British couple’s dream Thailand trip turns into a nightmare filled with rubbish and half-finished buildings

[digibum]

2 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Cynicism aside, but if they'd have researched it properly, they'd see that it's a popular backpacker place and was 'turned' a long time ago. 'Idyllic' in Thailand nowadays really requires a boat ride to a secluded island/beach.

 

I went there during high season and it was far from a backpacker destination (at least on the beach our hotel was on).  Even during the high season, I suspect that one might only see 50 people on a "crowded" beach.  

 

That said, from what we were told, during the season, almost no tourists visit the island.  I can see why they would be doing construction and nobody would be being paid to clean up garbage washing up on the beaches.  

 

On one hand I feel for the couple as you think you're going to this beautiful place you see in the pictures online.  But on the other hand, quit acting like it's an international incident.  Islands all over the world close down during the off season and if you can book a place, it's not like you can expect everything to be operating like it would be during high season.  

[trogers]

31 minutes ago, Anthony5 said:

 

 

The other day early morning I drive past the house of a neighbor right when she walks outside holding a large black garbage bag, presumable full of rubbish.

 

She walks past the large blue garbage bin, which gets emptied every night, and throws the bag on an adjacent empty plot which has large weeds growing on it.

 

May not have been garbage in that bag, but 'natural fertilizer' of that household.

[digibum]

19 minutes ago, elektrified said:

I was last in Koh Samui in 1986. You could walk down the beach for 2 hours and never see another person. I would never go again and instead, just cherish the memory. I would like to go to Koh Lipe though. A friend was there a month or two ago and posted beautiful photos, so the whole island doesn't look like place where the Brits stayed.

 

Not that I'm an expert on Thai islands but it is the nicest island that I've been to in Thailand (that you can legally stay on) in terms of beauty and low tourist density.  

[Baerboxer]

56 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

Even if you volunteer for a single day for a charity or organisation you MUST have a work permit.

 

Even if you are not getting paid or renumerated in any way from the charity or organisation you MUST have a work permit.

 

The law is the law in Thailand.

 

I know of two recent cases of Westerners on holiday that were picked up, arrested and deported for unpaid charity work up in Chiang Mai. 

 

With the current nationalist and anti-foreigner sentiment in Thailand it isn't worth the risk IMO.

 

As I said I totally agree with the sentiment but I don't make the laws.

 

I must have missed those to cases in the media. Appreciate the links, cheers.

[elgordo38]

3 hours ago, trogers said:

They fell in love with 30-year old photos...

 

The last time had a vacation in Koh Samui was the early '90s and I could cross the road with my eyes closed.

Sounds like one of the girls I met when I first came here on a dating site. Her photo had to be 30 years old. 

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, phetphet said:

I thought it was part of a National Park. How do they get away with all this unlicenced construction?

15 years ago it was pretty much deserted. Only three or four small resorts. Another beautiful place destroyed in the name of money.

National Park means nothing. Last time I went to Samet, they took my fee off me, and it obviously didn't get used to clean the place. It was a rubbish tip end to end.

The only time I saw a park official was when I had to pay the fee.

[sahibji]

another smear, another task for the TAT. i can imagine the feelings of the couple and sympathize with them.

[elgordo38]

3 hours ago, BKKBrit said:

There's a great charity that depends on the enthusiasm of people to help make the world a little more pleasant to live in - Trash Hero.  They have just undertaken a clean up in Koh Lipe - 

Do you support and lend a hand, also? Give it a go - and yes, it would be better to educate but these guys do this and more by example. 

 

 

Great idea but with my belly fat its hard to bend over now. I gave up being Gung ho years ago. Used to do the garbage detail after a famous parade. We taught the kids a lesson at the very least they are garbage conscious. People would look at you strangely and still to. I think they believe like the Tooth Fairy there is a Garbage Fairy that comes and whisks a magic wand. Comparing back then to now things have steadily gone downhill. Guess we must wait for ole Mother Nature to article 44 us. 

[biggles45]

"I don't know of anyone that has been hassled for doing a beach cleanup, do you"

 

No, not personally but When the terrible tsunami hit Phuket all those years ago, all the foreign volunteers were called in and told they had to get a work permit. It got Thailand some very negative overseas media coverage.  In this new era of go ernment/military control I would expect even more strict enforcement.  

[sahibji]

47 minutes ago, johncat1 said:

All the beach vendors should clean up the rubbish, after all they supplied it in the first place. If they refuse stop them selling on the beach  

may they should begin by providing suitable numbers   of rubbish  bins placed at strategic spots and encourage consumers to dispose off the packaging in the bins.

mobilising the vendors to do the job will be difficult. they sold the merchandise to the consumers who really should dispose off the packaging in a responsible manner.

[aussiandrew]

The joys of making booking in advance and getting stuck with renovation or bad weather you take your chances. Just like flying you can get stuck setting next to some grossly over weight person or screaming kid. Keep your fingers crossed it doesn't happen but it can happen...... 

[thaibeachlovers]

Unfortunately, no one told them that low season is when all the new building is done, and they can't have done any research.

That scene would probably be on any island that time of year.

 

What gets me is that they paid about 9,000 baht each to get there from Bkk, which is a LOT, and apparently they didn't pay the hotel till they got there. Unless they arrived at night, surely they would have seen all the rubbish and construction before committing to stay there?

However, I'd also be PO if I paid 24,000 baht to stay in a rubbish tip.

[boomerangutang]

3 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Cynicism aside, but if they'd have researched it properly, they'd see that it's a popular backpacker place and was 'turned' a long time ago. 'Idyllic' in Thailand nowadays really requires a boat ride to a secluded island/beach.

