Phuket's island wide beach clean ups dubbed a success

[Lite Beer]

Phuket's island wide beach clean ups dubbed a success
Claire Connell

The Kamala Beach cleanup.

PHUKET: More than 1,000 Phuket people hit their local beaches on Friday and Saturday to take part in a large island-wide beach cleanup.

The cleanup was titled the “Phuket Island Big Clean”, part of the global “Clean up the World” weekend, which is held in September every year.

Environmental group SEEK co-founder Nick Anthony told The Phuket News between 1,000 and 1,500 people attended cleanups.

"It was a great success, we were so heartened that there was such a fantastic turnout of local people, from local communities. Phuket's Green Clubs are starting to gather real momentum."

As for how much rubbish was collected, figures would be finalised in a few days.

"I haven't done the totals yet but I have got numbers in from Karon, Kamala, Bang Tao and Nai Thon.

"To give you an idea, in Tri Trang beach, around 30 people cleaned 200 metres of the beach and collected 45 bags of garbage. On average one bag of garbage is around 10 kilos, so they would have collected around 450 kilos off Tri Trang Beach. So we are talking large numbers for the whole of Phuket."

Mr Anthony said one positive thing to come out of the cleanup was the support for the Green Clubs.

"We are starting six new clubs in Patong, Mai Khao, Kata, Surin and Karon, which will join the existing six active ones we have already."

The weekend cleanup also marked the start of the local "Magic Eyes" litter campaign, which will be rolled out across Phuket to discourage people from dropping trash.

"The way to encourage change in Thailand is you don't point the finger, you encourage people and educate, and bring people in softly," Mr Anthony explained.

"The Magic Eyes icon is a cartoon character set of eyes - the concept being wherever you are and whatever you're doing, someone is watching. It's a play on karma and doing good."

Magic Eyes signs have already been set up in Phuket Town, Kamala and Bang Tao, and more will be put on Phuket beaches soon.

Also other Green Clubs will be following the lead of Kamala, which has 10 recycling stations set up in the area.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phukets-island-wide-beach-cleanups-dubbed-a-success-42030.php?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

-- Phuket News 2013-09-22

[Patje]

This is great, I hope the population will get more awareness with this project and respect the environment that they are given to live in !!!!

More like this in the future !!

Congratulation

[LivinginKata]

Do these volunteers get some sort of immunity from the Work Permit requirements ? I always understood that even volunteer work is subject to the same WP requirements.

[chooka]

Would be nice to see if a similar project was rolled out right across the country. Well done to the people of Phuket.

[simon43]

Do these volunteers get some sort of immunity from the Work Permit requirements

One would hope trhat they are only asking Thai citizens to clean up the beaches. It would be rather short-sighted if they are encouraging foreigners to break the Labour laws.

Comet to think of it, from the report, it sounds as if the organisers are not Thai. I fear that they are skating on thin ice. Thai law turns a blind eye only when it suits the authorities to do so...

Simon

[LivinginKata]

Do these volunteers get some sort of immunity from the Work Permit requirements

One would hope trhat they are only asking Thai citizens to clean up the beaches. It would be rather short-sighted if they are encouraging foreigners to break the Labour laws.

Comet to think of it, from the report, it sounds as if the organisers are not Thai. I fear that they are skating on thin ice. Thai law turns a blind eye only when it suits the authorities to do so...

Simon

Have a good look at the photo ...

[falkan]

that looks illegal? wp? ehm..

[JimShortz]

Do these volunteers get some sort of immunity from the Work Permit requirements ? I always understood that even volunteer work is subject to the same WP requirements.

Really... This is a on-off event, not ongoing "volunteering". I'm sure that this gets in under the "have some bloody common sense" banner.

Are you proposing work permits for other one-off acts of kindness? Opening doors for others? Carrying bags for an old lady? Picking up somebody's dropped shopping?

