Bangkok: Three Million Tonnes Of Garbage, Dirty Water To Deal With

[wayned]

Don't worry. As soon as the water goes down there will be plenty of room for it in the canals and khlongs that they just dredged.

So whats new about three tons of garbage laying around Thai roads & streets?

[noitom]

Wonder how many drowned rats....yuk!!

Check out this video from the 2009 floods around Sukhumvit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP87SETbTIg&feature=related Now you can imagine how many rats have made their way into drier inner Bangkok from the outlying districts plus the ones already there, and then the ones drowned and decomposing in the water. Plenty of cockroaches too. The street fishballs should be good in a few weeks, and you will see food vendors selling plenty of grilled roasted rat.

[Fishface]

3 million tons of garbage, not 2 or 4-- 3 million!!

Do these statistic come from the same statistics office that says 7 million passengers pass through the airport.

Do you know how many jumbo jets per hour 365 that is, do they think we dont have a calculator,---its 2.2. per 24 hour day.

3 million tons of polystyrene food containers would be --- I dont know garbage --I only talk it.

[khaan]

So whats new about three tons of garbage laying around Thai roads & streets?

Try 30,000 tons, and (to answer your question), .....nothing new about it, except it's now waterlogged garbage.

Maybe some of the water-borne radioactivity from Fukushima will kill some of the toxic organisms that slowly flush down in to the bay, from the 10,000 acre cesspool known as Bkk.

Even in the best of time, there's asbestos dust (from roof shingles and auto brakes), dog poop from a million dogs, and a zillion other types of garbage seep out from Bkk.

Q. What's the one best thing a person can do for the environment?

A. Not have children. Each added child adds untold tons of garbage to this finite planet.

And costs $22000 USD per year to raise - an estimated $250000 per child from start to finish

So what happens after they are 12 then ??

I assume this expenditure didn't start until they were school-age ( 6 ) and hopefully finished when they were 16 or 17 - voilà !

[finnomick1]

So whats new about three tons of garbage laying around Thai roads & streets?

Try 30,000 tons, and (to answer your question), .....nothing new about it, except it's now waterlogged garbage.

Maybe some of the water-borne radioactivity from Fukushima will kill some of the toxic organisms that slowly flush down in to the bay, from the 10,000 acre cesspool known as Bkk.

Even in the best of time, there's asbestos dust (from roof shingles and auto brakes), dog poop from a million dogs, and a zillion other types of garbage seep out from Bkk.

Q. What's the one best thing a person can do for the environment?

A. Not have children. Each added child adds untold tons of garbage to this finite planet.

Well, neither of you are correct because the article clearly states: THREE MILLION TONNES OF GARBAGE but lets not nit-pick over a few tonnes eh ? I was in the metropolis a few weeks ago, and from what I saw, I'd say several tonnes of this garbage was already there.....but then isn't it always ?

[FOODLOVER]

Yes it is going to take a lot of hard work and posative attitude to clear up all the mess, I just hope for the people's sake there is no western attitude to add to the disaster.

Dont worry their busy feeding their horses and hangin out in the saloon. Yeeehaw!

Edited to show disdain for your comment and here is my cartoon buttucks in protest.

Edited November 7, 2011 by FOODLOVER

[animatic]

"The department surveyed groundwater in 18 spots and found that 6 per cent was poor, 11 per cent was fair and 6 per cent was of good quality".

I'm no math whiz but shouldn't these numbers add up to 100 per cent?

When was it EVER safe to drink Bangkoks tap water?

[avalonmick]

"The department surveyed groundwater in 18 spots and found that 6 per cent was poor, 11 per cent was fair and 6 per cent was of good quality".

I'm no math whiz but shouldn't these numbers add up to 100 per cent?

They just didnt mention the 'very poor' and 'bloody awful' categories.

Oh dear

Yep; that means 77% is in the categories 'toxic' to 'fatal'

[MaxYakov]

Many micro organisms will survive brief boiling, you should boil for 5 minutes. If you use the type of kettle with auto shut off, leave the top open, then it will keep boiling. Boiling will not remove inorganic pollutants. For pure water collect the output from your aircon and melt the ice buildup in your fridge.

Frozen fridge condensation, OK, but you haven't seen the output from my aircon. I wouldn't even use it in my car's cooling system. Actually, the evaporator's condensation is clear, but the condenser drainage indicates internal corrosion. Is it the clear water that kills ... or is that the clear air in Tokyo, I forget ...

Edited November 7, 2011 by MaxYakov

[TongueThaied]

Yes it is going to take a lot of hard work and posative attitude to clear up all the mess, I just hope for the people's sake there is no western attitude to add to the disaster.

