Insurmountable trash washed up on Bang Saen beach reaching 10 tons per day

[Emdog]

Not surprising when most of the Thai are looking the sea as a trash bin, most of them do not have respect for nature anyway.

If you travel to the villages, you will find a far different story. They are spotless. In Pattaya I see foreigners throwing trash on the ground faster than I can ask them to pick it up. Don't blame the Thai's for the litter. Go check out the villages and you will see the other side of the story.

I beg to differ, although I live in Jomtien. It is the Thais by a clear majority. Leave their styrofoam plates on benches, walkways. They simply throw it down without a thought. I have lived here long enough to know who the culprits are. Earlier this year the BIB had all benches they could get and concrete trash bins removed. Vice mayor was out later with a sign "2000 baht fine for littering". Being in a somewhat ticked off mood, I asked if had sign in Thai (they did! OMG). I also suggested if they don't want littering perhaps some bins to put trash in might be in order. The one dumpster near by was overflowing, with bags set on the street. If they could somehow expand their view of "face" beyond arms length and include the country, there could be some hope.

[KittenKong]

There's no doubt that Thais on a day trip do leave vast amounts of plastic crap all over the place. I've seen it just about everywhere I've ever been here. When at home they generally do keep the area in front of their house or shop clean, but once the crap has been collected up I think they are more than likely just to dump it in their neighbour's garden or on some public land or river somewhere, rather than dispose of it correctly.

The way Pattaya disposes of its crap (just dumped from barges at sea) says it all, really. I wouldnt be at all surprised if it wasnt this same crap that ends up on Bang Saen and Bang Saray beaches after storms. It must go somewhere.

[AloisAmrein]

The sea brings back to rubbish to the people who deposited it in the sea. All over SE Asia the same, no respect for nature, no solutions how to deal with all the modern rubbish, The same sad story in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Maldives. If they continue like this, no tourist will arrive anymore. Who wants to swim in dirty waters, full of rubbish? TAT should take action now. And the schools too, educate the people for environment-responsible behavior. On the Toba lake in Sumatra they take care now, not allowed to trow rubbish in the the lake.

[AloisAmrein]

The sea brings back the rubbish trown it to the people who has no respect of nature. All the same in all SE Asia. From Thailand to Vietnam.

[Dakling]

Not surprising when most of the Thai are looking the sea as a trash bin, most of them do not have respect for nature anyway.

If you travel to the villages, you will find a far different story. They are spotless. In Pattaya I see foreigners throwing trash on the ground faster than I can ask them to pick it up. Don't blame the Thai's for the litter. Go check out the villages and you will see the other side of the story.

Gotta differ on this, I split time between living in an Issan village and living near a Rayong beach. Both are filthy.

Many Thai's I see in both places are reasonably good at keeping their own land clean but they seem to view all common grounds and vacant land as their personal waste dump.

[Goshawk]

it's great news for member Dancealot.... he'll have a total field day down there with his little camera snapping up images for his latest thread in the photography/arts section of TV.

[Phronesis]

The West coast beaches here on Phuket are putrid also.

And just wait until mass tourism kicks off in Myanmar and the onshore winds monsoon winds carry all of their trash over to Thailand...

You ain't seen nothing yet...bbbbbaby...You ain't seen nothing yet...

[I Like Thai]

Truth be told, not many are looking at the real problem. What you see washed up on the beach is plastic mainly. This doesn't cause pollution, because it doesn't break down. The real problem is the pollutants that dissolve in the water or sink to the bottom to slowly decay. The amount of plastic shown on the beach is a frightening indicator of the amount of pollutants in the Gulf of Thailand.

This is what beaches should look like, just a pity we don't get any sunshine <>

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eoino/4105519058/in/set-9109/

[cup-O-coffee]

Looks bad. I am thinking that the increase in the water tables is causing a lot of this to flow into the lower level (the sea) and make it like this. Is it always this bad, or is this issue coming up now during the rainy and flood seasons?

