SURVEY: Should the Gov't Continue Cleaning up Tourist Areas?

[Scott]

This week we would appreciate your reaction to the recent efforts by the government to clean up tourist areas, particularly beaches. In some popular places chairs and umbrellas have been removed. Vendors have been removed or relocated. In Bangkok, footpaths are being cleared. Do you agree with this type of clean up?

Please feel to give us your thoughts.

[webfact]

please vote

[kingalfred]

Vote where for what ? Not many "footpaths have been cleared" in BKK

[Scott]

I am not so sure about that, Kingalfred, I was in the Silom area last week on business and was pleasantly surprised to find that during the day, I could walk on the footpath pretty much unimpeded. On one stretch, between McDonald's and Central Sala Daeng, it used to be completely congested with vendors, making it necessary to walk on the street. It was still crowded with people, but passable.

Do they let them on the footpath at night?

[KarenBravo]

Umbrellas and vendors are still on the beaches that have been supposedly cleared.

Once the army left, they all came back and the police don't want to enforce.

Therefore, voting for something that isn't happening, is pointless.

Edited March 22, 2015 by KarenBravo

[Credo]

The last time I was at Hua Hin, I noticed no beach chairs or umbrellas. It looked a little bleak. I don't know if they needed a cleanup but they did need a little re-ordering. In Pattaya, it used to be pretty chaotic and hard to find a place if you didn't want to rent a beach chair.

[khwaibah]

When is Pattaya going to get a serious douche.

[geriatrickid]

The last time I was at Hua Hin, I noticed no beach chairs or umbrellas. It looked a little bleak. I don't know if they needed a cleanup but they did need a little re-ordering. In Pattaya, it used to be pretty chaotic and hard to find a place if you didn't want to rent a beach chair.

They are back in force including jet skis. The restaurants are there as well. I ca post pictures of the mess that Hua him is again.

There were 64 jet skis parked at Patong Beach 2 out of 4 days this past week. The 10% umbrella zone is a joke, the parasailing/jetski thugs control large portions of the beach where visitors are not allowed to go. The pushy vendors are all over the place along with the garbage. No garbage bins to be seen, and the tuk tuk mobsters park wherever they want controlling parking spaces along with the slimy motorbike rental people. The illegal land encroachment continues, with one resort owner rebuilding an illegal road with impunity and another land owner ripping out a replanted mangrove area because he claims the land.

Let me know when the clean up starts and someone corrupt is actually charged and convicted.

[craigt3365]

I am not so sure about that, Kingalfred, I was in the Silom area last week on business and was pleasantly surprised to find that during the day, I could walk on the footpath pretty much unimpeded. On one stretch, between McDonald's and Central Sala Daeng, it used to be completely congested with vendors, making it necessary to walk on the street. It was still crowded with people, but passable.

Do they let them on the footpath at night?

We were on lower Suk a few weeks ago. NO vendors! I couldn't believe it. Haven't seen sidewalks like that in that area ever. It was fantastic.

We didn't walk along there at night, but it was my understanding they are allowed back then????

[KarenBravo]

Don't worry. They'll be back when a civilian government is formed......

[h90]

Umbrellas and vendors are still on the beaches that have been supposedly cleared.

Once the army left, they all came back and the police don't want to enforce.

Therefore, voting for something that isn't happening, is pointless.

I read: "Yes, I agree with the efforts to clean up all areas."

I don't read: "Yes, I agree with the perfectly successful cleaning up of all areas."

[KarenBravo]

Umbrellas and vendors are still on the beaches that have been supposedly cleared.

Once the army left, they all came back and the police don't want to enforce.

Therefore, voting for something that isn't happening, is pointless.

I read: "Yes, I agree with the efforts to clean up all areas."

I don't read: "Yes, I agree with the perfectly successful cleaning up of all areas."

Semantics and pedantics.

There is presently NO effort to clean up the beaches.

[godden]

Pissing against the wind comes to mind

[kennw]

Only wish they would start to clean up the Nana area, Soi Jai Samarn joins soi 4, and 6.lines of taxi's park illegally will only accept day trippers. Wheel clamps sometimes used on private cars never taxis, you can guess why.

[wgdanson]

Banning plastic bags and styrene food containers would go a long way to cleaning up the shithole which is Pattaya (and Thailand in general)

[hugh2121]

Clean up (clear out) the scammers....permanently.

Can't see anywhere to vote for that.

Removing sunbeds from beaches cleans up nothing.

[bonobo]

I was on Jomtien beach yesterday, and the beach was filthy. I picked up a broken bottle in the water where a couple of little kids were playing. It was curved side down, so the sharp sides were pointing up ready for little feet to find them.

I had to walk a considerable distance just to find a trash bin to put the glass in.

[JRThailand]

I have gone to Dong Tan Beach here in Pattaya for 9 years .... most every day! I do NOT see packing the chairs together like a sardine can a form of 'clean up'! People are practically having to sit on top of each other and it has made it very uncomfortable! If the government wishes to 'clean up', they should begin with the constant trash in the water!

[Oziex1]

Being new to Thailand the Phuket Beach cleanup seemed like a fair idea, until I saw it happening ramshackle buildings were simply turned into demolition sites with little or no further clean up, building rubble was dumped anywhere and everywhere.