Care to remind us what is western attitude?

Usually us, westerner, we use to plan ahead, we also to prepare contingency plans (as it is obvious we are only humans, so prone to errors and forgetting stuffs when planning).

We also usually do not hide behind fake statements (that Iwil not call total BS, because I would like to keep it polite).

Most of important, when we are humbled by a natural castastrophe, we do accept that fact and we do ask/beg for foreign expertises (recent examples would be New Orleans for USA, and the cyclone that crossed european France in 2000, that for 2 of the most 'arrogant' countries of the world)

I would tend to believe some western attitudes would have reduce the scope of the actual flood (that is nowhere a natural castastrophe by itslef, but a human failure if not even a human deed); and would certainly help in mitigating it in the present and near future.

Even us french would be glad and thankfull if such flood was hitting us (let say such phenomena might happend in the French RIviera , in the city of Nice specifically) and the US Navy was proposing a aircraft carrier for help.

And thanks for that, because you're spot on. If blame must be laid, it must be laid at the doorstep of excessive Thai nationalism and xenophobic arrogance coupled with a refusal to do advance contingency planning ("If it hasn't happened yet, why worry?"). Everything is handled on an ad hoc fire fight basis. Instead of preventing the fires, they wait until they spring up randomly and fight each one as it comes. It's laid back and not all that bad sometimes. I live here and love it. But sometimes these attitudes lead to disaster and this is one of those times. Things will recover and nothing will change. Life goes on. But even so, Danlo is still a prick.

Edited November 7, 2011 by TongueThaied

[Deez]

So whats new about three tons of garbage laying around Thai roads & streets?

lol...just what I thought.

[SOTIRIOS]

Many micro organisms will survive brief boiling, you should boil for 5 minutes. If you use the type of kettle with auto shut off, leave the top open, then it will keep boiling. Boiling will not remove inorganic pollutants. For pure water collect the output from your aircon and melt the ice buildup in your fridge.

Be very careful if you start to drink ultra pure water such as distilled or dionised it does not contain any bacteria, which you need to digest, and technically you can 'drown' with it. There are many documented cases of people dying from drinking pure water for too long.

It is said that prolonged use of distilled water will draw out vitamins and minerals from your body.....this depletion can lead to all kinds of complications.....that is where the danger stems from.....

[fred110]

So whats new about three tons of garbage laying around Thai roads & streets?

Try 30,000 tons, and (to answer your question), .....nothing new about it, except it's now waterlogged garbage.

Maybe some of the water-borne radioactivity from Fukushima will kill some of the toxic organisms that slowly flush down in to the bay, from the 10,000 acre cesspool known as Bkk.

Even in the best of time, there's asbestos dust (from roof shingles and auto brakes), dog poop from a million dogs, and a zillion other types of garbage seep out from Bkk.

Q. What's the one best thing a person can do for the environment?

A. Not have children. Each added child adds untold tons of garbage to this finite planet.

Spay/neuter your pets too.

[monty1412]

"The department surveyed groundwater in 18 spots and found that 6 per cent was poor, 11 per cent was fair and 6 per cent was of good quality".

I'm no math whiz but shouldn't these numbers add up to 100 per cent?

yes i was just about to add post to thet effect.. so the remaining 77% was what.. shithouse/ atrocious/ woeful not fit for pigs.... ???

[monty1412]

Yes it is going to take a lot of hard work and posative attitude to clear up all the mess, I just hope for the people's sake there is no western attitude to add to the disaster.

Really not sure what to make of the remark re western attitude.... I would of thought some western attitude would of been good specifically

Government managing crisis with strong unbiased hand for the greater good and not allowing parochial interest to take priority

Unfettered journalism and accurate uncensored reporting

Prior planning and disaster management plans

Ability to welcome foreign help and assistance

Lack of shame or any loss of face crap about putting your hand up to the international community and saying HELP

seems a funny comment to say when by all evidence the Thai handling of this disaster ( with more serious consequences to come) has been nothing short of woeful.

While direct death count is at 427'ish you can bet indirect count must now be in its thousands and will only keep to climb...

[DocN]

"The department surveyed groundwater in 18 spots and found that 6 per cent was poor, 11 per cent was fair and 6 per cent was of good quality".

I'm no math whiz but shouldn't these numbers add up to 100 per cent?

They leave out the 77% that were just filthy and poisenous...no need to alarm anyone! You drink - you die! Problem solved!

[DocN]

So whats new about three tons of garbage laying around Thai roads & streets?

