and no piles of garbage.

[Ping]

Perhaps this is because anywhere a farang sits on Patong beach they pay to do so? When I pay for the chair and to be served beer, coke etc... I do not expect to also be the bus boy. The result of the beach at Patong is a result of foreigners as is the horrendous problem with sewage there. However when Farang book a room they do not have say over the sewage system. If I rent a room my presence will cause it to eventually become dirty. If the staff never cleans the room and just take all profits of course I am somehow at fault. Farang play a role in garbage problems but the failure is that of the vendors that profit out of it along with corrupt government officials not dealing with it.

Go to Hawaii and pay for drinks at a beach. It is expensive but guests that pay do not clean up the mess and most beaches there are spotless.

If I go to Patong pay for a chair and have 6 beers is it me that should carry them out or is it the proprietors role to do so?

Actually, that's a fair question. When I go to the beach, I always carry my rubbish away, but for the exorbitant price one pays for the chairs, you'd think that the chair touts should be expected to do the job. Of course, this doesn't apply to people who do not hire chairs and simply put their towels down. The trouble is that (perhaps more sensibly) Thai beach goers tend to sit in the shaded areas of the tree line (where there is one) rather than on the heat of the beach itself and this is where a lot of the rubbish seems to collect.

[barka]

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.

PHUKET is no differant than a lot of the world,its a lot better than a lot of the inner cities in europe,considering the amount of residents and tourists in phuket now,personally having lived here a long time ,its as good as it can be and there are more and more rubbish collectors now then ever.

I think phuket is trying hard to keep the island clean...ITS ALL ABOUT POEPLE...

[toptuan]

I've taken it upon myself to keep our little soi clean. Only seven dwellings line the soi. Two dwellings are Thais and the other five are westerners. There are only two dwellings in front of which I am always picking up their garbage, and it's not the westerners. There is absolutely no concept of garbage pollution, shame or personal responsibility among most Thais in my town when it comes to this problem.

[starkey_rich]

A couple of years ago people used to dump their rubbish on the Nai Harn lake road.

This was eventually stopped and cleaned up.

A few days ago I was driving down to the beach and they are at it again.A couple of trucks unloading building rubbish into the ditch.

I was going to take a photo but there were 6 guys unloading so I thought better of it.

But I blame the farang for this practice as they bought the truck to Thailand

[Ulysses G.]

A few days ago I was driving down to the beach and they are at it again.A couple of trucks unloading building rubbish into the ditch.

I was going to take a photo but there were 6 guys unloading so I thought better of it.

But I blame the farang for this practice as they bought the truck to Thailand

[cheshiremusicman]

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.

Totally agree. It would only take an edict from His Majesty that was shown/posted in all the schools to get the children educated into NOT dropping and also collecting litter. Teach the children and let them teach the adults! NOT rocket science.

Organise awards for the best village/town in various parts of the country and make the public aware of the importance of a clean Thailand.

[petercallen]

The street i live in is always clean, there is a large rubbish bin at the entrance which people drop there

rubbish in when going out.

The problem is the lack of rubbish bins if there were more rubbish bins i am sure people would use them.

The only businesses that i have noticed who have public rubbish bins out front are 7/11 shops,

when we are out i regularly bring my rubbish home because of the lack of bins.

[eggomaniac]

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

EGGsactly!

[haven't read the whole Thread yet, but the stench of burning garbage, especially plastics, tires, wotever gets a mention?

[cognos]

Everytime I go there, I pick up garbage on the beach, for exercise and to set an example.. often Thai kids will start helping me.. the one I have cleaned the most is the beach by the aquarium..haven't been there in 10 months.. returning in July.. I'm sure its strewn with broken glass again..

walking the talk

[bustersizemore]

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.

Sorry but after more than 15-yrs in Phuket, I disagree.

Go to any beach in Phuket and take notice of the type of garbage.  Krating daeng (Red Bull), Leo  beer, etc, etc.

In over 15-years, I have honestly never witnessed a foreigner throwing trash on the beach whereas I see locals discard their garbage on the beach regularly. 

If the Thais wish foreigners to respect Thailand, the Thais must first learn to respect their country!

[sting123]

There is an organisation W.T.O. (world tourist organisation); that provide amongst other things numbers .

I am sorry to point out Phuket is NOT AT ALL a top destination!

Amongst the reasons we can find :

lack of infrastructure

lack of hygien (garbage, sawers, even tap water)

On the other hand, we can find in Phuket things you will never find in developed countries (Italy, French Riviera) :

1) There is still some jungle, with some (very little alas) wild life.