[LivinginKata]

Do these volunteers get some sort of immunity from the Work Permit requirements ? I always understood that even volunteer work is subject to the same WP requirements.

Really... This is a on-off event, not ongoing "volunteering". I'm sure that this gets in under the "have some bloody common sense" banner.

Are you proposing work permits for other one-off acts of kindness? Opening doors for others? Carrying bags for an old lady? Picking up somebody's dropped shopping?

It was a serious question. Looks like Immigration can turn a blind eye when it suits them, but don't assume the authorities "have some bloody common sense". I just wonder if the organisers had made an arrangement with Immigartion. I really hope someone has the answer.

[stevenl]

Do these volunteers get some sort of immunity from the Work Permit requirements ? I always understood that even volunteer work is subject to the same WP requirements.

Really... This is a on-off event, not ongoing "volunteering". I'm sure that this gets in under the "have some bloody common sense" banner.

Are you proposing work permits for other one-off acts of kindness? Opening doors for others? Carrying bags for an old lady? Picking up somebody's dropped shopping?

Plus this project has the support of the government, just as the under water cleanups do.

So no, I would not worry about WP's. That could change in the future though, depending on the official support given.

[abhaya]

Although I think this is a great idea for raising public awareness, I hope it does not make people feel complacent and think the problem is solved. After a couple of weeks the rubbish will be back. We need to clean up the ocean itself or at the very least, wean ourselves off plastic water bottles and other disposable packaging.

[marell]

Excellent idea and a commendable effort. Unfortunate thing is that two weeks from now it will probably be hard to tell it ever happened. In other words, the beaches will be trashed again. If only people behaved with a minimum degree of reponsibility in taking care of natural resources these clean ups would be unnecessary. Too bad it's such a big "If".

[phitsanulokjohn]

Pattaya,Jomtien and Bang saray beaches could do with some of this.Last time i had a swim in Bang Saray, i was hit from behind by a huge plank of wood, which had a 6 inch rusty nail sticking out of it.Lucky for me the nail didn't touch me,otherwise that would have been a trip to the hospital for a tetanus injection.

[thaibeachlovers]

Do these volunteers get some sort of immunity from the Work Permit requirements ? I always understood that even volunteer work is subject to the same WP requirements.

Really... This is a on-off event, not ongoing "volunteering". I'm sure that this gets in under the "have some bloody common sense" banner.

Are you proposing work permits for other one-off acts of kindness? Opening doors for others? Carrying bags for an old lady? Picking up somebody's dropped shopping?

Are you not aware that farangs participating in an open jam session in a Chiang Mai bar were arrested for not having work permits to play? That wasn't "on going volunteering either.

Thai immigration makes it up to suit themselves.

[Just1Voice]

And what happened to all the falang who volunteered to help during the Tsunami? Gvt let them help to a degree, then rounded them up, charged them with working without a work permit, and kicked many of them out. Thailand has a unique way of showing appreciation to people who are try to help.

Or turning down the offer of help by the US Navy during the floods of 2011. Nope! We're Thai. Don't need help from anyone.

Kudos to the Thai military for stepping in, but that one US Navy ship alone could have provided nearly triple the efforts made by the Thai military.

[thaibeachlovers]

And what happened to all the falang who volunteered to help during the Tsunami? Gvt let them help to a degree, then rounded them up, charged them with working without a work permit, and kicked many of them out. Thailand has a unique way of showing appreciation to people who are try to help.

Or turning down the offer of help by the US Navy during the floods of 2011. Nope! We're Thai. Don't need help from anyone.

Kudos to the Thai military for stepping in, but that one US Navy ship alone could have provided nearly triple the efforts made by the Thai military.

I remember the farang volunteers "helping" on Phi Phi after the tsunami. They were helping rebuild the horrid buildings instead of cleaning up the beach which was just a huge mess. Now Phi Phi is an awful hole, instead of the paradise it could have become with some planning- but of course that's not the "Thai" way- TiT.