Normal: sunlight + sh@t + heat = not nice and a little smelly

Now: sh@t + standing water + heat = biological bomb

[DocN]

Many micro organisms will survive brief boiling, you should boil for 5 minutes. If you use the type of kettle with auto shut off, leave the top open, then it will keep boiling. Boiling will not remove inorganic pollutants. For pure water collect the output from your aircon and melt the ice buildup in your fridge.

Be very careful if you start to drink ultra pure water such as distilled or dionised it does not contain any bacteria, which you need to digest, and technically you can 'drown' with it. There are many documented cases of people dying from drinking pure water for too long.

I guess you could buy stuff like instant ice tea or disolvable vitamin tablets or even Alka Selzer to ad to the destilled water. I think that helps a little to ad minarals and (i guess) bacteria.

Just don't ad too much as the stuff also contains a lot of sugar...

[ytyt]

It's what lying around in hot,stagnated conditions that's the problem as the water becomes putrid and contaminated with all kinds of water/airbourne pathogens that will gladly attach themselves to humans..Human excrement,along with yes dead animal/rats won't exactly make these long term areas of flooding a very nice place to be in!!

Downtown in the province where I live is a good food court, outside a shopping mall. When I first came to Thailad, the huge rats outside in back were frightening. Now I'm wondering: what happens to all these rats when it floods? Do they all drown? Do they have some kind of animal sixth sense that tells them to flee before the water arrives ("rats deserting a sinking ship")? If they know to escape, perhaps people should be advised to observe local rat behavior, rather than listening to confused, contradictory and misleading government evacuation annoncements. "Ignore Plodprasop; watch the rats."

What about the soi dogs? Do they drown? Starve, for lack of food? Tread water 24 hours a day? After the tsunami, there was a huge reduction in the number of stray dogs here (unfortunately, it's getting bad again, breeding exponentially in spite of the dauntless efforts of the local animal welfare society).

Edited November 7, 2011 by ytyt

[lovelomsak]

So whats new about three tons of garbage laying around Thai roads & streets?

Normal: sunlight + sh@t + heat = not nice and a little smelly

Now: sh@t + standing water + heat = biological bomb

Exactly and the way it will be deat with will be interesting. If they use power boats to push the water out to sea what will they do to stop epidemics? maybe give out free anti biotics?

Edited November 7, 2011 by lovelomsak

[JSPS]

I wasn't aware that tap water in Bangkok has ever been safe to drink. When I lived there (a long time ago) we used to take one day a month and boil water and put it in bottles for drinking and cooking.

[jsflynn603]

Many micro organisms will survive brief boiling, you should boil for 5 minutes. If you use the type of kettle with auto shut off, leave the top open, then it will keep boiling. Boiling will not remove inorganic pollutants. For pure water collect the output from your aircon and melt the ice buildup in your fridge.

Be very careful if you start to drink ultra pure water such as distilled or dionised it does not contain any bacteria, which you need to digest, and technically you can 'drown' with it. There are many documented cases of people dying from drinking pure water for too long.

Uh, sorry, but there are no beneficial bacteria that occur in clean, potable water. Perhaps you can post a documented (legitimate double blind study from a peer reviewed medical journal) to support such a statement.

If you want beneficial bacteria simply eat some yogurt once a while. Some have several beneficial strains such as bifidus in addition to the regular acidophalous.

In my humble opinion a human can live quite handily on deionized water though the taste is often a bit flat since it does not contain trace minerals. If you want to collect the output of your aircon, that's fine but you still should boil it for 5 minutes. Legionella and other pathogenic bacteria enjoys living in damp/wet environments.

[siamerican]

Most of the "relief efforts" are the cause and contributors of this greater trash problem. Supposed good samaritans are passing out hundreds of thousands of styrofoam boxes full of rice and packed plastic bottled water every day -- most if not all which will be used one time and thrown out into the water, if not simply burned. Thai people today are lazy and have forgotten their roots of "Pin To" or food pails and banana leave wrapping.

[BinDhumm]

"The department surveyed groundwater in 18 spots and found that 6 per cent was poor, 11 per cent was fair and 6 per cent was of good quality".

I'm no math whiz but shouldn't these numbers add up to 100 per cent?

Guess the rest was 'not called water anymore'.......so out of statistic.

[siamerican]

Not to mention, most of this need for individually wrapped and packed "relief" food and water is in response to distressed residents who refused to leave their homes because they fear burglars ! ! If refugees were properly centered in centralized centers, mass feeding can be done a lot easier without the need of styrofoam boxes and single-use plastic bottles. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I suppose next time we can expect even worse punishment from nature and can only say "SOM NAM NA!"

