I never normally feel the need to put pen to paper,but after living here and seeing how dirty and foul the island has become this year I am really shocked.

Everywhere you go,on small roads, main road there are huge piles of rubbish.

Today I went along the main road from Bophut to big Buddha and saw these huge piles of rotting rubbish,the gutters full of old oil running into the drains,rats and dogs all over the place and this is what most tourists will see.

How can the council not do anything about this.I have enclosed some photos. I know the incinerator is out of action for years now,but this is a beautiful tourist island,but it looks more and more like a rubbish dump.

Never noticed that 5 years ago...

Guess I will find out for myself, when we arrive next week

Perhaps because things slow down in off season?

The government won't do anything until there is an outbreak of Typhoid or some such disease, and it gets into the western media.

I think there was some sort of rule introduced last year where rubbish would not be collected from sois or developments, but had to be left at roadside collection points. This is why there is so much of the stuff everywhere.

With no incinerator, the island is slowly sinking under a mountain of filth.

By the way OP, your photos are not showing.

Yesterday I saw a big lorry being loaded up with one of these piles of rubbish so something is being done but maybe not enough!

OK I don't know the ugly places where they drop the garbage. I know it's a huge problem on Samui, probably the biggest one here for the next years to come.

On the other hand, I heard many comments from the cruise ship people that comment on how clean Samui is compared to most other ports their mooring. The streets are clean in general (at least around Nathon).

Meaning the problem is not what we see around the tourist areas but what's going on at the background.

Jonfeaver..........your photos are not showing......

Thanks for the heads up, I was thinking of planning a trip to Samui for a few days in the school holidays but I will look at other options now.

Koh Samui still has some beautiful spots, you need to know where to look

No different to Pattaya

When i first went there in 86,there was a big hole behind my hut on Lamai,full of plastic waterbottles.They filled it in while i was there and dug another one.Went back in 99 and things had got worse.Never went back.Enviromental timebomb.

Yes sadly have to agree regarding Samui I lived in Maenam for 3 years some 10 years back I used to walk the beach every morning and pick up rubbish as I went the resorts only used to clean the area directly in front of them dig a hole about 2 feet deep and bury it of course next time a decent tide came the whole lot would end up in the sea again and hence back on the beach.

I eventually left when following a big storm walking the beach I noticed a continuous line of brown sludge which of course was sewage as the Island is full of septic tanks when the water table reaches its limit the septics overflow into the streams and hence into the sea the other problem was cigarette butts which also used to line the shore.

Heaven only knows how they dispose of the presumably mountains of garbage and sewage these days I dread to think!!

I wonder why you are not leaving your Filthy Samui?

move here:

apparently there is a hotline you dial if you see a pile of garbage and they come out with a tarp to cover it. want to say the phone number is 555 but i know thats the number they use in the movies that is always bogus.

Waste management is not a Thai strength....

on a tangent, i caught the bus from Bangkok to Pattaya, 80 miles of rubbish, looking out of the coach window, bloody disgusting

Having recently returned from a trip there I can only say this matches the human detritus I saw there. Tattooed bare chested farangs sitting in restaurants and riding motorcycles....the men weren't much better either! Awful beaches and swimming. Five nights in nearby khanom at least was a nice contrast even if a little dull.

Too bad some people seem to leave Samui, with a bad taste.... I always find it strange that thousands come back every year, some more than once a year and don't seem to find it as bad as some portray... Perhaps some just pick the wrong area to stay?

I removed a troll post, actually most posts are probably troll posts from people who have nothing better to do than complain about life in general....

No different to Pattaya

The words of a lunatic....Samui has still a great deal of natural beauty.

No different to Pattaya

The words of a lunatic....Samui has still a great deal of natural beauty.

that's like comparing a ripe mango to a pile of dog shit....pattaya is the septic tank of asia!!

Too bad some people seem to leave Samui, with a bad taste.... I always find it strange that thousands come back every year, some more than once a year and don't seem to find it as bad as some portray... Perhaps some just pick the wrong area to stay?

I removed a troll post, actually most posts are probably troll posts from people who have nothing better to do than complain about life in general....

Every visitor I have had over has absolutely loved Samui, after all, it is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

That said there are issues and I just wish that they would be addressed rather than hidden.

Welcome to the Third World...taxes are minimal and you get minimal government services (like garbage collection). They're pobably waiting for rainy season and a big flood to wash all the trash out to sea.