[UncleJ]

I recently went to Paris for some family matters and the people I met that had been to Thailand were not recommending the place to their friends. Filth, scams, overcharging were the impressions they brought home.

Needless to say, their friends and acquaintances are not booking their holidays to Thailand.

I does seem the western tourists are headed elsewhere and are being replaced by, Russians, Chinese, Indians, Arabs.

Soon, they will stop coming too.

To be honest, I can't recommend the place any longer.

[Joe Mamma]

Being a hobby fisherman, i am amazed that a good majority of career fisherman are in such disrespect for the talays.

I am in constant education mode when i interact with them. I am listened to, because i know how to catch fish and have studied the local fisheries conductive to consistent catches. I have seen the declines in sealife everywhere.

[Carl64]

Not surprising when most of the Thai are looking the sea as a trash bin, most of them do not have respect for nature anyway.

If you travel to the villages, you will find a far different story. They are spotless. In Pattaya I see foreigners throwing trash on the ground faster than I can ask them to pick it up. Don't blame the Thai's for the litter. Go check out the villages and you will see the other side of the story.

Wow ! There must be more foreigners in Thailand than I thought.

Get real!

[UncleJ]

I took my nephews on a boat ride in Phuket and landed on a quiet small beach for some fishing.

A Thai man that had a small drink concession there, walked around his patch of beach picking up bottles that "the farang" left behind.

He then did the right thing and threw them in the bushes a few meters away...onto the heap of other trash he left there.

Edited October 8, 2013 by UncleJ

[Keesters]

I've seen the same at Ban Amphur beach including medicines and worst of all syringes with the needle intact.

Be very careful when walking on the sand barefoot.

[chooka]

Not surprising when most of the Thai are looking the sea as a trash bin, most of them do not have respect for nature anyway.

If you travel to the villages, you will find a far different story. They are spotless. In Pattaya I see foreigners throwing trash on the ground faster than I can ask them to pick it up. Don't blame the Thai's for the litter. Go check out the villages and you will see the other side of the story.

Sorry my friend I have to totally disagree with you on this one. Farangs are not to blame for the litter in Thailand. Yes some Farangs may litter but it is the Thais that are the biggest offenders. Thais will dump all manners of rubbish wherever they find a space, including canals and roadsides. My wife has a vacant block of land and is constantly paying for people to come and clean it up. Loads of rubbish including household garbage, trees branches, construction waste and even human waste in the form of adult diapers being dumped there. We a currently building a decent brick fence around it but they are still dumping there. I have even witnessed pickups parked on the side of the road and canals whilst people off load all their rubbish.

[ABCer]

About 6 months (give or take a few) ago I have posted a thread on my local TV forum (SE Thailand). "Who really loves Thailand".

About the beach and sea pollution.

Got about 10 - 12 absolutely moronic responses. Never visited that local pit of filth again...

Glad to see I'm not the only one concerned.

I live on the beach. Most nights I can count on the horizon 150 - 170 bright light spots. Each represents a fishing ship with 8 - 12 people. This is about 2000 men working hard on sh*tting only my little 3 -4 km stretch of otherwise beautiful beach.

Examination of the flotsam clearly shows its native origins.

Shame on Thailand!

And the problem could be easily fixed. But the people supposed to look after this are glued to their chairs and are only busy with seeking supplements for their wages. What a sorry state this state is in...

Half the time the officials are busy thinking over the new areas needing 'crackdown'.

Half the time the same officials are busy extracting 'supplements' for their wages.

This alone makes them 100% busy. Too busy to do their job...

[KittenKong]

I live on the beach. Most nights I can count on the horizon 150 - 170 bright light spots. Each represents a fishing ship with 8 - 12 people. This is about 2000 men working hard on sh*tting only my little 3 -4 km stretch of otherwise beautiful beach.