Most of the "relief efforts" are the cause and contributors of this greater trash problem. Supposed good samaritans are passing out hundreds of thousands of styrofoam boxes full of rice and packed plastic bottled water every day -- most if not all which will be used one time and thrown out into the water, if not simply burned. Thai people today are lazy and have forgotten their roots of "Pin To" or food pails and banana leave wrapping.

[softgeorge]

So whats new about three tons of garbage laying around Thai roads & streets?

Normal: sunlight + sh@t + heat = not nice and a little smelly

Now: sh@t + standing water + heat = biological bomb

Exactly and the way it will be deat with will be interesting. If they use power boats to push the water out to sea what will they do to stop epidemics? maybe give out free anti biotics?

I heard they were going to use huge fans to blow all the airborn bacteria across the borders. just kidding I never heard that at all

[noitom]

It's what lying around in hot,stagnated conditions that's the problem as the water becomes putrid and contaminated with all kinds of water/airbourne pathogens that will gladly attach themselves to humans..Human excrement,along with yes dead animal/rats won't exactly make these long term areas of flooding a very nice place to be in!!

Downtown in the province where I live is a good food court, outside a shopping mall. When I first came to Thailad, the huge rats outside in back were frightening. Now I'm wondering: what happens to all these rats when it floods? Do they all drown? Do they have some kind of animal sixth sense that tells them to flee before the water arrives ("rats deserting a sinking ship")? If they know to escape, perhaps people should be advised to observe local rat behavior, rather than listening to confused, contradictory and misleading government evacuation annoncements. "Ignore Plodprasop; watch the rats."

What about the soi dogs? Do they drown? Starve, for lack of food? Tread water 24 hours a day? After the tsunami, there was a huge reduction in the number of stray dogs here (unfortunately, it's getting bad again, breeding exponentially in spite of the dauntless efforts of the local animal welfare society).

Here's what the rats do - They look for drier areas and food - This video was Sukhumvit during the 2009 heavy rain minor flood so you can imagine what the aftermath of this one will be - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP87SETbTIg&feature=related - The dogs are drowning, starving, dying, and decomposing in the water along with many humans and millions and zillions of rats. You can look forward to finding lots of grilled roasted rat at outside food stalls in a month or two after the water is cleared out or before. They stand and cook in the filthy water anyway.

[DocN]

Waist problem:

1) buy an icecream cone at 7- get a plastic bag! (To carry it home and eat it, when it is a creamy warm soup ?)

2) buy a bag of toast at Family Mart - get a plastic bag! (<deleted> it IS already in a plastic bag!)

3) buy 2 cans of coke, a can of beer and a bottle of mouthwash at TESCO express- get a plastic bag...and 4 straws! (straws for beer? hmmm...but for the mouthwash???)

4) buy a 4-pack of yoghurt (among other goods) and get 4 plastic spoons (in case I have 3 also spoonless friends with me and we want to eat JUST the yoghurt on the way home!?)

5) buy a cloth- bag to support TOPS " I promise to go green"- campaign....so they can put all my goods IN PLASTIC BAGS and put them in my cloth bag!

All small things, but all real stories...and I am not even talking about cookies being packed in 5 skins of cellophane...

...and later just throw it into the klongs!

[scotto]

One could only hope that the Thais would clean up properly after this flooding and start to fine anyone

caught throwing rubbish on the ground!!

The BIB would love this !!

Thais are a really proud nation yet they let people trash the place as if it was ok

i do not get it

[BinDhumm]

Waist problem:

1) buy an icecream cone at 7- get a plastic bag! (To carry it home and eat it, when it is a creamy warm soup ?)

2) buy a bag of toast at Family Mart - get a plastic bag! (<deleted> it IS already in a plastic bag!)

3) buy 2 cans of coke, a can of beer and a bottle of mouthwash at TESCO express- get a plastic bag...and 4 straws! (straws for beer? hmmm...but for the mouthwash???)

4) buy a 4-pack of yoghurt (among other goods) and get 4 plastic spoons (in case I have 3 also spoonless friends with me and we want to eat JUST the yoghurt on the way home!?)

5) buy a cloth- bag to support TOPS " I promise to go green"- campaign....so they can put all my goods IN PLASTIC BAGS and put them in my cloth bag!

All small things, but all real stories...and I am not even talking about cookies being packed in 5 skins of cellophane...

...and later just throw it into the klongs!

[/quote

Even buy a LIGHTER at 7 will be served in a tiny little PLASTICBAG. Bangkoks flood and especially its AFTERMATH will mirror our our rotten society.