Farang man praised for collecting litter from Hua Hin beach

[condo bought]

Why don't they get the Thai school kids and therefore the next beach generation out there and make them clean THEIR beaches.

They're too busy marching and chanting about how great they and their leader is.

[NCC1701A]

Good for him. I live in Hua Hin and like all of Thailand, it can be filthy.

maybe i should get off my rear end and do the same.

lets hope he does not play Bridge.

[gandalf12]

Thai's do it at times I know and without the publicity. Recently my daughter who works for the military spent a weekend helping to clean up areas. But I agree it would be nice if Thai's took more pride in their country and how it is treated.

[petercouz]

Well they sweep the streets by hand every night in the middle of the night.

They could just as easily get someone to collect the crap left on the beach but they choose not to do this for some reason unknown to us.

This is work....and we know what that means

I live near Bang Saen - it is exactly the same thing there - the Beach road is kept spotless by an army of street cleaners while the beach is only cleaned by a bulldozer and a raking machine, and then only when the tide is low enough for them do so - all the areas meant for beach mats only, hardly get any cleaning at all - despite the rubbish bins there is tons of straws, chang bottle tops, ciggie butts, elastic bands and plastic eating implements amongst much else small littler - and yes people do just leave there drinks cups and bottles a metre or so away quite regularly......it really is unbelievable.

They have had cleaning drives and yes they do it once, with press and media and then never do anything again - the signs saying 'no foam' from a year or so ago have all peeled off and no one remembers it at all

Frankly disgraceful.

If i take my kids there, which is not often, for obvious reasons, i always pick up the rubbish off the beach where my kids are frolicing, and i too have been applauded by local onlookers, but no-one has joined me (or posted this farang on Facebook)

[gandalf12]

It is wonderful that someone is taking action but in reality it could, if very silly, be construed as work and he could ave problems as a result.

[petercouz]

Good for him. I live in Hua Hin and like all of Thailand, it can be filthy.

maybe i should get off my rear end and do the same.

lets hope he does not play Bridge.

The trouble is the farang should not have to set these examples - Thailand should be adult enough to see its own issues and do something about it rather than letting farangs show them the way - i think they only resent us when we try and show them the error of their ways anyway

[Rimbuman]

You need a work permit to clean the beach, he could be deported.

You are right but I don't think it's likely.

[ThaiTrav]

Why not school the fishermen who throw all their crap off there boats every day and night with out a care. They are truly disgusting. Give out a few citations there. The beach in front of my place is littered every morning with plastic and bottles. Can't imagine all the boats on the ocean from 3rd world countries where the fisherman have no care for what they do about their trash. Welcome to the biggest garbage dump in the world.

In Pattaya there was another farang who used to clean the beach trash each morning ,made himself quite a celebrity gold neck chained suntan gent . The problem was the trash just a keeps on coming . What was down further amounst the mangroves near the yacht club was as far as imaginable litter mostly already piled in 20l - 100 l green garbage bags on a tidal creek . This sort of shit needed serious machinery cranes and trucks to remove , as I said tidal out to sea and on Jomtien beach ......"lovely!!"

Another time took fam friends to the Navy beach known for its cleanliness and the day I got there with my family My oh My SO MUCH GARBAGE MATE SEVERE EMBARRASSMENT TO ANY NORMAL CITIZEN .I complained and it was pointed out that the ferry who picks up the trash from the Koh Lahn Island for some reason unknown just thew it all overboard??? Good on the above farang .....wonder if he knows yet he's just wasting his time !

[mesterm]

This photo would be much more surprising if it was a picture of a Thai citizen doing the same. That is, on his own without 100 friends, the press, and T-shirts for the occasion. Never to be done again

There are tons of environmental and "green" activists in Thailand, though they don't appear in the mainstream media as much (sometimes due to their opposition to certain development projects or corporate exploitation of nature).

[DaveinAsia]

The Thais are probably laughing out loud at this 'idiot' farang doing their cleaning for them instead of jumping in to help and raise awareness in their own communities about littering.

Litter seems to be the last thing on their minds.

The unidentified man probably couldn't stand the litter anymore and started to clean it up himself.

From an early age Thais just throw whatever it is on the street, road or ditch. It seems that the schools try to teach them not to but then they see their parents do it and they just copy them.

The only way to clean this country up would be by handing out and really enforcing harsh penalties. Throw an empty chai yen nom cup or plastic bag on the street; 500 baht fine. To be paid on the spot, otherwise arrested and taken in until the family coughs up the 500

[doode]

All these 5000 likees shall do the same when going bpai tiau

[CoreanoOzzie]

You need a work permit to clean the beach, he could be deported.

He's probably on a retirement or spouse visa.

[michel lefever]

aliens are not allowed to work in thailand without a work permit,anyway manual labour is not allowed for farang.

[farangmick]

I live about 1 km out of town, and although the litter on the verge and the storm trench has thinned out by here, there is still enough to annoy me most days.

To make it worse, houses like mine on the roads out of town are exempt from the modest 20 baht/month wheelie bin charge, as it is assumed that passers by can also use the bins. When I challenged a family who had stopped their car and started chucking plastic wrappers and drink cartons outside my house, less than two meters from the bin, they couldn't understand what the problem was. In their view, the weeds would get chopped down and burnt, and the plastic with them, so nothing to worry about.