Why do you assume that these fishermen are dropping plastic rubbish into the sea? Even if they were I doubt that it would amount to much compared to the many barge loads that the municipality dumps every day, and all the crap that washes out of the rivers and streams.

[Basil B]

Hundreds of miles of unpolluted white sand beaches can be yet found in the Philippines. Thinking it's time to move. Same corruption and costs and lovely women though. hummmm

Ripper, I think this would be appropriate in your signature line:

The real problem is the Gulf of Siam (Thailand) is really just a big estuary of many rivers.

[salapau]

How the hell does that volume of trash find its way into the river system in the first place?

The old saying "don't &lt;deleted&gt; in your own nest" obviously doesn't translate too well.

Surely you have witnessed the Thai's dumping their daily rubbish in the rivers and on the streets. Anywhere but on their own land, but they pollute those areas as well with slash and burn. What's astounding is that they have an annual Budhist celebration, to thank the rivers for irrigation, pushing out little decorated boats.

[UncleJ]

How the hell does that volume of trash find its way into the river system in the first place?

The old saying "don't &lt;deleted&gt; in your own nest" obviously doesn't translate too well.

Surely you have witnessed the Thai's dumping their daily rubbish in the rivers and on the streets. Anywhere but on their own land, but they pollute those areas as well with slash and burn. What's astounding is that they have an annual Budhist celebration, to thank the rivers for irrigation, pushing out little decorated boats.

....boats made from styrofoam.....

[Equalizer]

The first day i arrived Thailand i was followed around a filthy market in BKK by a scruffy cop, i saw a heap of fag butts on the floor and threw my fag butt on top, i got whisked away to a booth with a sign saying littering 2000 bht fine in Thai. When i got there there was an American couple a European couple all arguing with them at this booth. If it is still there i am surprised no one has put it on you tube.

[UncleJ]

The first day i arrived Thailand i was followed around a filthy market in BKK by a scruffy cop, i saw a heap of fag butts on the floor and threw my fag butt on top, i got whisked away to a booth with a sign saying littering 2000 bht fine in Thai. When i got there there was an American couple a European couple all arguing with them at this booth. If it is still there i am surprised no one has put it on you tube.

There are about 12 officers (predators) in the Sukhmvit Hotel zone stalking foreign smokers, full time.

Entrapment scam.

There was a comprehensive story on these guys in The Spectrum. Nothing was done.

In fact, more litter officers showed up.

How much do they earn a day?

12 officers nabbing 3 each per hour each?

36 smokers per hour X 2,000Bt.

72,000bt per hour X 8 hour day.

=576,000bt a day defrauded from tourists.

576,000bt X 365 days = 210,240,000bt.

Thats over 17 million for each officer per year.

[dcsw53]

Beach trash caused by deposits is just the tip of the iceberg.

Attitudes to garbage need to change. How many of us drive past piles of "night trash" illegally fly tipped, every day ? We have a great country here, let's make it better. Or get the politicians or the police, when do anyone ever listen to them.

We need a member of the Royal Family ( like Prince Charles has done with his environmental crusades ) to stand up and challenge us to be better. Tell the fly tippers they are shaming Thailand and they have no place here. Shame them into stopping the practice.

Yes it costs money to dispose of waste, but it costs a lot more in lost tourist revenues because people go to Singapore or Kuala Lumpur because it is cleaner and smells less.

[allucero]

The Thai's really do not care, just drive on any street or road and it is not uncommon to see a bag of trash recently thrown from a passing auto. If you look in the photo of the article the Thai family swimming in this garbage.. They also don't like to clean toilets NEVER!!!

[I Like Thai]

The first day i arrived Thailand i was followed around a filthy market in BKK by a scruffy cop, i saw a heap of fag butts on the floor and threw my fag butt on top, i got whisked away to a booth with a sign saying littering 2000 bht fine in Thai. When i got there there was an American couple a European couple all arguing with them at this booth. If it is still there i am surprised no one has put it on you tube.

