Wasting Water? by The Pattaya Sleuth

[Inspire]

Wasting Water? by The Pattaya Sleuth

For the last few months we have constantly been reminded about the shortage of water in most parts of the country and whilst we hope for rain very few of us are really expecting any significant rainfalls to come this side of Songkran.

The debate will therefore surely run about whether the annual Songkran Festival should be curtailed or even cancelled this year. Whilst cancelling this festival seems a little extreme there is perhaps some weight behind the argument to try and reduce the amount of water that is being wasted.

It may be my imagination but it certainly feels like the celebrations go on longer each year – and I must stress that I am actually one of the people who generally enjoys Songkran!

Surely this year would be the perfect opportunity, as has been suggested, for there to be a reduction in the amount of wasted water with the celebrations involving the throwing of large quantities of water restricted to just the single day. After all, the concept of throwing such vast quantities is something that is relatively new a far from the only way of celebrating the Thai New Year.

Read the full story here: http://www.inspirepattaya.com/lifestyle/wasting-water/

-- Inspire Pattaya 2016-04-03

[tomyumchai]

i tried speaking the last part with a mouthful of ice cubes.....still didnt make any sense.

[DavidB4]

Wasting water in Thailand is cultural and endemic, trying to curtail it would be right up there with trying to stop corruption...the ones who would be tasked with enforcement would probably be the worst offenders. Anyone who's ever seen Thais washing dishes on the street, or outside kitchens at homes, has witnessed the flood of water going by, trying to change them is next to impossible.

[chicowoodduck]

I predict a shitstorn once again this year in Pattaya, not enough brain power with the nobs already here or on their way....???

[petermik]

There has been a water leak here at a junction on 3rd road for weeks..............does anyone care................silly question sorry

[Suradit69]

Wasting water in Thailand is cultural and endemic, trying to curtail it would be right up there with trying to stop corruption...the ones who would be tasked with enforcement would probably be the worst offenders. Anyone who's ever seen Thais washing dishes on the street, or outside kitchens at homes, has witnessed the flood of water going by, trying to change them is next to impossible.

'Wasting water in Thailand is cultural and endemic ..."

Swimming pools and golf courses (both catering more for farang than the typical Thai) are cultural and endemic?

And in the US poorly maintain infrastructure means the loss of trillions of gallons of water ... speaking of endemic.

Imagine Manhattan under almost 300 feet of water. Not water from a hurricane or a tsunami, but purified drinking water — 2.1 trillion gallons of it.

That's the amount of water that researchers estimate is lost each year in this country because of aging and leaky pipes, broken water mains and faulty meters.

http://www.npr.org/2014/10/29/359875321/as-infrastructure-crumbles-trillions-of-gallons-of-water-lost

And in the UK

Analysis by The Independent on Sunday shows that more water is being lost through leakage now than 10 years ago – despite £7.5bn invested in infrastructure since then.

Every day more than 3.3 billion litres of treated water – 20 per cent of the nation's supply and 234 million litres a day more than a decade ago – are lost through leaking pipes in England and Wales. The water lost would meet the daily needs of 21.5 million people.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/water-torture-3300000000-litres-are-lost-every-single-day-through-leakage-2034999.html

Edited April 3, 2016 by Suradit69

[Roomuck]

Couldn't understand the last sentence either.

The rains have started, there will be enough water in MOST areas, Songkran uses a minuscule amount of water compared to industry, farming, golf courses, farangs in hotels, swimming pools etc etc.

Banning Songkran has only been a farang idea, no Thais would consider it. The type of farang who likes to whine about Songkran every year, they always have a reason, motorbike deaths, or the great fake Thaivisa myth " it is bad for tourism".

Banning songkran to save water would be like banning Xmas in the west to save trees (wrapping paper and gift cards)

The know it all farang calling for a complete blanket ban of Songkran fails to acknowledge that some areas don't have a water shortage.

