A Bad Gash On Pattaya Beach

[PattayaOneTeam]

A Pipe Dream?

Sir,

As I walked along the beach at Pattaya on Christmas night, I came upon this unfortunate Middle Eastern man who had just badly gashed his foot on some glass as he went for a late night swim.

Since I came back to Pattaya in 2007, for the first time since my original visit in 1984, I have been constantly dismayed at the plastic bags and bottles, both glass and plastic that are strewn along the beach here.

Many times in the past I have collected this unsightly rubbish from the beach, but I eventually gave up as it was a thankless and frustrating task.

I was also astonished to see the local Thais discarding their used bottles and plastic bags with the same gay abandon as the tourists.

A good example of crapping on your own best money-making amenity and environmental resource.

I am glad that since my return to Pattaya last September there has been a noticeable decrease in rubbish on the beach, but there is still plenty of room for improvement.

The easiest solution to this problem is for the Pattaya council to make those people who rent sections of the beach from them, responsible for the removal of all rubbish from their area of the beach down to the waters edge.

Incidentally I have frequently spotted those jet-ski operators discarding their used petrol and oil containers on the beach too, nice people!

The whole packaging usage in Pattaya needs to be urgently reviewed. It is sheer madness for local Thais to peel nature's covering from fruit and then package he peeled fruit in polystyrene containers, covered in shrink-wrap. They then sell to tourists on the beach who after consuming the fruit invariably discard the packaging on the beach in an equally irresponsible manner!

It is time drastic action is also taken by Pattaya council to follow the Italian government and totally ban plastic bags being supplied in local outdoor markets, shops and supermarkets. Wouldn't that be a wonderful gesture to the environment and a move which, using clever PR, would give Pattaya worldwide positive media coverage.

After that, perhaps the council could tackle the air pollution in Pattaya which is dangerously way above the WHO recommended levels.

Derek,

By email

We couldn't agree more that the state of the beach at times is deplorable in terms of discarded rubbish and waste. All the talk about creating a world class destination is a bit of a joke if the very basics are not addressed.

It is our understanding that when a local government takes charge of making sure the environment is made as clean as possible, then those who come into that environment sub-consciously treat it with the same respect. That is, if a place looks like a dumping ground, then you can hardly expect anyone to treat it any differently.

Getting rid of plastic bags and turning the air clean in Fun Town might take a little longer. [more…]

To read the rest of this article download the PDF here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/files/download/665-pattaya-one-issue-8/

Enjoyed this article? Why not go to our poll and vote for it at:

-- Pattaya One 2011-01-21

[krading]

Oh, that kind of gash.

I'd thought I'd finally stumbled onto an interesting post.

Edited January 21, 2011 by krading

[backfromouterspace]

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the beach had more garbage on it than it did in 1984.

[champken]

I don't often go into Pattaya theses days but yesterday i did so and what struck me was the disgusting state of the walkways around beach road area, filthy dirty and full of vendors selling their cheap crap making it almost impossible to walk without having to squeeze past someone coming the other way, and trying to find a parking slot for my little wave was near impossible thanks to the motorbike for rent mafia taking up all the space

[TCW]

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the beach had more garbage on it than it did in 1984.

When I was there last week the sea was full of plastic bags and other refuse washing up on the beach. Horrible.

Do they still dispose of sewage into the bay?

[patrickinpattaya]

I don't think they do pump sewage into the bay anymore I think its all treated now. Not 100 percent though, can anyone confirm this? I read somewhere that the condition of the beach and sea has improved greatly over the last couple of years. The general oppinon of most people on tv is that this isn't the case. I think there's some serious improvements needed in pattaya to deal with the rubbish is to become a good family based beach resort that the gov want so badly