 

I resent the 'backpacker' label coupled with trashiness.  Backpackers are, on average, probably more responsible than their elder compatriots.  Certainly, all foreigners are more so, than Thais - that's a given.  I was at a stretch of beach north of Ao Nang, near Krabi.  There were several multi-story hotels along the beach.  The beach itself had broken glass scattered all over it for a mile or more.  Perhaps it was intentional vandalism, I don't know, but it wasn't related to backpackers.

 

Another major problem for beaches is fishermen. They toss anything overboard, including dead juvenile fish by the ton.  I've seen large light bulbs wash up on beaches.  Once, 20 yrs ago, a local recommended a place to go snorkeling at Ko Pa Gnan.   The sea floor was so packed with plastic trash. It was depressing.  On another day, I found a small patch of decent coral with some colorful fish swimming around.  A little while later, a small fishing boat came along and interrupted that one little bit of natural beauty.

[sahibji]

28 minutes ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

still warmer and cheaper than england. go home winging poms.

what a comparison. they are only asking to be fair in the advertising practices.

[sahibji]

30 minutes ago, mike324 said:

well, its pretty much like this all over thailand, not just koh lipe, no surprises here. 

it does look pretty bad from the pictures they have posted. perhaps something good will come out of this  protest.

[BlindMagician]

3 hours ago, BKKBrit said:

 

Are you serious?! 

 

Ask the guy who was fined for helping his wife put up a curtain in her shop.

Welcome to LoS....Land of stupidity.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, sahibji said:

what a comparison. they are only asking to be fair in the advertising practices.

That's an ask too far.

No Thai hotel is going to tell prospective customers in low season anything that will keep them away.

 

Had the guests done some homework they would have found out that at that time of year it is going to be like that.

[AlQaholic]

Didn't anyone tell them koh Lipe is for Divers? Divers don't care very much what's going on on the Island itself, as all of them are out diving everyday...

[thaibeachlovers]

4 minutes ago, sahibji said:

it does look pretty bad from the pictures they have posted. perhaps something good will come out of this  protest.

No, it won't. Low season is when all the work is done.

At high season, each beachfront place usually cleans up it's own beach frontage.

[Trentham]

The only time I have been to Koh Samui was in 1984. For 2 of us it was 2 Aussie dollars per night for a bungalow on Lamai Beach and another $2.50 each for 3 meals per day. The owners grew all the food and caught their own fish. It was magic. I have no wish to return and ruin my memories. Up at the Big Buddha which was just being built I was one of the first to stick on some gold leaf.

[cornishcarlos]

1 hour ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

 

You'd have to be very dim to think that personal anectodal evidence means you don't have to comply with Thai labour laws, don't you think?

 

Then kindly link to the section of Thai Labor law that prohibits someone picking up rubbish on a beach...

 

It's always the same excuse for not doing anything :)

 

[nakhonandy]

1 hour ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

Well good excuse for you to stay on the couch or bar stool then....

 

I don't know of anyone that has been hassled for doing a beach clean up, do you ??

Yes a dive center here in Pattaya for organizing a beach clean up. All volunteers were hassled by immigration. 

[Pattaya28]

4 hours ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

"The litter problem is crazy. Nobody seems to care where they throw their trash and they leave building waste lying around."

 

Welcome to Thailand.

But if you throw a cigarette-end on the ground in Bangkok you get a 2000 Baht fine 

[nakhonandy]

15 minutes ago, AlQaholic said:

Didn't anyone tell them koh Lipe is for Divers? Divers don't care very much what's going on on the Island itself, as all of them are out diving everyday...

Not true, never seen a diver littering. They know where it all ends up. 

 

All this junk is from locals and people from the mainland building illegally. Lipe can't deal with this amount of trash. 

[billbellamy]

Just go to the Maldives

[AlQaholic]

Just now, nakhonandy said:

Not true, never seen a diver littering. They know where it all ends up. 

 

All this junk is from locals and people from the mainland building illegally. Lipe can't deal with this amount of trash. 

Yeah, I didn't say divers litter, I said they don't experience the problem same way as this couple as they spend their days out at sea. If you are a diver you don't have the same problem as this couple.

[tukkytuktuk]

Typical Sun over-exaggerated tripe.  This dopey couple knew there was a rubbish issue when they booked..." ”There were some warnings about a rubbish problem...".  So take that out of the story and there's not much left to complain about.

To quote the Sun article:-

Bundhaya Resort said there was a problem with rubbish on the island and construction work behind their hotel.

A spokesman said: ”In the Island there are volunteers to collect the rubbish and we help them with that.

”Every hotel on the island needs to fix the rubbish problem. We don’t deny that. We know how important it is and if there’s a lot of trash nobody will come and our business will suffer.

”Everybody tries their best to make the island a nice place to visit.

‘In low season there is a lot of trash and building. There is a construction site behind us which is not nice for guests but this should be finished soon.

‘The guests didn’t complain to us.”

You always get a couple like this at every resort. Moaning and groaning about everything. Bet their neighbors back in England hate the sight of them. Yes there's rubbish at mostly every resort in Thailand, stop moaning and start doing something positive about it. Recycle, stop using plastic bags and lose the attitude problem. This resort was recycling plastic water bottles, I saw in one picture in the article, the couple called it a mountain of rubbish. Moaning Minny's.

[ThailandLOS]

Cry me a river.

 

Anyone spending 3000 pounds without doing proper research have only themselves to blame.

[jesimps]

1 hour ago, ratcatcher said:

You've said that on so many posts, almost as often as "Trust us we are Thai"

How about backward then?

 

[metisdead]

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