A Really Positive Spectacle Today.

[Richb2004v2]

I saw a really great site today that was 100% positive and uplifting. Driving along Pattaya beach road, which in my opinion is an absolute mess in every way, I saw a huge group of people collecting trash in black bags. There were wearing a uniform of sorts and seemed mainly to be Thai. They were spread right out from the pavement to the sea. It's one of the most positive things I have seen here for a long time, and I thought it was very refreshing. Since I do my fair share of moaning on TV I thought I would add something positive. Well done to them, whoever they were .

[somtampet]

Nice to here this but who made the mess in the first place.

[GuestHouse]

I saw this myself

It was the organizers of the 'Multi Color' group clearing up after their demonstration against the Red Shirts.

[londonthai]

some 5 years ago I did clean from plastic bags the whole lenght of the pattaya beach - as they are soaked in water and heavy and couldn't collect and carry them, I was throwing them to the beach umbrellas owners, who were (or not) picking them up to the bin

[DeathbyDurian]

Good start. Now they should head across the bay to Bang Saen - It looked like this when I went last summer.

[tw25rw]

Maybe they were prisoners working for priveledges?

[fredob43]

Nothing new they do it "once" every year. Next october the 9th they do the beach.

[barryofthailand]

The reason was last night they had the opening of the Pattaya international fashion week, which was televised nationwide. Their were dignitaries their from 13 different countries, and some ambassadors wives took part. This was held in front of the Festival Center mall, and a cat walk was constructed across the street on the beach.

You are probably wondering how I know this, living in Korat? I watched it live on TV.

Barry

[PhilHarries]

I've seen it a number of times and it's always been students in their school uniforms. Yes, very uplifting and if it teaches just 1 in 10 to be a little more respectful of their environment and country it will have achieved something.

That just leaves the other 5.94 million to treat their home as a garbage can.

<edit : typo>

Edited May 1, 2010 by PhilHarries

[davyboy]

I saw this last Christmas on Jomtien Beach, the guys cleaning were all Thai Navy sailors!

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Regardless that it was after a protest, it's always encouraging to see people consider the environment!

As for the Bang Saen picture, keep in mind that a lot of trash on Thai beaches ends up there when winds are unfavorable, from trash originating from boats at see. Dumping of trash in the water by boats is an issue of course and would be very welcome to address, but a sentiment I often see is to blame the locals (or beach shop operators, or tourists visiting the beach) for any and all trashy conditions; often they do clean it up, but in some seasons there's a continuous supply, so you may catch a beach at a bad time.

[Thongkorn]

I wonder if I can get them some visas to come and do the motorways in the UK. because The UK is worse,

[Hssl]

Something that I've never seen in Asia but have seen in plenty of beach resorts in Europe & Oz

http://www.beach-tech.com/en/company/techn...-technique.html

Pattaya's city hall has been banging on about changing the place into a 'family resort' - well a clean beach might just be a start - of course the machines would end up coasting 4 times as much with import taxes and back handers!

[Thongkorn]

Something that I've never seen in Asia but have seen in plenty of beach resorts in Europe & Oz

http://www.beach-tech.com/en/company/techn...-technique.html

Pattaya's city hall has been banging on about changing the place into a 'family resort' - well a clean beach might just be a start - of course the machines would end up coasting 4 times as much with import taxes and back handers!

I live on the east coast of the UK we have had these machines for years , they are just a brush basically, and they are just an attachment that a tractor tows, the beach is done every morning and it does look better and makes the sand look fresher.

[craigt3365]

Something that I've never seen in Asia but have seen in plenty of beach resorts in Europe & Oz

http://www.beach-tech.com/en/company/techn...-technique.html

Pattaya's city hall has been banging on about changing the place into a 'family resort' - well a clean beach might just be a start - of course the machines would end up coasting 4 times as much with import taxes and back handers!

I lived on the beach in Southern California for a few years. These machines came out every morning...they are great.

Unfortunately, like mentioned before, much of this comes from the sea. I was on a remote island a few years ago and was amazed at the trash we found. Syringes, bottles, shoes, etc. Disgusting. I guess many cruise ships just dump the stuff off the back of the boat late at night...

[Richb2004v2]

I wonder if I can get them some visas to come and do the motorways in the UK. because The UK is worse,

I think that you are somewhat delusional.

[Koh_Falang]

I remember the first time i came to Thailand and was shocked by the amount of rubbish around... I remember driving up the highway to Chiang Mai and just seeing crap all over the side of the road...

I live in Australia and i know we used to have this problem back in pre 1990s where rubbish would just be flung out of car windows or thrown in the water, you could see the same problem on the side of our freeways etc... We then started having a 'clean up australia' day where every year you could register to clean up a particular part of the community...

It really caught on and i remember doing it for quite a few years in a row with my school... We used to pull all sorts of crap from rivers, parks, bushland and beaches... I remember about 9 shopping trolleys in 1 particular storm water drain which we pulled out...

I think Australia has really benefited from this and now looks ALOT cleaner... Maybe if you could get someone famous behind it in Thailand, it may (or may not) work there as well...

Better yet... get all the redshirts to do a cleanup when they finally get arrested for making such a damm mess

[PhilHarries]

I wonder if I can get them some visas to come and do the motorways in the UK. because The UK is worse,

I think that you are somewhat delusional.

Thank you sir, having lived most of my life in the UK and having driven a fair few miles on the motorways I can best second your comment. Anything further would not be a positive addition to the thread.

Also I get a little tired, being as diplomatic as I can having had a couple of beers, of people comparing Thailand with other countries as in "well XXXXland is worse". The inference being that it's okay Thailand being a garbage tip but there's always worse. Why can the people of Thailand not aspire, as we all should, to be better?

As for the dumping of trash from ocean going ships it is well covered by international law, unfortuately what happens in the middle of the ocean in the early hours of the morning isn't seen.

[wintermute]

Also I get a little tired, being as diplomatic as I can having had a couple of beers, of people comparing Thailand with other countries as in "well XXXXland is worse". The inference being that it's okay Thailand being a garbage tip but there's always worse. Why can the people of Thailand not aspire, as we all should, to be better?

Pattaya is a cesspool already so dumping more trash on it is like adding detritus to a landfill it doesn't change the scenery or effect the immediate equality of life any.

[operator]

A good read of the worldwide problem with rubbish in the sea.

Drowning in plastic: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of France.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environme...-of-France.html

[321niti123]

Good start. Now they should head across the bay to Bang Saen - It looked like this when I went last summer.

I remember that, it was in the news, some the walls of some trash dump broke and trash spilled into the sea, the current washed it up on the shore, it took them months to clean up the mess.