Turning back the trash tsunami: Thai editorial

[webfact]

EDITORIAL
Turning back the trash tsunami
The Nation

Illegal dumping threatens to turn our seas and beaches into a toxic mix of oil and plastic garbage; we need stronger rules to protect Thai waters

BANGKOK: -- Visitors to Bang Saen Beach, the popular weekend getaway in Chon Buri, recently suffered skin irritation after swimming in seawater tainted with oil. A passing ship has likely dumped the oil in the water.

This isn't the first case of suspected dumping by ships in Thai waters. The large amounts of garbage that wash ashore on our islands and the junk routinely seen on the seabed by divers offer evidence that the practice is common.

Disposing of waste at sea has been a serious problem for decades. In 1973 the United Nations' International Maritime Organisation adopted the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (Marpol), in an effort to cut the damage being done to marine and shore environments.

Marpol has since been amended to prohibit the disposal of all kinds of garbage in the sea. The latest amendment, which came into effect in January last year, bans the dumping of almost all solid waste, including cardboard, rags, glass, cans, paper and many other items that could previously be jettisoned with impunity.

But evidence is rife of flagrant and frequent violations of the new rules.

Recently a former employee of a European cruise operator leaked video of a colleague throwing large black bags full of garbage into the ocean while the cruise ship was sailing off the coast of Brazil. Two months ago a cruise passenger posted a clip of what looked like illegal dumping. Passengers on another cruise filmed crewmembers throwing trash over the side in a Florida marine reserve. As a result, the operator of the ship was fined $500,000.

A modern cruise liner produces about eight tonnes of solid waste every week. Much of this garbage takes years to decompose. Aluminium cans take 200 to 500 years to break down in seawater, plastic bottles around 450 years. The UN Environment Programme estimates that there are 13,000 pieces of plastic trash floating in every square kilometre of ocean. The US-based Scripps Institution of Oceanography recently reported that virtually one out of every 10 fish in the ocean has plastic waste in its stomach. Researchers from Tokyo University have verified that cancer-causing compounds found in plastic are widespread in seawaters. There is now concern that plastic chemicals are making their way up the food chain and into the seafood we eat.

International rules to prevent dumping at sea exist, but affected countries must also draft and enforce effective local laws if they want to keep their waters clean.

Companies that operate ships who are found guilty of using the sea as a garbage dump should face severe penalties, including steep fines. People who witness such dumping can help the law enforcers by recording it on their mobile phone or other portable devices.

But this problem will not go away unless all of us, perpetrators included, are made more aware of the damage that dumping does to marine life and the humans who depend on the sea. It is the health and wellbeing of humans that will eventually suffer if, by inaction, we permit our seas to be trashed.


-- The Nation 2014-03-20

[ChrisY1]

"Illegal dumping threatens to turn our seas and beaches into a toxic mix of oil and plastic garbage; we need stronger rules to protect Thai waters"

Making more rules won't make the slightest difference to this huge problem.

The industrial area are so badly managed, if at all, that toxic wastes are almost "permitted" to be disposed of in any way....the cheapest way is to simply just dump it...no-one cares.

Now we have a major fire in an out of control disposal land fill area....hundreds of people and wildlife have been affected.....and as usual...the authorities are threatening action.....

I'de be surprised if this event causes the operator of the dump to lose a minutes sleep!

[noitom]

if I'm not mistaken, the news that is behind this editorial was from a Thai land dump fire. The Thai editorial angles us toward thing of foreign ships dumping oil when in fact it's a lack of regulation, corruption, and who cares attitude on the part of Thais up and down the pecking order.

[arthurboy]

As usual, a hand wringing editorial from the Nation.

Efficient and proactive environmental management is a nonsense in Thailand as - on the whole - it doesn't exist.

The laws may exist to protect the environment from land and mangrove forest encroachment, land clearance firing, coastal and sea pollution and illegal and poorly managed rubbish dumps, but enforcement is non existent - as usual.

My 6 year old son's school - in Bang Na - was affected by the Samut Sakorn rubbish dump fire yesterday. He felt sick, was retching and said his eyes hurt. Home he went and, fortunately, was back to his normal self again about two hours later.

There is and will be no point in complaining to the authorities about this as nothing will be done and nothing will change because, as usual, it comes down to two things; no one cares and anyone or anything can be bought for a price.

Edited March 20, 2014 by arthurboy

[CWMcMurray]

I wonder how enforcement in Thailand compares with other countries in the region?