Signage and awnings of businesses along the main roads were cut down and aligned with the lamp posts a local council by law never previously enforced no doubt. What was actually gained by this is questionable, if it was to get all to obey the rules OK, but how about keeping up the momentum and enforcing the rules and continuing the clean up. Although I am no longer in Phuket I believe the so called beach clean up has stalled or stopped completely.

[evadgib]

Six footers will continue to bang their heads regardless.

Edited March 23, 2015 by evadgib

[MANFROMBOCA]

cleaning of the beach chairs is good for some and bad for others, i walk the beach sidewalk every day and now that there are no vendors in some spots the sand has covered the sidewalk and the debris is everywhere,, saying that,,, the beach chairs are the last thing that need to be cleaned up,, as pattaya and jomtien are one large garbage dump.. its amazing how much trash is in the bushes and side of the roads. its disgraceful

solution... small time offenders should be required to do their time by cleaning up pattaya and jomtien (as they do in several states in america) they are given a number of bags that have to be filled each day and the amount of days is determined by their crime, if they fail their quota back to monkey house,,its better than putting them on a boat to work .

also how about putting more garbage bins out and investing in a street cleaning vehicle or two

i find the garbage situation and the polluting buses to be thailands biggest cleanup problem that needs to take place

[davemos]

How about a tax on plastic containers that would be put towards clean up/ recycling a deposit system on bottles would help also ?

[farangmick]

A definate No vote from me. Apparently Cheap Charlies off Sukhumvit Soi 11 has been shut down as par of the cleanup, yet it was on a walking street with ample room for people to pass.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

We were on lower Suk a few weeks ago. NO vendors! I couldn't believe it. Haven't seen sidewalks like that in that area ever. It was fantastic.

We didn't walk along there at night, but it was my understanding they are allowed back then????

Unlike what other members are reporting here with the failure of the cleanups in the various beach areas, at least the restrictions banning street vendors along lower Sukhumvit Road in BKK during the daytime continue to be enforced and are being honored.

When the daytime ban first began months ago, like so many other things, I suspected it would be a two week deal and then back to normal. But it hasn't happened that way, much to my surprise and pleasure. You can walk along the main road during the day without impediment now.

The vendors are allowed to begin putting out their wares/tables starting around 6 pm, and after that, it's back to the historical cramped, crowded, single file walkways.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

A definate No vote from me. Apparently Cheap Charlies off Sukhumvit Soi 11 has been shut down as par of the cleanup, yet it was on a walking street with ample room for people to pass.

I haven't been by CC's lately to see. But, if anything's happened there, it isn't likely related to the DAYTIME ban on street vendors on lower Sukhumvit Road.

CC's isn't on the main road, and there's been no daytime vendor ban on the side sois like where CC is/was -- just the main road only.

[CharlieH]

Like so many things in Thailand, the ideas are there, the laws are there in many instances, whats missing is someone to actually enforce them, instead of taking the path of least resistance and the occasional envelope to look the other way. That's what needs addressing, consistency in action and enforcement, not every area doing there own thing.

[IMA_FARANG]

I agree with an organized cleanup effort and then a registered and organized number of vendors allowed to return.

You need to remember that for many poor Thais honestly selling food items on the beach or the sidewalks/footpaths is the only income they have..... sometimes a food cart is the only income a woman or group of women have to support their children and that income keeps their children in school as often they have NO support from their husbands.

I know of Thai families whose husbands refuse to give any money to support their children .... and whose wives work long hours every day selling food, coffee, or such to honestly support their families.

What I'm saying is ......"cleanup" is fine ...... but don't throw out the baby with the dirty bathwater.

[NoshowJones]

Pissing against the wind comes to mind

Or a man with a comb over walking in the wind.

[Shaunduhpostman]

The psychology of it isn't healthy, it makes people unhappy and disconnected. This kind of off again on again style of rule enforcement, or we have a law about this, no actually we don't just kidding, well sometimes we do when we are not kidding, whether it is the government or your workplace or probably within families as well, it is actually not uncommon here. I would suspect part of the reason people have no basis on which to try and accomplish anything is that you can bet the goal posts will get ripped out and then someone else will come along and put them back. It's a wonderful demotivator and makes sure you don't do something cheeky like actually seriously try and accomplish any reforms or try and develop some enetrprise that many will appreciate and you will be able to make a living from. You learn that what you are doing right today will almost certainly soon be wrong tomorrow and maybe even used against you, who knows. No one is allowed to know where they stand or what is going on here even a little bit.

[butch333]

<deleted> not only the sunbeds and ombrellas , but all the shit , plastics and...., that you can see on the sand and in the water , and not only on the beach , but all around them , what about the tuk-tuk maffia and motorbike too ???what about the prices of the sunbeds and ombrellas ? i go to Cha-AM beach last time and they want to charge me 200 baths on the side of the water , 80 baths the first row ( near the road ) , is that cleaning the beaches ? what about the illegalies constructions on the beach of Hua Hin between the fishing port and the small temple ( just before the Hilton ) ? still there with the terraces over the beach , you canot walk and it's very uggly , but hld by rich people who have big restaurants , constructions without any permissions , isn't that corruption ??? why don't break they everythink with the buldozers ???