2) Cold beer and cheap whores. Obviously in europe, people consider the simple fact to drink iced beer as a sin. Whores as many other things are totally not cheap in europe.

3) Amazing tuck-tuck and unprofessional taxis.

4) A concentration of low life tourists (category of people we have expell a long time ago from our beaches for hygienic reasons)

Somehow I do understand the denial reaction of the people who heavily invested here in over priced real estates (thought I do not deny a real hight end villa have some outstanding value; but most are not hight end villa in a prime location); those people will never ever admit their mistakes (or the fact they were ripp off mostly by fellow expats).

But facts are :

Phuket is filthy, and over priced (and yes I work here, so I live here ... but having stay before in some real top destinations for tourists or long stayers I do feel the difference).

[TigerWan]

Everytime I go there, I pick up garbage on the beach, for exercise and to set an example.. often Thai kids will start helping me.. the one I have cleaned the most is the beach by the aquarium..haven't been there in 10 months.. returning in July.. I'm sure its strewn with broken glass again..

walking the talk

Good work but the it's attitude toward " garbage" that must change.

Phuket cannot incinerate the waste it is producing. Until folks stop producing "trash "- stop buying that litre of water in a plastic bottle , refuse plastic bags , styrofoam containers, etc., recycle everything...

Until we ALL do that , the problem will only worsen.

I went for a drive along Layan Beach ( north Bang Tao ) and off Soi 1 is a nasty, massive festering illegal dump that I'm sure is mostly from the Laguna complex.

[sadman]

On the other hand, we can find in Phuket things you will never find in developed countries (Italy, French Riviera) :

1) There is still some jungle, with some (very little alas) wild life.

I think it's fair to say that 'jungle' and 'developed countries' are unlikely to go together, by definition

2) Cold beer and cheap whores. Obviously in europe, people consider the simple fact to drink iced beer as a sin. Whores as many other things are totally not cheap in europe.

You clearly haven't been to Eastern Europe, or even parts of London, Paris, Rome etc - but the working girls tend to be Eastern European or Asian (I know, but not from experience, I hasten to add)

3) Amazing tuck-tuck and unprofessional taxis.

Try Paris, London, Rome.......

4) A concentration of low life tourists (category of people we have expell a long time ago from our beaches for hygienic reasons)

Don't need 'em - there are plenty of homegrown pondlife

Somehow I do understand the denial reaction of the people who heavily invested here in over priced real estates (thought I do not deny a real hight end villa have some outstanding value; but most are not hight end villa in a prime location); those people will never ever admit their mistakes (or the fact they were ripp off mostly by fellow expats).

Like many, I have invested heavily in Thailand with a view to living there permanently. My investment is in my future - it certainly isn't with a view to selling to make a profit etc, which I would stick to in the UK where I can do it and have half an idea of what I'm doing. Seems to me that if you don't like the place, you could always leave. If you do like it, accept it warts and all.

[taninthai]

the misses has a beach resort on nopparat thara beach krabi, 4 oclock all the speed boats come back from tours then dump there rubbish bags on the sand some one does come round and collect them however he is not the fastest at this hence the tide comes in and washes all the bags back into the sea this is right in national park area as well as said this is a problem all over thailand not just phuket maybe in twenty years when athe younger generation grows up it might be fixed ...maybe

[brownknees]

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.

An aquaintance stayed in Thailand recently on his way to Aus and wrote to me to say hoe dirty the place was,mind you he had never been here before!Now at present I work in Cairo and there is no garbage collection in most of the city so if you want to see a really dirty place then come here!!Some of the irrigation canals from the Nile are choked with"Plastic "bags full of rubbish,what to do?

[BarryM]

^ TAT take note for next campaign.

"Come to Phuket - it's not as shi((y as Egypt or Nepal"

[NamKangMan]

I recently walked on Rat-U-Thip Road. Just up from Jungceylon Shopping Centre, and before the large dive shop on the corner of the next Soi, is a disgrace.

I've walked here several times and it has never been cleaned. It smells of urine and has stagnant water and rotting garbage. It's in front of an overgrown block of land and some sort of large Govenment building.

The cobblestone footpath is stained black. There are usually some beggers there who may be the cause of the urine smell, but, it could also be the motor taxi riders stopping there to urinate.

This is a major pedestrian footpath with families often walking past here. It needs a chemical jet wash badly and should not be used as a toilet or garbage dumps. It's a poor advertisement for Phuket, both for it's neglect by locals, and the neglect by officials to clean it. It is a strip of "the 3rd world" right here in Patong.

I'm thick skinned and well traveled. I continue to walk along this strip, but, for first time tourists, it's not a nice look.