I hope it is not a case of vessel operators saying to their crew " wait to dump that until we get into Thai waters"

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cooked]

At first I thought that the title referred to a certain class of Farang that visits our fair shores,,,

[ronrat]

I wonder how enforcement in Thailand compares with other countries in the region?

I hope it is not a case of vessel operators saying to their crew " wait to dump that until we get into Thai waters"

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Indonesia is no better. The biggest problem is merchant ships that dump in the middle of the night. What ends up on a Thai beach may have been dumped in Malaysian or cambodian waters as well.It is a world problem, not Just Thailand. They never catch them.

[IBoldnewguy]

All the nonsense headlines I've read from this source before and since the protests began should be considered illegal trash dumping...

[marko kok prong]

I read a recent article in the Newcastle Herald from Australia,it was about a yachtsmans journry from Japan to Sanfransico and back to Australia,he had sailed the same route some ten or so years before,he chronicled the amount of garbage they encountered and not just on the surface,some of it sinks down so permeates the water at different levels,they caught no fish,niether did they see many,and no sea birds,can't remeber the name of the article,some thing like the ocean is trashed,it was a very sobering read,unfortunately humans having a short life span tend to take a short term veiw,eventually we will probably die out because of this,when i was on Koh Chang recently i noticed the ocean water was no were near as clear as it was when i visisted in 1995,before the place became developed,but to me enviromental concerns are a long way down on the list here,one national park i visited near Petchabun was full of rubbish were people had just dropped water bottles, iced coffee cups,my stepson through a bottle of water he had drank into a bush ,i made him retreive it and put it in the bin later,no doubt he thought i was crazy,i just cannot understand the mentality to garbage here,it's like through it away it then ceases to exist,yet everyone says they are proud of their country,then why litter it,i cannot see a solution.

[sabye]

It isn't all bad news in Thailand. In Tarutao Marine National Park a couple of Swiss men have started a voluntary Cleanup the Beach program on the islands of Lipe, Adang, Rawi and Dong. Usually around 30-50 tourists and locals join in the cleanup each Monday and so far this season they have cleaned up 10 tonnes of garbage. So far it has been mostly foreigners that do the cleaning but a few locals have gotten into the act and many local businesses have been donating boats, garbage bags, food and a beer at the end of the day to the volunteers. Check them out at www.fb.com/trashherokohadang and at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hblyZu4hBEc .

We are challenging the rest of Thailand to start their own Trash Hero chapter in their area. Also another good idea is to join the Adopt a Highway program. In this program groups of people adopt a section of a highway and they are responsible for taking care of that stretch of highway. You make a big day out of it by having a picnic while doing the cleanup and by making new friends who come out to help. Groups such as the Lions Club, Kinsmen Club, Hash House Harriers, Girl guides, Boy Scouts and schools can all make a great day outing and do something to help Thailand look better. No more complaining. Get off your butts and make a difference. A little less talk and a lot more action please.

[gordon from yasothon]

I read the headline and thought they were talking about the "Tsunami of Farang Trash" washing up on these shores.....

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

if I'm not mistaken, the news that is behind this editorial was from a Thai land dump fire. The Thai editorial angles us toward thing of foreign ships dumping oil when in fact it's a lack of regulation, corruption, and who cares attitude on the part of Thais up and down the pecking order.

Well, they took the news item about the oil washing up on the beach as their launching point, but I was thinking the same direction as you.

While I'm sure cruise or other ship dumping contributes to ocean pollution, I have no doubt that in the coastal waters of Thailand, pollution is by far and way more sourced from the mainland -- untreated municipal and industrial sewage disposal, municipal garbage dumping and waste left on the beaches themselves.

It's great for The Nation editorial to point the finger offshore to other parties. But where they ought to be pointing the finger is at the Thai government and local officials for failing to enforce their own environmental standards and for doing little to nothing to promote re-use and recycling as a means of reducing the volumes of municipal and industrial waste.

[soalbundy]

if I'm not mistaken, the news that is behind this editorial was from a Thai land dump fire. The Thai editorial angles us toward thing of foreign ships dumping oil when in fact it's a lack of regulation, corruption, and who cares attitude on the part of Thais up and down the pecking order.

No lack of regulations,lack of enforcement is the problem

[clockman]

Corruption is entirely responable for this moraly bankrupt country.

[Lancelot]

I just spent 12 days touring Norther Thailand and Isan, on my motorcycle, driving the back roads. Yeah, its wasn't the beach but there was trash everywhere- and I'm willing to bet it didn't all come from foreigners