The fact is Songkran uses so little water as a percentage it will not cause or save us from a drought. The Thais are smart enough to realize it.

Why do farangs keep coming up with these stupid ideas that are not fact based? The Thais can see the big picture.

Clever people these Thais.

[Kabula]

Celebrate by pouring water on a veggy so people can eat!

[ozyjon]

'' wasted water ''

What rubbish, stop bringing your western catch phrase to Thailand,

do you know this part of the world is part of the '' monsoon region ''

and soon there will be '' the rainy season '' i was sitting in Tesco in

Chyaphum in the food court during Songkran a few years ago, big

black clouds started rolling in, soon there was a deluge with about

2 feet of water on the street, when the rain stopped many youth

began to play in the water like the photo above, this is not the sahara.

[TKDfella]

Well, lets be a little more general about the problem, shall we? Like it or not Climate change has apparently arrived! whether it is part of a natural cycle or has anthropological origins is a matter for scientists to determine

This is just one graph out of hundreds. There are pictures of Rocky Mountain Pines being destroyed by beetles that would otherwise be partly controlled by former cold winters. Ice melts on a large scale, the list goes on and on. How the individual interprets these is a different problem but the facts cannot be denied. Places not used to flooding now having homes swept away and other places used to rain face drought.

What's my point? My point is that any country that has rituals involving large amounts of water should change. Many a time Thailand's PM has said that he acknowledges this problem and if he really wants to make a good impression he could by changing Songkran into a more sober affair. Not as easy as it sounds, I know but look at it another way. Is it really that much fun to continually get drenched with water over and over (people in the pickup trucks)...surely not.

[joebrown]

Wasting water in Thailand is cultural and endemic, trying to curtail it would be right up there with trying to stop corruption...the ones who would be tasked with enforcement would probably be the worst offenders. Anyone who's ever seen Thais washing dishes on the street, or outside kitchens at homes, has witnessed the flood of water going by, trying to change them is next to impossible.

'Wasting water in Thailand is cultural and endemic ..."

Swimming pools and golf courses (both catering more for farang than the typical Thai) are cultural and endemic?

And in the US poorly maintain infrastructure means the loss of trillions of gallons of water ... speaking of endemic.

Imagine Manhattan under almost 300 feet of water. Not water from a hurricane or a tsunami, but purified drinking water — 2.1 trillion gallons of it.

That's the amount of water that researchers estimate is lost each year in this country because of aging and leaky pipes, broken water mains and faulty meters.

http://www.npr.org/2014/10/29/359875321/as-infrastructure-crumbles-trillions-of-gallons-of-water-lost

And in the UK

Analysis by The Independual youent on Sunday shows that more water is being lost through leakage now than 10 years ago – despite £7.5bn invested in infrastructure since then.

Every day more than 3.3 billion litres of treated water – 20 per cent of the nation's supply and 234 million litres a day more than a decade ago – are lost through leaking pipes in England and Wales. The water lost would meet the daily needs of 21.5 million people.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/water-torture-3300000000-litres-are-lost-every-single-day-through-leakage-2034999.html

As usual you attempt to respond to an OP which relates to wasting water in Thailand (Songkran) by spouting statistics for other countries. It seems you have something against the game of golf as you've used this example before. Have you ever been on a Thai golf course? It might surprise you to find that many Thais play golf, and it's a big tourist attraction for Japanese and Koreans, as well as farangs. There are also many military owned/run golf courses for use by their personnel, other Thais and farangs. No doubt you'd be happy to suggest to the military government that you think it's a good idea to cut off/down water supplies to golf courses. The Thai economy is floundering at the moment and anything affecting tourism eg golf package tours would be felt in the reduced revenue, not only for the golf courses but also the hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues.

It seems to me that there is no water shortage in the area of Roi-Et I'm visiting at the moment. I asked local people who said it's not an issue yet, and I'd have to agree with them judging by the number of pick-ups I saw being washed-down this morning!