[farangmick]

I live about 1 km out of town, and although the litter on the verge and the storm trench has thinned out by here, there is still enough to annoy me most days.

To make it worse, houses like mine on the roads out of town are exempt from the modest 20 baht/month wheelie bin charge, as it is assumed that passers by can also use the bins. When I challenged a family who had stopped their car and started chucking plastic wrappers and drink cartons outside my house, less than two meters from the bin, they couldn't understand what the problem was. In their view, the weeds would get chopped down and burnt, and the plastic with them, so nothing to worry about.

[farcanell]

Why don't they get the Thai school kids and therefore the next beach generation out there and make them clean THEIR beaches. I observed this procedere while being in Greece. School kids cleaned beaches and access roads before the tourist season started. I thought it was a smart idea and a lesson to be learned.

It would be a great start..... But better still.... Why don't they get the local goal house residents out for their daily exercise, and get them to clean the beach.

Perhaps one day we will see courts issue sentences involving community work, vs fines... But unfortunately that is government spending ( supervision and transport) vs income

[johna]

5000 Facebook likes but no one voluntered to help

[elgordo38]

Whilst I am happy for him, I have to remember that about a year or two ago in Pattaya a Farang man was arrested for working without a work permit for doing the same and cleaning public bathrooms on the beach.

Must be the same squad that did the Bridge raid. I say Bravo to this man.

[elgordo38]

Well they sweep the streets by hand every night in the middle of the night.

They could just as easily get someone to collect the crap left on the beach but they choose not to do this for some reason unknown to us.

This is work....and we know what that means

No money no workee. Charity should be taught at home as well as environment protection. Sadly unless a baht value is assigned its a dead issue. Trying to pry money out of this government to clean up beaches and the environment is a herculean project on its own. Subs anyone??

Edited February 5, 2016 by elgordo38

[elgordo38]

He has a job for life. When will he be investigated by the overzealous police,he is an easy target, almost no work involved in making a good persons life hell.

Keep an eye on this guy he could be selling material for recycling. I wonder how many condoms he finds?? Check the DNA inside and catch the culprit that trashed it.

[balo]

I do the same thing myself , twice a week in Pattaya/Jomtien beach , mostly because it's good exercise . So far no reporter has interviewed me yet , maybe because I look like Arnold lol. But the locals find it amusing.

[elgordo38]

There are machines costing about the same as a rice harvester that can clean beaches quickly and efficiently. And that includes the broken bottles and disgusting no name gunk that you find on these beaches.

There you go talking about equipment that costs money. That is strictly taboo. Yes they want incoming but not outgoing. The only time action is taken is when a problem reaches crisis proportion and can no longer be kicked under the rug. At that time the government rides to the rescue and a photo opportunity is born.

[elgordo38]

Why don't they get the Thai school kids and therefore the next beach generation out there and make them clean THEIR beaches. I observed this procedere while being in Greece. School kids cleaned beaches and access roads before the tourist season started. I thought it was a smart idea and a lesson to be learned.

Good idea wrong country. Kids today would have to be literally dragged from their mobiles, computers and video games to do anything and when they find out there is no remuneration well the project sadly dies. There is no compelling force here to focus the kids in the direction of what they do in cleaning up is for their own future. Maybe therein lies the problem they do not see any.

[elgordo38]

there is still good poeple out there in this world ,,,,well done

Somewhere

[elgordo38]

Very commendable ,but why bother?. The same beach will be filthy again in 48 hours .

Actually what he is doing is illegal. He cannot do manual labour in Thailand.

He's heading for trouble.

Why do foreigners have to clean up Thai beaches anyway???

The government is making billions of baht from tourism and they impose taxes on airline tickets.

Why dont they clean the beaches.?

Its all about the money honey. Someday ole Mother Nature will show us all who is boss.

[williamgeorgeallen]

while is is great that the falang is doing this, it would be far better if the Thai's would take the hint and quit throwing all their garbage on the ground, it not just the beach that the Thai's need a little education on cleanliness, I would like to see the Thai's getting their lazy asses off the computer (facebook) and start doing what the falang is doing! it is easy to heap praise on someone doing what they should be doing in their own country!

good points. thais need to stop littering.

[Traveller45]

Great Job. Before we bash the Thais once more, though: How many rubbish bins are there in the vicinity? Recipe for success: Build an avalanche of such bins along the beach, with associated signpost, and impose a fine for not using them. Modest, like 500 THB. Local Police have an additional income there and they WILL enforce.

[garyinhuahin]

There's a 'club' for people, farang and Thai, who want to contribute to making the country trash free.

It's called 'Trash Hero', started on Koh Lipe in 2013 and how has 8 chapters in Thailand (including Hua Hin) and 3 in

Indonesia. http://www.trashhero.org. Hua Hin Trash Hero on Facebook. Meeting on Khao Takiab Bay every Thursday around 3pm

[garyinhuahin]

Some nice (and entertaining) videos at https://youtu.be/ywtjh2hNmhw and https://youtu.be/8TjIrgfasZg

[oldsailor35]

In Australia, local councils clean the beach, usually very early before anyone gets up. However, judging by the amount of rubbish around Thai homes, i doubt they would even notice rubbish on any beach.