There are about 12 officers (predators) in the Sukhmvit Hotel zone stalking foreign smokers, full time.

Entrapment scam.

There was a comprehensive story on these guys in The Spectrum. Nothing was done.

In fact, more litter officers showed up.

How much do they earn a day?

12 officers nabbing 3 each per hour each?

36 smokers per hour X 2,000Bt.

72,000bt per hour X 8 hour day.

=576,000bt a day defrauded from tourists.

576,000bt X 365 days = 210,240,000bt.

Thats over 17 million for each officer per year.

Wow, 228 tourists getting caught dumping cigarette butts on the street in an eight hour day. What filthy animals us foreigners must be. If 228 get caught, just imagine how many are getting away with it. Maybe they should raise the fine to 3000 Bht

[UncleJ]

The first day i arrived Thailand i was followed around a filthy market in BKK by a scruffy cop, i saw a heap of fag butts on the floor and threw my fag butt on top, i got whisked away to a booth with a sign saying littering 2000 bht fine in Thai. When i got there there was an American couple a European couple all arguing with them at this booth. If it is still there i am surprised no one has put it on you tube.

There are about 12 officers (predators) in the Sukhmvit Hotel zone stalking foreign smokers, full time.

Entrapment scam.

There was a comprehensive story on these guys in The Spectrum. Nothing was done.

In fact, more litter officers showed up.

How much do they earn a day?

12 officers nabbing 3 each per hour each?

36 smokers per hour X 2,000Bt.

72,000bt per hour X 8 hour day.

=576,000bt a day defrauded from tourists.

576,000bt X 365 days = 210,240,000bt.

Thats over 17 million for each officer per year.

Wow, 228 tourists getting caught dumping cigarette butts on the street in an eight hour day. What filthy animals us foreigners must be. If 228 get caught, just imagine how many are getting away with it. Maybe they should raise the fine to 3000 Bht

I wonder why these environmentally minded officers only target farangs & had the trash can removed?

Stand outside Times Square sometime.

Building occupants step outside to have a smoke...but there is no ash tray or trash can.

The officer lurks in the air conditioned lobby, ready to nab the offender. Farangs only of course.

Did the building maintenance man remove the ash tray to assist the litter officer?

They have a similar team at Siam Sq, Kow San Rd, Silom Rd....etc.

Real scum running an entrapment scheme of our visitors.

What is wrong with the Thais?

They should be grateful that people choose to spend their holiday here but no, they have to scam scam scam.

[UncleJ]

Thai vendors rent the footpath from the litter police.

This is what Sukhumvit Rd looks like every morning.

Now if you are a farang, dropping a butt here you will be fined 2000bt.

Nice, eh?

Welcome to Thailand. Bend over.

Edited October 8, 2013 by UncleJ

[Mangosteen1]

Ahh I read an article that Thailand need more "MAN MADE TOURIST ATTRACTIONS" I got an idea: Collect all this trash at the Beach and create a type of monument along the new upcoming highway.

[gk10002000]

Not surprising when most of the Thai are looking the sea as a trash bin, most of them do not have respect for nature anyway.

I grew up in the USA. I was a Boy Scout so maybe I am a little more concious of littering than the average person. I remember the commercials on TV of an American Indian crying as he watched trash and litter and pollution. To this day, I don't toss a thing out anywhere. I can't gurantee the local cities dispose of my trash in any responsible manner, but I don't litter. My blood boils when I am on the road driving and I watch people roll down the window and throw trash out. ( notice I use roll. That dates me a bit as nobody rolls down a window anymore). Over here, I watch so many Thais just toss things out. I watch foreigners walk over to the sewer grate and toss their cigarette butts down there.

[LennyW]

If you take a drive around Bangkok and see all these old dwellings that are backed onto or overhanging the klong's then it is not difficult to see where a lot of the trash comes from, they just chuck everything out the back door into the water!